Horses + the City = Just not a great idea
Jul 06 2010
As noted in the comments below, we had a major, major train wreck with a driving team gone out of control during a 4th of July parade.
I’ve observed before that horses on asphalt or concrete is never a great idea. They are slippery surfaces and if you are going to fall off a horse, which we know happens, asphalt/concrete are not the surfaces you want to hit when you land. And let’s face it, people drive for crap. We are not particularly safe out there ourselves, in cars, so why do we think it’s safe for a horse – with no protection whatsoever to be out there? I don’t like seeing horses ridden or driven on roads with motorized traffic, period. There are just too many ways for it to end badly, and this latest incident is a classic example. Apparently, the horses were rubbing heads which seems weird to me because it does not seem to me that a properly hitched team should be able to rub their heads together (wouldn’t that also mean they could bite each other? Can they normally get that cozy in the traces? I am not a driving person so please fill me in.) Anyway, one rubbed the other’s bridle off. Now, I am sure I am not the only person here who has had a horse divest himself of a bridle while in the saddle. My horse thinks split ear bridles are hilarious as all it takes is one shake and he’s freeeee. (We use fishing line under the jowl for showing, as do many exhibitors with throatlatch-less bridles!) Still, this has never ended in a wreck. He stops when I say whoa, so it’s not a biggie. Most horses have a decent whoa on them, so I can only guess that the bridle incident happened in conjunction with something spooking them but good. It will be interesting to read more from those who were actually there about what happened, but to me this is just another example of why horses and asphalt don’t mix, and why we need to accept that it is 2010 and the only safe places for horses to be ridden and driven are places with dirt footing and no motorized traffic.
229 comments to “Horses + the City = Just not a great idea”
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I saw another story (or maybe it was in the comments?) that said the buggy hit a signpost and overturned, and that’s what spooked the horses. The woman killed was the wife of the driver.
Hmmm well I think it’s interesting that ONE horse incident has overpowered the obvious firework caused injuries that has occured and occurs EVERY year, injuring and KILLING many, many more children and adults. As to pavement, well wait until your horse trails are paved in favor of bicycles. They have more support and more money so kudos to those that have miles of trails because they are disappearing here. I watched a video of the people getting out of the way of the team, they seem to be moving in slow motion. These are quite possibly the same parents that think it’s okay for a child to run up to a rider on a horse and pet the horsey, people DO NOT understand horses should be respected at ALL times. Sad really, just a matter of time til things get more restricted for horse owners.
Oh trust me, I could go off about fireworks all day. Remember when we were kids and there were two kinds of fireworks? The hissing black snakes and sparklers. No one had this bombing-Iraq shit like they do now. It’s OUT of control now.
You know what’s hilarious? In Indiana, we can buy out of state, ‘illegal’ fireworks here– we just can’t shoot them off in state. Yea… right…..
Don’t forget the spinning ones that popped up into little paper pagodas when they were done spinning and whining!
Aren’t most things out of control these days? A most disturbing issue with me. Then realist like we sane people get pissy when the gov’t has to step in and make laws for all the stupidity.
I cringe every time I see people on horses at parades, and why on Earth would you think the Fourth of July parade would be great even for the most level headed horses? They are animals. Few horses live in that environment. I think police horses are trained for such noise and disturbances, but no horse is totally unflappable. It’s a disaster inviting to happen.
I drive horse drawn carriages and two horse trolleys in town. Our horses can easy rub head if they want too, or bite, that is why it is important to have a team that gets along well. We also attach our bridles to our halters and braid the horses forelocks into their bridles so they can’t get them off for exactly this reason. We also put rubber shoes on our horses so they don’t slip on the road. I can’t speak for all carriage companies but I know ours goes to great lengths to prevent easily preventable accidents like this from happening.
This is the second mention of “braiding in.” Sounds like a very, very smart practice to me.
This was a tragedy, a preventable tragedy. The bridles should have been braided in, and the driver should have had a groom to head the horses, a groom who would have fixed a bridle problem while the driver remained seated in the carriage. If no groom, then the driver should have stood on his brake and held the one horse that had a bridle on, and had his passengers exit the vehicle BEFORE he got out of the vehicle to attend to the problem, and he should have held one rein firmly so that if the horses started to move he could do a 1-rein stop to turn the horses rather than let them get going in a straight line.
Finally, this incident has nothing to do with horses and “cities”. It happened in a very small town, population ~3000. If you can’t safely have a small-town parade with horses then something is very wrong with what we consider fun and safe in this country.
I’ve done some driving and haven’t heard of braiding in, but what a fantastic idea. I do think that horses can travel safely on pavement, using rubber shoes or boots and some common sense. Unfortunately it’s usually folks driving cars or doing other activities around horses who aren’t cautious enough… granted, your horse’s behavior isn’t their responsibility, but I do think it’s common courtesy to exercise the same caution that you might if you were, for instance, flying up on your bike behind a person with a dog. You don’t know if the dog is well-behaved or even if the person has noticed you there, so a little warning and caution go a long way. I think it’s getting to a point in our lives where we aren’t going to have an option anymore about whether we’re going to ride in traffic, though.
I’ve had this very thing happen to me… was working with a team at my work and just driving them in harness from the ground, driving them over the tongue on the cart and backing them into position without hitching them to the cart, just to get them back into the groove of it after several years off. The owner had very cheap synthetic harness and though I’d been very careful to fit it all properly, the adjustment at the top of one horse’s poll just worked loose and the bridle slipped right off. I didn’t know at the time — because I had been given a false history of the team’s driving experience — that the team was VERY green. I tried to steer them into the fence to stop their forward momentum, but they were pretty quick to bolt. Luckily I was doing the work in a larger fenced enclosure, and I was able to get the horses back in hand with no injuries to anyone, but things went south with that situation pretty quickly.
It’s really important, IMO, that driving horses be instantly responsive to voice commands, even when they’re stressed. It can be hard to get there, but makes driving so much safer. I took a driving class in college and my instructor had been driving professionally for a long time (used to drive the Coors hitch, I think). He was on his way back from the stock show in Denver with a stock trailer full of driving horses and a truck full of students that he’d taken with him. They hit a bad winter storm and he ended up in a wreck, jackknifed the trailer. The trailer door flew open and one of the horses jumped out and started running down the road, in the middle of traffic. One of the students jumped out of the cab of the truck, ran out to where the horse could hear him, and shouted, “WHOA!” The horse stopped in his tracks and waited for the student to come and collect him. I can’t say that would happen with all of his horses, and they were REALLY lucky that the horse listened in that situation.
Yep – this is why I always tell people how incredibly important “WHOA” training is. You’re horse should know that if he hears “whoa” he is to stop immediately and then everything will be okay no matter if he thinks the world is ending. It should be his safe place – he should think not stopping is the end of his world and know that stopping will make everything all right again.
My grandmother is a long-time horse trainer and grew up on a farm riding almost before she could walk. Whoa is one of her most important training points of focus, and she constantly remarks the sad state of most horses’ “WHOA” response when she gets them in training. The frustrating thing is, if you teach whoa early and always always reinforce the response, it’s easy. You do need to put them in stressful situations where you can control their “whoa” so you can show them that whoa is the safest thing in the world for them to do and to trust you to keep them safe no matter what if you utter that all important “whoa.”
Would love to hear more about the rubber shoes – I was wondering about those myself! My horse is barefoot, so I was considering them even just for trail rides, possibly. Haven’t had a chance to do much research yet.
Mabelicious,
I use EasyBoot Epics with the gator and love them. I use them on the roads for my pony. I don’t have a pair for my QH yet as I rarely ride him on the roads, he is also barefoot. As for the pony they are great. I’ve never had an issue and they STAY on. I’ve driven him off road through the mud and lots of water and they have never even come loose. He also doesn’t seem to mind them at all. For his size they were cheaper than a set of shoes and will last many years. Good luck in your search.
I have found that either going barefoot, using borium or plastic shoes, or using boots on asphalt is the only way to safely traverse concrete/asphalt. It seems to me that most people who are in parades would actually think this through, but alas…horse stupidity still abounds. I’ve never deliberately had my horses walk down the road with just plain keg shoes on, but I have had to cross asphalt roads plenty of times. One time my mare spooked on asphalt, her back feet slid out from under her, and I threw myself forward to balance myself and not come off backwards. I ended up throwing her balance off and my arms went around her neck. She got her footing back and I came right out of the saddle and landed on my feet on the ground next to her with my arms still around her neck! It was a pretty funny outcome, but could have been a lot worse if she wasn’t patient enough when I threw her off balance.
My horses are barefoot and wear boots now, and now they actually are more sure footed on asphalt. They seem to sense they have better traction and will actually gait on concrete if they feel like it, although we don’t let them do that much because of the wide range of dumbasses in cars who seem to think they own the road. And we’re lucky that there isn’t a lot of asphalt in our area. In some of the horse areas in Arizona, like central Phoenix, all they have to ride on are sidewalks.
Most of the people I know who do volunteer posse work will take their horse’s shoes off (if he wears them) and put boots on all four feet for any time they’ll be on concrete. Then a lot of folks I know that do that work just have barefoot horses and put boots on them. Most of the police horses I see wear boots on all four feet as well (they’re somewhat common where we live as we’re in a rural area).
I don’t know what they meant by rubbing heads, but horses can touch heads when in harness. But they shouldn’t be so close that their heads are touching all the time. I’m not sure what they meant by that. That was kinda weird. Maybe someone who knows driving can explain it…?
rubbing heads means the horses turn their head to their partner and rub their head on him/her.
I love to drive and belong to American Driving Society, whose main purpose is to promote safe and fun driving. There are a lot of safety factors that were ignored in this incidence and the results were tragic. Due to the increased popularity of driving, there are more and more people taking up the sport without realizing how dangerous it can be. For example, if this team of horses were going into ADS competition; the driver and passengers would have had helmets (and vests) on and there would have been two other people on board (besides driver) and they would have had serious jobs. Their job would be to jump off the carriage and manage the horses when things went awry. There also would have been gullet straps on bridles to help to prevent the inevitable rub. The team must be able to work together because they are close enough to rub/bite/kick/etc. I don’t like to place blame but this is another case of not enough experience to understand that this is exactly what can happen. I know many, many, many experienced drivers that would not put their lives at risk by entering a parade where spectators have no clue as to the nature of horses.
There are a lot of Amish in our area and they have their share of accidents with horses. For some reason, and it must be human nature…..LOL……….we look at driving as easier than riding. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because our forefathers farmed with horses; I would call driving closer to piloting an aircraft than driving a car or riding a horse. For example……there are no one rein stops. there are no successful spooks sideways. and if the bridle comes off,…disaster……… because they wear blinders and have never seen that thing following them before. (Many people are increasingly training with no blinders)
Having said this; I have seen riders that should not have been in the parade either. However, the risk to spectators is less with a runaway horse than a team with a cart that becomes a huge weapon in a runaway. There are ways to put horses in parades that increase safety but in the best of circumstances, it is a runaway waiting to happen.
Agreed. I grew up riding and showing arabs and saddlebreds. My grandmother is a trainer and was always shocked at the inexperience in the show ring when people were driving. They’d think, well, the horse is trained, and I can ride, so let’s throw him in a harness and see what happens! Luckily, many ASBs are trained to a buggy from a very young age and are pretty comfortable with exciting show surroundings. However, a lot of trainers just pop inexperienced ammies behind their fancy harness horses and expect everything to be just fine… Then they throw 10 horses in a small enclosed show ring and watch the near misses happen. Yikes. Add this mentality to a parade setting, and oh my. Not saying this guy didn’t have a lot of experience, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his horses didn’t have enough proper parade training.
Anyway, I lived in New Orleans for a long time and am no stranger to BIG and incredibly horse-scary parades. This year, the Budweiser Clydesdales were in town for a few parades, and they were stunning. There were MULTIPLE grooms at the horses’ heads and all of the equipment was in good order. Plus, these horses are conditioned for parading since that’s their main job.
I see SO many people every year at Mardi Gras that just hop on inexperienced horses, give them some Ace and hope for the best… It’s one of the reasons I quit working at a stable down there that supplies “parade horses” for the Mardi Gras krewe members. Sure, each horse got a healthy dose of Ace and had a “groom” at their head. Unfortunately, most of these “grooms” were hired hands from off the street that had little to no experience handling horses. To top it off, the majority of the krewe members on each horse usually have never been on a horse before except during the parade and they are totally drunk! The worst part is that each horse is usually picked up from a cheap auction and has very little real training and likely NO parade training at ALL.
As a safety freak when it comes to horses and people, I was SHOCKED to watch all of this happen at a relatively reputable stable…
Luckily, New Orleans police horses are some of the best (lovely animals all around) and do not add to the craziness.
Sometimes staying away from traffic is just not possible. In the area I live in there are exactly two bridal paths within ridable distance, they only take about an hour to get round, and you have to ride on the roads to get there. Sometimes these are 40-50mph roads as well. There’s no choice though, and everything else is just road work. Most people are fairly respectful and the horses are used to it, and obviously if I had the choice I would ditch the road. But when you live in a highly densely populated country (UK) that’s difficult unless you’re really lucky and live out in one of the few more isolated places like mid-wales or scotland.
Here in the U.S., people throw the horses in the trailer / aka float and take them to where the trails begin. Is that uncommon in the U.K.?
In the UK, if you passed your driving test after 1997 you need to take a separate trailer test to drive a horse box. A lot of people are converting vans or buying small “equitrek” style lorries now but they’re still very expensive so boxing to a safe place to ride really isn’t an option for a lot of people. I carriage drive and live in remote devon but still have to do a lot of road work.
It’s a different country, they do things different – we can’t really apply our American sentiments there. Using floats doesn’t help. Even in less populated parts of that small country, there are lots of paved roads. It’s almost impossible to avoid them. Also, the roads to get into the more remote areas are sometimes very narrow, and possibly more dangerous to try to get a float/trailer into them than it’d be to ride there. Oh, and no place to park a float/trailer.
I quite enjoyed riding in the UK though (nearly into Scotland), and many (but not all!) British are quite used to the possibility of coming across horses on the back roads (and crossing more major roads), and drive accordingly.
It’s not remotely the same landscape, nor the same pattern of development. If we followed your stricture of not putting a horse on the road, most Brits wouldn’t be able to ride out at all.
I grew up hacking with riding schools and alone on the outskirts of a city where suburbs were shading into countryside. The horses were good with traffic, and an essential part of breaking-in involved getting them used to that traffic. A friend of mine spent a vast amount of time leading her youngster out with and without company before she ever rode her on a road. In eleven years of road riding, I had no falls or bolts.
There are some bridlepaths and shared footpaths, and the chance to hack carefully round farmland, but “trails” as such are rare, and the paths there are are short – you might have to do roadwork between stretches of bridlepath.
There are also a huge number of regulations concerning the driving of trailers and horseboxes and the transport of animals.
We don’t really have trails in the UK. There’s the occasional bridlepath, and often farm tracks that the landowner is happy to let you ride along. Unless you live up in the north of Scotland or the middle of Wales, it’s impossible to go anywhere without encountering roads and cars. Riders do stick to back roads when they have to go on them, though.
In my experience, though, drivers are pretty good about slowing down for horses, and listen to hand signals telling them to slow down if they’re going too fast. I went out in a group of four the other day and we didn’t encounter any inconsiderate drivers on a 90-minute ride that went through three villages.
The UK is something like eight times more densely populated than America, on average, and for the most part we simply don’t have the wilderness or natural landscapes that provide such picturesque trails. If I wanted to ride somewhere that didn’t involve riding on a road, I’d have to travel two hours or more each way to get there.
OK I do not live in the US but I do know about harness horses. I have no idea what sort of hitch was being used in this case, however it is possible for a horse to hook a bridle off by scratching itself, either on its’ pair or more commonly on the pole.
There is, however a big WTF issue here. The bridle should be secure – throatlash done up correctly and for safety’s sake a plait (braid to you guys) from behind the poll pulled through the pollstrap on the bridle and secured back to the mane.
The other big problem is the number of people who insist in starting their horses in harness wearing blinker bridles. With horses started in this way if/when they do lose their bridles they have a humongous WTF moment at seeing the vehicle behind them, never mind the antics of the humans sitting up higher than the horse’s eye level…. Leaving at high speed is the ‘usual reaction’ when this occurs.
When the horses have been started correctly in an ‘open bridle’ then they are well used to and desensitised by always being able to see what is following them. The rationale behind using blinkers is because the result of large wheels turning, with shiny spokes in the sunshine, can emulate a strobe effect which can spook the quietest horse. To use them on horses ‘put to’ in vehicles without the aformentioned type wheels is nothing but ‘fashion’ (or ‘tradition’). IF you HAVE to use blinkers so you can actually drive a horse ‘safely’ then in reality it is not a safe horse to drive.
If one horse in a team panics and leaves the others have absolutely no option but to go too. Then people start screaming etc and the ‘other’ team members also begin to panic. It is possible to pull a team up with one of the horses going off its’ tree, but not if the whole lot go. If a leader goes they are relatively easier to stop than if a wheeler goes. If the wheeler(s) go then it is ‘all over rover’.
I doubt very much that being on the tarseal (asphalt to you) would have had a contributing factor to these horses ‘leaving’; they probably would have left anyway regardless, IF my surmising is correct the bridle issue is correct, in that one horse (started ‘incorrectly’) losing its bridle, panicked the whole team.
The problem with anything in harnesm is that if things go wrong they go wrong in a massive way. After all a panicking horse, in its’ mind is being pursued by a ‘monster’, of course it will run. In the meantime you have a juggernaut of destruction occurring in the wake of the runaway.
It is possible to fit harness with ‘break-away’ fittings, but you still have to be able to access them – not possible in moments of high tension and danger.
No idea on the driving issue. My first thought was also, “Well, it’s very sad but it doesn’t surprise me.”
But I had to log on just to share: My hot friend, Bob, who is a Reno PD mounted cop (with virtually zero horse experience prior to signing up for this mounted cop gig), and his horse, Apache, were chasing down a suspect through a parking lot where Apache, surprise surprise, slipped and fell. Yes, Apache wears those boot things… not an EasyBoot, but similar, with the rubber tread, and he STILL slipped and fell.
I, of course, upon hearing this immediately text Bob and ask if his horse is okay. The response I got back was, “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking, Asshole.”
Even though I never got a straight answer on whether or not Apache is okay, I’m assuming he’s fine, too, since Bob hasn’t called me asking for help in caring for an injured horse so far. But it just goes to show you that horses + concrete DO NOT MIX, no matter what precautions you take.
And as a side note, since I’m suffering from insomnia, if anyone has experience as a mounted officer, how do you actually detain suspects if you are chasing them down on horseback? Do you just leap off the horse and tackle them like you’re steer-wrestling?
*snort* soda up the nose. Thanks so much for the image of a cop flying off his horse and hog tying a suspect.
That sounds like something that would happen at Farmer’s Market, but I thought only Sparks had cops there.
I hope Apache’s okay.
I don’t know how a single cop on horseback ‘takes down’ a suspect, or if it’s even recommended but the horses are trained to pin people with their shoulders. A single horse could probably surprise us. For crowd control you often see equine officers in pairs. Two or three horses can trap a suspect between them and then the police grab an arm and cuff ‘em. It’s *really* interesting to watch. The horses are so well trained they don’t seem to need constant instruction from the rider. Once the police single out a subject for control, the horses know how to trap the person, so the police can concentrate on the subject. Of course if you think about it, that’s not unusual horse behavior within a herd. Just channeling a horses natural urge for herd control.
As for asking about the horse and not the rider after the accident – my cousin is a K9 policeman. His dog is very popular around town. They got in an accident during a pursuit and flipped the patrol car. Everyone asked my cousin about the dog, he said NOBODY asked him how he fared. But he kept a good sense of humor about it. The dog was retired due to a wrenched back – he couldn’t take down criminals anymore without getting sore. My cousin had a sore back for a few months and went back to work. The dog became a full time ambassador for the department. I wondered if the dog could learn to sniff for drugs instead, but his forte was tackling criminals and he couldn’t switch ‘job assignments”. ( BTW, the cop dog is from Hungary. Since this blog is about bad breeding and over breeding, my cousin said there are few good American bred german shepherds for police work and all the dogs he worked with came from Europe.)
I have driven a tandom team of “biggies” just once, and drive the minis …If they are hitched they usually can not poke eachother, but more importantly, the driver is usually telling the horses constantly to pay attention, keep your focus, and do your work, with his reins. If the horses were “playing” enough to rub a bridal off Id say the driver was sleeping and not doing his job.As soon as the horses were close enough to touch eachother they were in my book “distracted” and not doing their job, at that moment the driver should have re directed the attention of his horses or stopped the wagon to sort things out. I have walked my minis in a 4th of July parade, and from my expierence would say that these horses got spooked. Kids have those gun powder paper balls things that they like to throw at the horses feet as they pass by ( thank you kids at the Benecia Parade ) Horses do run away with the wagon from time to time, but a seasoned horse should have been safe, no matter what and wouldnt have run so far out of control. Id say , not enough miles on the horse in traffic, maybe some kid involved in the stands, and a driver that was not paying attention. People have no idea how dangerious driving can be, I see very little respect for the driving horse on the roads here in Europe as well as the states, horses that can handle being driven on the street are SAINTS if you ask me.
How can kids be so CRIMINALLY STUPID as to throw firecrackers at an animal??!! What is wrong with people??!!
I agree about the asphalt and horses and traffic. I certainly wasn’t there, but what probably happened is that most driving horses wear bridles with blinders on them and once the bridle came off the horse saw the carriage behind it and panicked. Of course, the faster they run, the faster that carriage chases them. Unless they are trained to be driven without blinders than it’s a really bad idea to remove the bridle while they are hooked. Not that the people did, it just got rubbed off, maybe the throat latch was loose. I feel badly for the man driving, his wife died and this had to be a terrible experience.
I live in the centre of a city (a capital city at that) and there are two Fjords who pull a wagon for children’s rides round the neighbourhood every Saturday. The traffic is light, the horses are safely harnessed and well-cared for, and they spend the rest of the week guzzling in a field in the countryside. I can see no harm in it. They earn their living, children get to see two beautiful ponies.
Here they are:
As cute as these two are, even they arent fitted properly. Look how low the traces are hanging. If one of these guys goes to say kick at a fly on his belly, he could easily get a leg over that and be come entangled.
I also think there’s a big difference between horses which are city “regulars” and a pair of driving horses taking part in a parade once a year.
And I need to stop replying to myself… but there are rock-safe police horses, and here are a couple of Friesians helping a friend of mine leave his neighbourhood in Soho in style: http://londonist.com/2010/07/a_dandy_farewell_for_sebastian_hors.php?gallery0Pic=4#gallery
I agree. I like seeing horses in the city if it is done safely and the horses are healthy and well cared for, and honestly, the horses are the only reasons I go to parades! I’ve always wanted to take my horse in one.
It’s a fact of life that accidents happen, but I guess in this case the drivers forgot a few safety features that could have prevented the wreak.
This was a terrible, and worse yet, preventable accident IMHO. There are a few ” rules ” of driving, and this time, a couple were broken. First of all FUGLY, yes, teams ( pairs ) are hitched together close enough to rub on each other. Not that you should ever allow them to. No matter how hot and sweaty…..you do not allow them to rub on each other or the equipment. Speaking of equipment, there is something called a gullet strap, which is a simple strap that you put behind their jaws and attach to both the throatlatch ( which should be snug, not tight ) and the noseband. With well fitted bridles, a gullet strap and a noseband, it is pretty hard for a horse to get their bridle off. Not that it cant be done. Ive seen horses hook their bridles on the front of the poles, crabs and even single horses on their shaft ends. Draft style harness bridles often do not have nosebands, so using a gulet strap is not something I see often in farm style harness. I do not know if this was the type of harness this pair was using.
I read today an account from a man who saw the accident start. It made more sense to me after reading his story on a blog about what happend. He said that the driver of the pair ( QH’s ) got down off his carriage to fix the bridle of one, which had been rubbed off by its partner. HUGE error. The driver must get another person in the box seat to handle the lines BEFORE exiting the vehicle. This was not done, and the horses began to move off. He was not able to get them stopped from the ground. The owner / driver’s daughter and grand-daughter were able to jump free once the pair got going, but his wife was not, and was ejected when the carriage tipped over. She died later from her injuries. 26 others ended up with injuries needing hospitals.
With the thousands of horse-drawn carts, carriages and wagons / floats ect. in parades this summer, this accident is a big wake up call for parade organizers and also the horse-drawn entries. Throwing candy into the street ( and under the horses hoofs ) is banned in most sanchoned parades, yet many organizers still insist on doing it. Many of the people hurt in this accident were kids who were IN the street when the horses ran down 6 blocks dragging their vehicle which was on its side. Basic parade rules, knowledgeable drivers and well trained horses make for tons of super entries all over the country. Several parades are totally horse-drawn and have excellent safety records. We paraded in CA. for years without incident, however since moving here to UT. we no longer parade because of a lack of those basic safety rules.
Very sad for all the people injured and also for this family whos brief lapse of knowledge or judgement caused the death of their family member and alot of suffering in their small town.
My worst nightmare as a driver.
Driving horses are able to rub heads (and bite!) in “normal” harness although there are various things like nagging lines to stop it. HOWEVER a good whip (driver) will be on the watch for it for precisely the reason they can get their bridles off. I don’t know about the states but here in the UK we do up their throatlashes very tight so they’re flush with the skin all the way around without restricting air. If you’re doing HDT or dressage you might be more generous with it because you need room for the horse to flex. If they were tight enough I really don’t know how they would get a bridle off without someone noticing the start! It’s the first rule of pair driving! As for the spooking bit, well any horse that’s been in a closed bridle and suddenly gets it off will spook, wheels close to back legs, whips, people above them, it’s why people use blinkers in the first place. It is possible to break them in open bridles but they have to be started like this and desensitised. On the continent open bridles are commonplace.
I love how the reporter claims that they ‘charged at the crowd’…damn those evil horses and their purposeful intent to run people over….grrr
*roll eyes*
When I saw the “one person killed, 23 hurt in horse accident”, I was hoping it was these people. Grrrr…
http://www.news.com.au/travel/galleries/gallery-e6frflw0-1225888409551
Maybe the title “Release the beasts” refers to the yahoo’s launching themselves int the melee>
First, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this site. People who rescue horses are the BEST…
But regarding the horse wreck in Iowa this weekend, from another site consisting of people who drive their horses, they said an eyewitness saw that the bridle did indeed come off when the horses rubbed heads together, which shouldn’t happen to begin with, they shouldn’t be able to reach the other…Then the male owner of the carriage and horses jumped out to attend to his horses, leaving no one to effectively handle the lines, the brakes or the steering, another blunder. Also, there is a strap that can be used which goes from the noseband to the throatlatch that locks the bridle onto the poll and helps to keep the horse from rubbing its bridle off!
I’ve been riding on the aspalt for years, now, with no problems. I wear a helmet when on any horse other than my old mare, my horses aren’t shod, and they become WELL acclimated to quiet traffic before they see any heavier traffic. They learn to yeld to cars and trucks, and will do so automatically, even while spooking at something off the road, because that’s what they’ve been trained to do through repetition. Also, if I see something ahead I think may really bother them, I’ll wait for any intense traffic (semis, multiple cars) to pass by first. In my case, I prefer riding in a loop on the gravel roads, instead of going somewhere and turning back because it makes for FAR more forward horses, that don’t try turning around every few minutes of the ride–after so many rides, they learn the only way home is to go forward! Part of these loops will typically include some asphalt, and some traffic. And I know a lot of people have no choice but to ride on asphalt and in traffic, to get to better trails.
As per the carriage accident, if you view carriage accidents on YouTube, the vast majority are due to some very stupid equipment failures/misplacements. Seems like these parades need a ‘hitch inspector’. Also, perhaps some of these hitches just haven’t been out training enough, and are too green. Personally, I’d hate for horses to be removed from city parades–they are the only horse exposure some of those city kids get!
P.S. Asphalt and gravel roads are the best rasps for bare feet ‘they’ don’t want you to know about. Over time, they put a perfect balance on each individual hoof, instead of a human idea of what balance should be. All my horses land extremely flush on the ground (laterally), and you don’t see that ‘crookedness pop’ going up their legs most horses have when stepping down.
Well, from years ago in team driving, I remember that the neighbor’s ponies could turn their heads toward each other. They drove in overchecks, I believe, not side checks. It was always a bit funny to see the old driving mare ‘straighten out’ the young ones when they were learning to drive.
Rubbing the bridle off? THAT doesn’t match with any of the bridles we used for driving, nor does it match with the bridles I see on the Amish horses around here– browbands, throatlatches, often partial or complete nosebands.– so I’m going to guess that those bridles either were something ‘fine’ or different, or they weren’t adjusted properly. Besides, losing one bridle still leaves you will one horse IN a bridle. When driving my mare years ago, I quickly learned that I had a lot of leverage while driving, compliments of the rings that the driving reins/lines pass through. I never have completely understood the inability to stop driving horses.
I’m pretty appalled that the driver didn’t have enough control to at least run them into the farm implement they ran up on top of. It would have been ugly, but a whole lot prettier than running them through the audience.
One last thing regarding bolting in harness– this is a perfect example of why I believe ALL driving horses should at least be started in an open bridle. With blinkers, they can’t see the cart ‘chasing’ them as they pull. If for any reason those blinkers come off, some horses will absolutely panic and go into flight mode on the belief they are being chased. When I switched my old, dead safe, bombproof mare over to an open bridle, I had a friend hold the cart in place while I led the mare forward. She did in fact have about ten seconds of “WTF!OMG! SHHHHHHHIIIIII—–” before she realized this was the same cart she had been pulling all along. If she can panic or spook at the cart following her, any horse can.
What is a partial noseband?
Hmm… I looked for a picture, and can’t find one. On many of the Amish horses around here, they have the part of the noseband that goes across the nose, but not the part that goes under the chin. No idea what the proper term is. I did find this charming photo:
http://portraitswithhorses.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/harnesshorselosesbridle.jpg
Yes, it made me sick to my stomach.
locked
Here is an article with some more information.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100705/ap_on_re_us/us_iowa_parade_injuries
This story is sad all around but for the person writing that article to say the horses were on a rampage is injecting way too much human emotion into the story IMHO. I think these horses were spooked or something bizarre happened but to say they were on “a rampage” is over the top. I feel very sorry for the driver and am praying for him over the loss of his wife and I am praying for all of the injured.
It sounds like the wife was killed when her head struck the concrete. Another incident of horse-related death that could have been prevented by proper headgear.
I know the big fluffy carriage hats are a thing, but at the driving club here, if you’re in the carriage you’re wearing a helmet. It should be as much a rule as wearing a helmet while riding.
Ohhhhh… sounds like one eye witness says that the driver got OFF the cart to fix the bridle, leaving no one holding the reins. Where was the header or handler?
Here is a video of the Budweiser Clydes at work. Notice that with their six horse hitch, they have two handlers walking, plus the helper (I could have sworn they are called headers?) riding with the driver. If something goes wrong, the very last person off that vehicle better be the driver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1hKxf6pZ-U&feature=related
Horses can bolt or make mistakes at any time, and with a cart attached, it frequently becomes a real nightmare– remember the Arabian show with all the horses crashing carts? Still, sounds like THIS particular incident wasn’t handled well to begin with.
They are called headers. A friend of mine traveled with one of the budwesier teams for 2 years and they always have two headers at the parade and generally a golf cart to pick up the remains. Many shows also use “headers” when a team is show especially for junior horse or junior driver classes.
A properly harnessed pair of horses should always have their bridles “braided in”. You take a piece from the forelock and two pieces from the mane and braid it over the crownpiece. This is a safety feature to slow down or stop exactly what happened at the parade with the bridle coming off, and I’m willing to bet they weren’t braided in. It doesn’t look like they had road shoes on either.
We took our Friesian driving pair to a parade on Saturday. Even though they’re a champion pair, they were braided in AND we had two experienced “walkers” alongside them on the street. Whenever we had to stop, there was someone to head them and prevent them from rubbing and looking at each other. They also wear road shoes with borium grips, so there’s no slipping.
Sad accident, and I hope it’s learned from.
I am bolding this because it is SUCH GOOD ADVICE and something I would never have thought of!
A properly harnessed pair of horses should always have their bridles “braided inâ€. You take a piece from the forelock and two pieces from the mane and braid it over the crownpiece. This is a safety feature to slow down or stop exactly what happened at the parade with the bridle coming off, and I’m willing to bet they weren’t braided in.
SMART, SMART, SMART! Love that idea!
I do love that idea, and as a very amateur driver I had never heard of it. I want to ask, though– doesn’t the overcheck do the same thing? Or is that not effective, due to the ‘slide’ quality of the check? Hate to sound dumb– just wondering why with all the old drivers around this area, I’d never noticed the braiding.
I would think an overcheck would help; we don’t have any on our harnesses here, so I’m not positive. I’ve gotten in the habit of now braiding in the bridle of any horse, a driving pair, driving single or even for riding. All it takes is an extra thirty seconds and a braiding band. And it looks pretty too, especially if you get a band that matches the other metal on your harness or tack (the silver and gold colored ones)!
Driving bridles are often heavier than riding bridles, especially in the bit, so I think they tend to come off easier if given the chance, especially if the horse does the knee-jerk reaction of bringing its head back and up. It sounds like a lot of basic carriage safety rules were broken in this incident. There were no headers, no out riders, sounds like there was no groom on the carriage (who should have been the one to tend to the bridle problem, NOT the driver), probably no braiding in, and some video I’ve seen looks like the traces broke or slid off very easily or were absent.
It might have been preventable. So sad
As an aside, I’m getting ticked off how the media keeps calling it a “rampage”, like it was intentional.
I know! I complained about the use of the word rampage above. This was nothing more than a tragic accident. Preventable, obviously. Intentional, hardly! I am so sorry for the driver. He left his wife on the carriage and I really don’t know how experienced she was but the horses got out of control and the worst case scenario happened.
Do you know of any videos that show how to braid in the bridle? Preferably over YouTube or some other site
We drive, but we don’t drive teams, so I don’t know much about that. I do know that team hitch horses can reach each other easily and rub against each other. Although, the bridles SHOULD have throat latches. (Mine do)… so you would think unbridling would be hard?
We do road driving on our back country roads… but even there, people speed and it’s terrifying sometimes. We drive on Sunday mornings when there’s the least amount of traffic, and keep the drives short. We usually just drive to a local subdivision and drive around there. No traffic.
I’ve always thought about how cute it would be to drive in a parade, but on another board, several posters mentioned their experiences with riding in parades, and after reading about the way spectators behave… I’ll NEVER ride/drive in a parade. Sounds awful.. common Joe has no respect whatsoever for the horses, and most people posted some horrifying experiences.
This is a bad situation all around, and a tragedy, indeed. What a shame, and what a horrible way to spend a holiday weekend.
visit my blog – all about my horse search.. which might be over now! just brought one home yesterday.
http://www.kshai1715.wordpress.com
I was the chairman of my club’s Parade Committee for many years. Can’t count the # of parades I was in. There is nothing that compares to hearing “Oh look, here comes the horses!” It just grows from one end of the parade route to the other. I was sure the horses were always one of the highlights of the parade. People would call out and thank us for being in the parade. And I loved it when the polite people came up to us as we were getting ready for the parade, and my group let the kids pet the horses and talk to people about our wonderful animals.
But the parades always ended the same way — with one huge sigh of relief that once again nothing bad happened. And I never did experience anything horrible. Sure, alot of horses side-passed the entire route, a few people would dismount and lead. But always a sight of relief at the end that all the horse units finished the parade and no one got hurt.
There is NO WAY you can control what happens in a parade. IMO it is one of the most dangerous activities you can do with a horse, dangerous for both participants and spectators. Even with my years of enjoying doing parades, it would not bother me ONE BIT if a national law was passed banning horses from parades. I would understand it, and throw my support at it.
All except for wanting to see the Budweiser Clydesdales…
Kt,
That is about the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. If you don’t want to ride in parades, that is fine. Don’t. It is not up to you or other people to tell me what I can and cannot do with my horse. As it is, I’m sick of having to deal with all the legislation for all the stupid out there… this limits those of us that do have a brain and would like to enjoy certain activities.
Yea, as laws go, that one would be pretty close to the bottom of my wish list. Some horses do an amazing job as parade horses. I’d much rather see a ‘hitch’ inspector, or better yet, ban those darned sirens and fireworks. Now THAT is a law I might get behind!
Oh wait…. already is a law. Just… not enforced.
I’d LOVE to see actual ENFORCEMENT of fireworks laws. That would be a very good start in preventing accidents.
Sweet Pea,
If anyone is guilty of a stupid comment it would be you. KT, who you shot down, sounds well informed on this topic. It’s the people who actually know what they’re doing that know the dangers involved. KT has watched people like you with a god-damned right to ride in a god-damned parade if they god-damned want to jeopardize everyone around them with their ignorance. Yet people like KT still participate despite the hazards of all the people who don’t know what they don’t know putting everyone in danger.
kt, I agree with you 100% . There are too many things that can go wrong, and too many uneducated people out there in the stands. I am amazed that there are not more accidents.
I am a ‘driving person’; on a well-regarded driving forum, a poster who spoke to a friend of someone else who was driving a horse in that parade said that this driver told them that the pair was ‘antsy’, so was put into the parade toward the back. One horse reportedly ‘slung its head’ while standing, got its head caught under the check, panicked, and in the stuggle, pulled the bridle off the other, and they took off.
Many on this forum have postulated that what is called a ‘gullet strap’ might have prevented the bridle from being pulled off, but in the situation described, that is open to question. A gullet strap is a short strap to connect the throatlatch w/ the caveson/noseband under the jaw, similar to how a halter is made. It is a good idea(esp. on short-eared horses!), but not ‘foolproof’. In the scenario as described, it might not have made much difference…
Most serious, not ‘breed-ring-oriented’ drivers, do not use checks, esp. overchecks. They indeed CAN present an extra ‘danger’, as well as needless discomfort for the horse.
Big issue w/ parades is the number of “Yahoos’ who show up, be it riding OR driving. Knowledgeable riders/drivers know their horses, know their safety practices(having a header walking alongside is one of the better practices; some who ‘do’parades posted about parades where they were PROVIDED by the parade management)–but MANY just ‘show up’, with horses that haven’t been out of their pens since LAST YEAR’s parade!nCase in point…I recently ‘rode along’ w/ a serious driving friend in the rodeo parade in Santa Fe. It went fine; it is a very small, short parade, lightly attended by very restrained and polite ‘audience’. We were in a freight wagon, behind a solid mule/horse pair, who are well-trained, NOT ‘allowed’ to rub on each other(another factor that might have helped prevent this horrible accident–SOLID and proper training of the pair, and the driver’s close attention to enforcing this training–something that should just be a ‘given’.) Yet, AFTER the parade, some idiot let a STALLION get loose, run down to us, where it accosted first the molly mule, then the gelding! It was a dangerous moment, with her tied animals just trying to get out of the way, and the four of us trying to keep from being trampled in the chaos! Thank goodness for the man who was with US; after the inept owner grabbed for and lost the dangling lead off the stallion(who was ‘mounting’ the gelding!), our friend was able to grab and HOLD ON TO, the stallion’s lead and take him OFF the gelding and away from both the equines and the rest of us women! This wasn’t a ‘vicious’ stallion, just a totally undisciplined one–but his actions were very dangerous, all the same! No apology was even made, except by the wife, who muttered that ‘accidents happen’….and they all took off in a big hurry..surprise, surprise!
Serious drivers acknowledge that driving is a more inherently dangerous equine pursuit than riding. That said,
I have been in a number of parades, including our state’s biggest, the State Fair parade, quite a few times…BUT, I was driving miniature horses, and most often, with a header walking alongside-there is a lot less ‘exposure’ to some of the hazards of being on pavement w/ miniatures…not shod, much lighter weight of animal, etc. I’ve enjoyed parades, but would not even attempt to drive a ‘fullsized’ horse/multiples in a parade nowadays, not because I don’t trust my own skills, but because there are too many factors outside of my control in most parade venues.
I am so sorry about this tragedy, for ALL involved.
Margo, aka olehossgal
“I am a ‘driving person’; on a well-regarded driving forum, a poster who spoke to a friend of someone else who was driving a horse in that parade said that this driver told them that the pair was ‘antsy’, so was put into the parade toward the back. ”
Oh great. Well, I guess that tactic of putting stuff in front of them to hold them back did not work so well.
This is a whole other blog topic: Just say no. When you get somewhere and it is obvious your horse has lost his marbles, you do not HAVE to participate. Sometimes you have to accept that the equine brain has checked out for the day.
I am an experienced parade rider, and the back of the parade is the WORST place for a pair of excitable horses to be. Being at the back of the parade means much more waiting before you can start moving, and it means stopping and starting frequently during the course of the parade. I think the biggest safety issues with parades, besides poor organization and crowd control, is ignorant yahoo drunk (yes, often DRUNK) horsepeople. I did a parade last year that had a runaway wagon and three hospitalizations . . . and believe it or not, the hospitalizations were separate incidents with horses that weren’t related to the runaway wagon. Needless to say, I will never do that parade again.
You know, it just occurred to me that I have never written about this before, and I need to. We’ll do an upcoming blog on the topic of drinking & riding. And for that matter, drinking and then driving the trailer. Boy, do I see this stuff a LOT, and always have.
Could you include the hazards talking on the phone, texting, and reading the blackberry while riding too? It’s my pet peeve when I’m riding at the always crowded LAEC. If it’s dangerous to do it while driving a car that pretty much goes in the direction you point it, I think it’s doubly dangerous when you are on the back of an animal that could…you know…go pretty much wherever it wants to at a moment’s notice. I’ve had to hit the brakes a few times while riding with someone in the arena who is paying more attention to their cell phone than the other riders right next to them.
I have more stories of drunken riders than I can count. It’s both dangerous to people and animals nearby, and abusive to the horses being ridden. Once I was even assaulted by a drunk rider (yes, I filed a police report). I’ve never understood the whole subculture of carrying the reins in one hand and a beer in the other. Can’t people stop drinking long enough to ride their damn horse?
That’s the scary part– many of them START drinking to ride their horses. What? Are they so scared that they need the ‘relaxing effects’ of a beer or five before they get on their horses? Mine is a great ride sober!
Oh man, drinking and riding. We reeeally need to do a topic on the Mardi Gras parade horses supplied by a certain stable in New Orleans (I also mentioned the topic above)… Wowsa. Lots of drinking and riding as well as drinking and heading the horses being ridden by drunks. Oy! And most of the horses are absolutely unfit for the job and get sent right back to the shady little meat man auctions they came from after they’ve made the stable a FORTUNE in “rental” fees during Carnival season… Sure they all get Ace and have a “header” (who more often than not was found on Criagslist and has no horse experience), but half of the horses are lame (and made to parade for miles on pavement with bad shoe jobs), and the other half are poorly trained at best. It’s pretty hideous, honestly. I’ve been considering trying to do an “expose” of sorts for a couple of years now… They need to be shut down.
Exactly. Ride (or in this case drive) the horse you have today. Any horseperson with half a brain whould know that they are not robots and they WILL have off days. Just because old Daisy was totaly bombproof yesterday doesn’t mean she will be tomorrow. Especially if you’re in a situation with so much excitment. Is there no common sense anymore?
My heart does go out to all of the innocent that were injured in this situation, including the horses. Has anyone heard if they sustained any injuries?
I participated in a parade a while back and I have to agree with “just say no”. I mean, my horse was fine (besides head tossing impatiently a bit whenever we stopped and stood), but there was one guy on a lovely draft cross that was wigging out while everyone was getting ready, even before the lineup happened (so out in an open field area, not actually having to stand in the lineup yet). Thankfully, the rider took the better part of valour and that horse did not actually end up in the parade. Kudos to that guy!
YIKES! What a wreck! Why was the wagon going so fast??? To me, the horses seem very out of place, I’ve seen driving teams up close before and something seems wrong with this guy’s harnesses, something might’ve broken off.
I often ride on the roads, my horses do not wear metal shoes, I think they are dangerous on asphalt. If those horses had been barefoot they would’ve been able to stop before hitting the other cart. I agree that a road is not the best place for horses, but we have to make some compromises. Horses were the first effective way to travel after walking. Horses are our heritage and that’s why we have conserved the right to ride on roads. Cars are supposed to respect and yield to horses (at least in our town’s laws), even though some people only try to spook your horses. You have to prepare your horses for anything. We usually start our horses on streets that aren’t busy, we might see one car or none. After they are okay with that, we move up. We certainly like riding trails better, but to get to them, we sometimes have to borrow roads.
This is a sad event but in that little bit of film, I see a lot of things going wrong even before the wreck. Horses are going too fast for my comfort, cart in front has stopped for unknown reason, wagon driver is not paying attention, horses seem to be able to touch each other… I believe that the buggy isn’t hitched up properly, there seem to be a lot of space behind the horses, horses seem a bit hot and aren’t placed properly in their harness / space. It might have been a harness mal function. These things could’ve been prevented easily… accidents are always preventable on one side or another… in this case both sides (cart in front and horse wagon) seem to have made mistakes.
Another thing, no matter how bad we want to go out on the roads, we DO NOT take horses that are “off” one day out on roads. If the horses seem nervous for some reason, we do not ride out, we work on schooling at home. If his horses weren’t right that day, it was his responsibility to not put the lives of innocent bystanders at risk.
I don’t like to be on asphalt with my horses, mostly because I’m afraid of what could happen to one of them in they slip and fall, or slip and… I don’t even want to type that. But I don’t know that it’s possible in 2010 to say “I’m never going to have my horse on asphalt; we’ll always stay on dirt roads, etc.” I like to trail ride, and so I have my mares at a barn where I don’t even have to trailer anywhere to go out into the woods or take a nice path (that used to be rail road tracks, and now is a beautifully tended trail.) But there still are places where you have to cross a road, and loops where you have to be on the road for a certain amount of time. And my TB mare and I were very nearly hit by a car that slid on gravel (so no asphault) a year and a half ago; scared my mare into a light colic and had my adrenaline levels through the roof, I can tell you.
In this case, it looks more to me like the public had absolutely zero horse sense, and in my opinion, that’s the bigger problem in this accident. In 2010, you have to figure that about 95% of people just are not smart enough not to do something that’s going to freak out your horse (or even worse, they’ll do it and then not realize that what they are doing is freaking out your horse… I even had this happen at a horse show one time: the idiots that were sitting just outside the arena, right next to the first fence, decided that the moment my horse and I were approaching were a good time to toss their white plastic chairs into the bed of their pickup… thanks a bunch, Bubba.) Those same people will not be smart enough to get the heck out of the way when they need to.
I went to see a parade with my husband awhile back, and there were several horses and carriages. We were on bikes, and were leaving when we crossed paths with them, and my husband was a bit confused when I quietly stopped, got off my bike, and placed both of us in the horses’ view (so they wouldn’t be startled) but well out of the way. Not many people think to do that.
I love to see horses in parades, and I think mounted police, for example, are wonderful (although accidents do happen: http://videos.leparisien.fr/video/iLyROoafJGWM.html The horse was recovered safe and sound, and the rider was fine, but that must have been scary for everyone involved…) But I think that the public needs to be at least fairly warned ahead of time that horses are live animals, with minds of their own, and that even the oldest, most dead broke, bombproof horse can spook or be stung by a bee, or get angry because some stupid kid is taunting him… I would be willing to bet that a lot of the injuries could have been avoided if people had been asked to stay back from the street a bit, or not to sit alongside the road when the horses went by. Maybe I’m a scaredy cat, but I certainly would never have felt comfortable sitting in a lawn chair just feet from where a horse a cart are driving by.
I hope all the people injured will recover fast, and the family and friends of the person who died have my heartfelt sympathies.
That brought back memories. When road riding many years ago, two black dogs burst out of hiding and ran at my horse, barking. He took one giant leap sideways, his legs hit the ditch, and down we went. I had my feet out of the stirrups before he got up, but he beat me upright. Those damn dogs started barking again, and he turned tail and headed out across the field toward a busier road, which led in two miles to a highway. The owner of the dogs came running out of the house, asking, “Are you okay?!”
Me: “Yes.” in a growl– I was NOT happy.
Him: “Wow… he’s pretty fast.” Watching my horse disappear into the sunset (and onto the next road).
Me: “Yes. He’s AAA bred.” In a grim voice. I was never very good at math. How fast would he have to run to make it to the highway in X number of minutes?”
Him: “Want me to try to catch him with my truck?”
Me: “That might be good– I don’t think he’s coming back.” Ever.. coming back EVER. Thanks to the dogs.
We jumped in his truck, took off, and when we caught up with my horse he was loping uncertainly down the road, with about five cars behind him. He evidently hadn’t planned on leading the parade that day. Fortunately, none of those cars tried to pass him, and there were no oncoming cars. Do you suppose horses have nine lives too? We zipped to the front of the line, I leaned out of the truck and yelled, “Hey YOU! Are you lost?”
The look on that horse’s face was priceless. He broke stride, slowed down, and clearly said, “Wow. Mom.. where have you been? It’s scary out here by myself!” A simple whoa at that point stopped him, and I gathered his reins and we were good to go. After uh.. thanking the long line of cars that hadn’t passed him. We were less than a mile from the highway at that point. I can still imagine a different ending, if the traffic had behaved differently, if the guy with the dogs hadn’t been home, if I hadn’t trained the horse to come when called… Ugh. It’s really funny in hindsight, but only because it ended well.
Charm,
Glad the story of your horse getting out on the highway had a happy ending. How did you train your horse to come when you call? I really, really, really want to train my horse to do this but don’t know where to start. Our barn is also not far from a highway that has a blind curve and also once I build up some more confidence in my riding abilities would love to trailer to other locations to ride and being able to have my horse come when I call would give me even more confidence.
Kate, I was lucky with this particular horse– I spent a lot of time playing games of ‘chase him away’ and then call him back, with lots of loving and attention. He was a real attention hound, and would follow me everywhere (although obviously not when loud black dogs come running!). I have had horses who would rather do just about anything but come when called. I use treats quite a lot, although not every time, and I never hold it up to them. If they come, I’ll slip a treat out of my pocket and give it sometimes. Other times I just pet or rub. With this horse, he COULD have just kept going– his panic level wasn’t high enough at that point to maintain a bolt, so he was willing to listen to a friendly voice.
When a horse does get loose, picture the herd dynamics of a spooked herd. They take off, and then the dominant horse often will turn and face whatever was spooky, even blowing through his nose in a snort. The others then slow down, arc back toward the dominant horse, and will even sometimes return to him. That is the behavior you want to foster, with you playing the role of the dominant herd boss. It never hurts to practice in the paddock, and as long as you make it a game, horses don’t mind being chased, and then called back for loving and attention.
I was trying to remember which Russell Crowe movie it was with that last (totally fake) scene where he’s on the train in handcuffs and he whistles. The horse sucks back, breaks free and runs after the train (I started to Google Russell Crowe Doc Holiday and Russell Crowe douchebag kept coming up ha ha) It was 3:10 to Yuma. That scene is like a secret fantasy. How cool if you’re horse would come galloping over with a whistle. By the way did anyone see that Trigger is for sale at Christie’s Auction House. I might have to go visit Trigger-even though it’s creepy stuffed Trigger.
I ALWAYS call my horse for its meals. She gets several meals a day (because I’m skinny and have trouble carrying her feed bucket once the feed is wet down if it is too full, so I split it in more meals. It’s better for their stomachs anyways lol), so she ALWAYS comes when called.
Always use the same word to call, or you will confuse them and they won’t know when to come and when not lol
I’m not the person who you asked the question of “how do you teach a horse to come when called” but I can give you how I teach them. I never call a horse to come unless I have a food treat in my hand when I call. Always make it worth the horses time to respond to you! Treat, treat, treat. Call him out of the pasture just for a treat (and a pat or two) and then just let him go back out and call him again sometime later just for a treat. Never lie to your horse. When he comes when called treat every time. After a while he will come every time he sees you before you even call. That’s O.K. too—give treat and pat because he came. I know it sounds like I’m turning my horse into a nuisence but his ground maners are well in place so that he doesn’t mug me for treats just quietly expects his treat to be ready when he comes as called. Also, lots of work on voice command “whoa” and “stand” are imperative if your horse should get loose from you in a strange place.
I have driven in parades for many years and YES horses can rub on each other and unless you have the throatlatch tight, it is easy to pull a bridle off. I drive minis and since they are so small and close together, they can easily turn their heads around and hook their bridles or reins on the hames of their team mate and then you have a real problem. I have to keep the throatlaches tight because their little ears are only 2-3 inches long and the bridles easily come off. I use a side walker who walks along side my team to help straighten out any problem. However, in a panick situation, a sidewalker will not be able to hold back big horses, esp. since they can only hold one unless you have two side walkeers, and they too can easily be knocked down and trampled. If you stand in front of the team, you will be impaled on the pole and if you stand off to the side, you can still get knocked down and possibly run over by the wheels. It is nearly impossible for the driver, esp. on a taller wagon (picture the Budweiser hitch wagon) to get off quickly. Even if you can jump off, you can easily be run over by the turning wheels. If the horses jacknife the wagon, as in turning too tight or backing up, it can easily turn over. Many parades no longer allow candy to be thrown from those in the parade. If you want to give away candy that you must have someone walk along side your buggy/wagon/float and hand out the candy. This saves kids from darting into the street. When kids are bent over picking up candy in front of them, they are unseen by float drivers. My minis wear Saber Sneakers, which are lace up tennis shoes for horses so they have excellent grip on the road surface. We once were at an event where a side walker grabbed ahold of their nervous pony’s bridle, pulling it off over it’s head. The pony leaned into the collar and bolted, dragging it’s team mate with it. Even with the marathon’s brakes and the skilled driver standing up and pulling all her weight on the one horse’s reins, when one has lost it’s bridle, there was no stopping it. I would think that the bridled horse would simply stop and that would be enough to hold back the unbridled horse, but untrue in most cases. When one panicks, the other horse follows suit. The ponies bolted back and forth across the grounds at full gallop until the buggy ran over a jump standard and stopped the buggy. And, we were at a local fair once when a Halflinger team jacknifed their hitch wagon, rolled it, and bolted down the center of the crowded mid way. Driving hitches in public can be very scary and the general public has no idea how much danger they can be in, esp. the people who allow their kids to sit on the curbs, or crowd out into the street during parades. I drive little minis, but even that is sometimes worrisome. I would NEVER in a zillion years drive a full sized team or drafts among the general public on city streets.
For those interested in possible explanations of this driving accident by experts in carriage driving, check out the COTH (Chronicle of the Horse) driving forum. It IS possible for a driving pair to rub off a bridle, leaving very little control of the still-bridled member of the pair, and NO control of the loose horse. These horses apparently spooked at becoming unbridled, and kept spooking until the unthinkable happened. I personally think that Fourth of July parades have become almost too dangerous for horses in general to participate. No escape routes, no room for error, and poor planning by parade organizers has horses in front of brass bands, blaring sirens, clown cars–you name it. When my daughter used to ride her small Welsh pony( dead quiet, unshod) in our local parade, I insisted on accompanying her on foot with a lead rope and halter, just in case he needed to exit the parade route for ANY reason. I pretended to be there to carry water, so as not to embarrass her! I saw so much dangerous behavior by horses, riders and spectators at those parades. I believe the only safe way to drive horses in a parade would be with two ( at least) ‘headers’ on foot accompanying the carriage or wagon on the route.
“I personally think that Fourth of July parades have become almost too dangerous for horses in general to participate. No escape routes, no room for error, and poor planning by parade organizers has horses in front of brass bands, blaring sirens, clown cars–you name it.”
EXACTLY my line of thought.
I think a big part of the problem (aside from education about animals, of course) is that people assume that, oh, well, if THESE horses have been entered into the parade, then SURELY they are used to anything that can be thrown at them, and so there couldn’t possibly be any problem. People forget that horses are live animals, and so not exactly as submissive to the demands of handlers as, say, a motorcycle…
Oh no
I have it when horses with blinders panic. They are dangerous to themselves and everyone else. Horses who are panicked in general are dangerous but when they can’t really see what they are doing it can be so much worse.
Even if their harness was adjusted right, which it sounds like it wasn’t, they should have had outriders & grooms ready to grab the horses in case of a runaway. I can see in the video that there’s someone still in the cart which suggests that he’s a moron. Most knowledgeable drivers will bail because they know an out of control buggy can easily flip over.
And yes, most driving horses will stop on a dime when you say so but these were in a parade situation with loud crowds, music, & whoknows what else!
This takes me back to our towns annual horse-drawn Christmas parade. Some rich dumbass thought it would be neat-o to own draft horses so he bought six head just to drive in this parade. All of the handlers were local “cowboys” that didn’t know squat about driving. All of us drove our own buggies behind them just incase their horses did spook (which they did, in many occassions!)
Gently, BigandSmall. I believe the person in the wagon was the one who was killed. She was a passenger, not a header or driver.
:S
Normally Im with you pretty much 100 percent Cathy, but this is one instance where I disagree. To think that in 2010 horses should be driven/ridden only on dirt with no motorized traffic is pretty unrealistic in my opinion. Depending on where you live, it might not be an option at all. Horses have been in parades for as long as their have been parades, and probably always will be as people love seeing them. The unfortunate fact is that there have always been, and always will be accidents when you are dealing with 1000 pound animals with a mind of their own.
Reminds me of the time when I was a teen and myself and two girlfriends were riding a trail in the country the was alongside a pretty quiet road. My friends 16.3 thoroughbred suddenly bolted for seeminly no reason ( there were no cars passing and the other two horses didnt even flinch) jumped off the trail and went onto the road and took off at a full gallop. Horse was around a corner and out of sight within seconds. He ran almost two miles thru 3 intersections and a railroad station before he finally stopped. It truly was a miracle that nothing hit that horse and killed my friend.
Shit happens..it can happen anywhere at anytime for no reason at all. Thats just part of the risk of riding/driving horses. Very sad and unfortunate.
I don’t think it’s unrealistic. If you have horses at home, you have a field to ride in, or you can put them in the trailer and drive them to horse trails – that’s what most people do.
The number of accidents with horses on roadways in recent years is pretty frightening. It’s just not safe out there – bad drivers, non-horse-friendly footing, and not a great surface to come into contact with if you do have a spill. It is hard to imagine a situation other than mounted police where you HAVE to ride on roads.
Like I said, I guess it depends on where you live. I grew up in rural New England in the 70′s and there were plenty of safe places to ride. Here in Arizona, where the average “horse property” is just 1 acre there is often no field to ride in. And the kids cant come home after school and hook up the horse trailer and just drive to the trails. So they saddle up and take off down the road…..
Even if they want to ride along the canals (not necessarily the safest place either) they have to cross 6 lanes of traffic in many places to get to them.
I actually feel sorry for people who own horses who have to live here. Most will never know what its like to live in the country and just be able to ride for miles and miles over open fields and trails and never see another soul. It was the best!
To be honest, in this area, people would laugh if you suggested that no road riding were to occur. We have wagon trains complete with outriders that are on the roads, we have group trail rides that use the roads. My family rides on the local small roads (never on a highway).
The difference is that we never ride alone on the roads (I did as a teenager/young adult), we always watch how our horses are shod (with borium, or left barefoot), and we watch cars like a hawk now, because drivers just aren’t careful.
We live in Amish country. I’m not saying that road riding is a safe pastime. I’m not even advocating it. But it is common, and frankly I think it should be common. I’m more an advocate of getting better drivers of cars than just clearing out a 50 yard swath on each side of the road in case little Johnnie isn’t paying attention while he drives his new birthday Vette. Many people use horses for transportation here, and I don’t think it’s fair that they have to feel so afraid of being hit by cars.
The horses ran head on into a combine (giant metal thing) and DID NOT STOP. The guy was on the news and showed where they had run into it and it was dented really bad. The horses didn’t come to a stop until they ran into a bus/van (Again, head on) where they collapsed from exhaustion. It doesn’t sound like they just rubbed their bridles off, and for them to keep running like that makes me think something was broken and poking them as they ran.
I have personally never seen a driving headstall that DOESN’T have a throat-latch. Where were the outriders? I have spent many Santa Barbara Fiesta Parades’ as an outrider. One year I had to grab a hold of one horses headstall, who was part of a team. The mare had gone ape shit over a flapping banner carried by a troop of Girl Scouts. While I was able to prevent mangled kids and bystanders. The wagon wasn’t as lucky it suffered extensive damage, the mare went to kicking and splintered the tongue to bits. The horse I was riding was used to dealing with crowds and wagons, he was also a ranch horse, who in his early training was trained to ground tie.(which would come in handy later when I had to dismount and help get driving lines and wagon passengers to safety) That day I was thankful for the horse I rode and my other outriders that were HORSEMAN and not just there to ride a long in the parade.
While I didnt see this, I will comment on the dangers of riding on asphalt.
As a part of a rodeo drill team for Bremerton, WA we attend local parades and such. My comment is that during parades, many of the horses on our team slip and slide on the road with their shoes and at one point during our annual appearance in the Viking Fest Parade, we walk up and down hills on the road. While my horse fares better than others because he is barefoot, even he can slide occassionally.
And another comment: MAKE SURE YOUR HORSE CAN WALK CALMLY THROUGH A PARADE! There are a TON of kids that want to get up close and touch the ponies. Some horses jig down the roadway which is entierly very unsafe to spectators and the horses themselves.
Just my two cents.
I forgot to add, my heart goes out to those who were injured.
And on your note that horses + cars don’t mix, some people riding in a horse drawn buggy near where i live was hit by a car on county road. The general flow of traffic on these roads are 70 mph. *headdesk*
Sure. It’s like EVERY SINGLE TIME some asshat tries to ride or drive across the USA to prove something, HORSES DIE. I mean EVERY DAMN TIME. I’ve covered a number of the stories here on this blog. The asshat who had the brilliant idea never dies, always some poor horse or more than one.
How can you say that? Have you heard of the horse logger? http://www.democratherald.com/news/local/article_be390c82-797e-11df-b1c8-001cc4c002e0.html he has covered an estimated 8,500 miles with 3 years. no accidents!!!! YOU don’t have runaway horses if they are trained properly. Also take a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EXoXcHW_1w there is also another video I am trying to find just to show what proper training can do. If you have runaway horses, it’s not the horses fault its the training. Sorry but that is just my 2 cents.
http://www.thelongridersguild.com/
For more on long distance riders.
On another note . . . this topic is really interesting as it brings up the ethics of giving horses tranquilizers. Fugly, I would love to see a blog posting / discussion on this. I’ve never given it to any of my horses for any reason.
Also, Horse Journey,..
Mine made it 3,000 across the US from No Cal to Washington DC w/o any accidents. And the driver was in a wheel chair. Several years later he drove their cousin from Kentucky to Florida with no problem. On the other hand, he’s a world class competitor who brings home the blue consistently in combined driving, so perhaps he is safer than most,…
Long time reader, first time poster. I love this blog and check it daily.
I drive and I hate seeing things like this. Not only does it freak me out but I’m always amazed at how many horses are in parades. Now I have to say I’m guilty of this myself. I used to work for a vet and we had a float in the local parade. Well they begged me to bring my horse down. I thought well what a great experience for him. I took him. All went well thank goodness. I did not ride him however. I sat on the back of the float and with a bale of hay and had him walk behind it with me holding him the entire time. He was more interested in the hay than the candy being thrown at his feet and the balloons in his face.
However, I would NEVER drive one in a parade. Street lined with kids and handicapped adults. NO WAY!! Anything could happen. Keystone cops, go carts, cats in wagons..who knows. I have been asked many times and I refuse.
As for the bridle being rubbed off. This is something that happens when you drive a team. However it is easily prevented by tying their heads to the outside hame ring so they can’t get to each other. Mine is notorious for shaking his bridle off during driving because of the flies. It’s scary believe me. If your horse doesn’t know whoa you’re screwed! Some of them know exactly what they are doing when it comes to this and will bolt when the bridle comes off. Just another form of getting out of work.
Poor horses are traumatized and not to mention the injured spectators. What a tragic thing to happen.
This is my driving pony, lovingly named..Pony
CUTE!
We drove in a parade in my 4-H group back in the late 70′s. I believe the next year we took 2 of my grandma’s horses and drove them both, separately, in the group also. I believe that we also took the trophy the first year that we took Mirjam and the Country Cart with the Issaquah Kickapoos. Parades are a little bit different then just going for a Sunday stroll out on the road with traffic though, for one the speed of things and there aren’t any cars whizzing by you at 50, 60 or 70 miles an hour.
rideNdrive
Your pony is the absolute spitting image of my first horse Mikey!! What a cutie!
Mikey has been gone 30 years now and I still miss the little brat…LOL
Oh My Goodness! He might be the cutest pony I have ever seen! (I mean that!)
Yankeeatheart and Missfit,
He is pretty damn cute isn’t he!! Great personality too. Picked him up cheap. He was sitting in a field for years. I wanted a driving pony so they let me take him for 2 weeks to test him out. I don’t even know if he had any driving experience, even though they said the previous owner drove him, but they had him for 5 yrs and never did. I ground drove him and hooked him to some logs and a couple pallets before I hooked him to the wagon. The day I did hooked him to the wagon he walked off like he never had time off. Also he is great on the roads. Nothing has scared him so far anyway, and believe me I get some idiots on these roads even though I do live in a very rural area, farm community. I don’t understand why people think It’s OK to beep at me when they pass by. It’s like they want to see an accident happen!!! Not mention the combines and the loose dogs!! AND SLOW DOWN FOR GODS SAKE!!!
Driving horses usually can reach each other to rub and things like that. There’s only a (roughly) 4×4″ pole that seperates the two horses. That said, somebody *SCREWED* up in the harnessing. I can’t see enough of the harness to tell, but if you’ve ever seen a driving bridle up close, they’ve got big nice throatlatches on them to prevent just that sort of thing from happening. Which means someone didn’t get the throatlatches tight enough. As far as I can tell, these people broke at least 3 cardinal rules of driving:
-Check your harness! Make sure it’s fitted properly, all the leather is sound, and everything is adjusted properly. Driving is dangerous enough without breaking something important like a rein or a trace.
-For each pair of horses in your hitch, have 1 groom/header on board your vehicle. At the very least, you must have at least 1 header. When the vehicle stops for more than few seconds, that header needs to be down in front of the horses. That’s why you never see anyone driving a big hitch alone. In a parade situation, you should have your header walk up with the lead pair just in case.
-Training, training, training. Do NOT take a hitch out in public (be it a single, pair, team, 6, whatever) until you have absolute confidence in their training. That includes a complete mastery of vocal commands – walk, trot and WHOA! Especially whoa. Iron clad whoa. If you ever get a chance to ride a good driving horse, you’ll find that you can (at the very least) control every speed with voice only. With the drafts, you can steer them as well, since most draft drivers teach “gee” and “haw” as well.
Even with all of that in place, accidents happen. Like everything else with horses, all the training in the world can go out the window if a trace breaks while you’re traveling down the road, or a dog runs under your horse’s feet.
BUT, if the horse rubbed the bridle off, then it was probably standing. If it was standing, then where was the header??? I rode in a parade on Saturday – our drill team does a parade every year. We only had three riders and we STILL had a “safety rider.” I didn’t ride my horse, instead, I rode on the back of a quad and was ready to assist in case of a horse problem.
These looked like light horses, so my (total speculation here) is that these people may not be full time drivers. Just like in every other discipline on the planet, driving has it’s fair share of occasional drivers, who don’t do anything with their horses until a parade or some cousin wants to get married. Then they grab the horses out of the pasture, throw the harness on and off they go. They tend to have the same sort of results as occasional riders. Except that, when an accident happens with two horses panicked horses dragging a 500 lb piece of equiment, the potential for bad things happening increases about 500%.
Parades and horses are an interesting question. Yup – they’re all kinds of dangerous – kids run out under the horses to grab candy, people make all kinds of noises – we had multiple kids blowing horns directly at the horses. People just don’t know that they’re scaring the bejesus out of your horse. But the rule is, don’t expect civilians to know how to act around a horse – know how (and be able) to control your horse.
The thing about parades (and why we do them) is that the art of horsemanship is dying – every year it gets a little harder. Riding in a parade reminds people that they love horses. People clap harder when the horses ride by. A new generation of little girls (and a few boys) are inspired to start begging for a pony. It’s a very public avenue to see the dream of having a horse of your own.
So, for that reason, once a year, we suck it up pull our best old “been there done that” horse our of the semi-retirement pasture, put on amazing hot but very shiny outfits and we ride a parde.
Finally, as far as safety on pavement goes, there are solutions for that too. If you’re doing a lot of parades, you can have borium welded on your shoes, which does a better job of gripping the pavement. (But I wouldn’t recommend it for too much non-pavement work.) That’s what some mounted police units use (although there are other alternative now that are easier on the horses.) Also, if your horse has the feet, barefoot is also a good way to go. Less slippery than a shoe. (Though not practical for a horse with a thin hoofwall or dropped soles.)
Like everything else in horses, the same old rules apply. Train for it and be prepared.
Good post = )
Agree about “occasional drivers.” A LOT of people think their well trained horse will take to driving easily and do NOT spend the hours involved to instill in them a level of control necessary for driving – especially in a parade situation. So frustrating. Plus, a lot of part time drivers never spend the time to get thoroughly educated about all of the bits and pieces involved in a harness and the proper adjustment for each of those pieces. *sigh…
It doesn’t look to be that vehicle traffic was responsible. 4th of July parades, with all it’s noise from poppers, firecrackers and such is NOT a place for an unaccompanied carriage, let alone horses who look to be young greys. There should have been either outriders on quiet, been-there-done-that horses and/or head walkers: experienced people who are there to see whats was going on and respond. I did MANY parades with our draft horses (I was one of the grooms/workers) and we always had someone either riding alongside on a seasoned horse and/or head walkers. I walked many a parade route alongside with a black leadrope attatched to a Belgian’s bridle (the driver was in command, I was just there to be a mobile extra set of hands if needed) to help prevent such a mishap. Dressed in either all black or a solid color to match the team wagon’s colors, along with the other girl who walked beside the other horse, we “blended in” and didn’t detract from the visual splendor of the wagon nor the important town folk who rode in it waving. And yes, there should have been a spacer to prevent the horses from touching each other….for that exact purpose: to avoid nipping and rubbing on each other. Competion/show driving bridles may not use them, but in a public area like this, it’s a safety precaution. Even when driving my steadfast mini in a parade I have a friend as a headwalker, carrying leadrope, walking close by to grab the bridle if needed. Unfortunately, many folk think that they can drive a team no matter what. It looks much easier than riding….the horses look easier to control at times. They don’t realize that lessons should be taken from an experienced driver/handler and all proper safety issues should be covered and understood, including proper tack and how-to harness up and hitch properly. I cringe when I see harnesses and bridles which don’t fit properly and are hitched up incorrectly and carts/carriages that are completely wrong for the horse/pony it’s on. Like a saddle, the harness and vehicle MUST fit the horse/pony too!
This was very very sad. At the same time, it’s all to easy to understand how it could have happened. Get a series of cascading events and mayhem results. So, should horses never be allowed in parades? Or is there another way to reduce harm in these scenarios?
I’d be fine with no horses in parades. I just think it’s a big risk given how spooky horses are, the slippery surface, and crowds being right up at the street with (typically) no barriers whatsoever.
Think about it, even at shows, there’s a fence between the spectators and the event with the horses. Rodeos often put up extra panels and have kind of a buffer zone to ensure that stock don’t get into the crowd. Parades have nothing.
I have heard from friends who have worked in the carriage business that once a horse wrecks, he isn’t suitable for using in the carriages anymore. The carriages here will sell them to recreational riding or driving homes if they wreck or just end up being not suitable for the carriages for whatever reason.
I have to ask… how do you feel about police horses? They constantly deal with huge crowds and I’ve never heard of a police horse wreck. But again, the average parade horse is not going to receive the same amount of training as a police horse.
I have to admit I do ride on the road, but only out of necessity. It takes a short trek on the road to get to the trails that are by where I board my horse (these aren’t super busy roads though and it’s definitely no parade!). My horse is barefoot so there’s no issues with slipping.
Sadly where I live, since so many horses live in near-urban areas, traffic is just something you have to deal with if you want to go on a trail ride. I’ve definitely had some drivers zoom past scarily close… and they then got a good yelling at by me! Thankfully I have a confident mare. Even so, if I see a car coming I will stop her in a driveway or off on a shoulder or something. And if she is at all tense or I’m not sure I will get off and lead her–with myself between her and the traffic!
One thing I suggest if people have to ride on the road is to get a high visibility vest. You can get equestrian ones that have “PASS SLOW AND WIDE” printed on the back.
Police horses go through VERY extensive training to minimize the odds of a spook – but it STILL happens.
I would prefer police patrol on bikes or motorcycles. Again, the safety of the animals is my concern. Police horses have been attacked, stabbed, etc.
I for one love that we have police horses and dogs- we’re finding ways to work with animals that work even better than machinery, and I like that we can give animals jobs and be partners with them, rather than letting them be purely recreational. I like that they have important purposes. Horses get attacked in a field of other horses more than they do by criminals. Not like getting stabbed is good, but in reality horses are much meaner to each other… Police officers get attacked too, but I guess you could say they have a choice. Maybe they don’t have a choice, they have to feed their families just like their work horse has to earn his food. In any case, I like that we are able to work closely in a partnership with animals, and that they serve an important purpose.
Well, yeah. Not that I am saying it’s ok but you do CHOOSE to become a police officer and choose to take that risk. Nobody is asking the horse. That said, lots of horse activities have some risk to the horse, none of which he chooses. I guess it depends upon the danger of the situation. I can see where a horse might help a lot to control drunken fools but I’d hate to see one put in a situation where it was likely someone was armed.
Well, I asked my horse if he wanted to go in the trailer, he said no, but I still made him go in there anyways
I’m sure with most horses if you ask them if they want to do anything that involves leaving their pasture, they’ll say “no”, but we still make them do stuff. Although I think some horses like their jobs, even police horses.
One more thing, I do think my horse would say “yes” if you asked him if he wanted to do a hunter pace; I think he likes them, even though he has to jump over scary things, which does involve a certain amount of danger, maybe even more than police horses who don’t have to jump cross country.
So, Fugs, are you uncomfortable with having horses drive cattle? An unhappy cow or especially an unhappy bull can and will kill a horse just as quickly as a drunken idiot, and the horse doesn’t have much say in that, either.
There are very strong reasons for using horses instead of bicycles for crowd control. If you think about it, the places you tend to see mounted cops are also places where you tend to see big groups of people gathering: strips like Bourbon Street, in gatherings in Central Park, and so on. (The other being in parkland and rural areas.)
*Command and control…a mounted officer has a major height advantage and can see what’s going on well-out in the crowd. Bicycle cops can’t do that. Cars can’t do that. Horseback riders can, and do. The height advantage is also a basic bit of psychology. The person up high has control. Conversely, folks on the ground can see the rider.
*Crowd moving…people will move away from a horse. They won’t necessarily move away from a car, even one with lights and sirens. They definite won’t move away from bicycles. Even without a rider, folks will move away from a horse. Having a horse that will walk around, over, and through people gets the job done, without seeming threatening in the way jackboots and billy clubs does. If you’ve ever watched one of the big draftie crosses as police horse competitions gleefully (with arched neck and ears up) shove bystanders out of the way, you’ve seen this in action.
*Socially acceptable intimidation…you get the same kind of crowd moving and command advantages from a tank or APC, but try that in a university town on Saturday night when the football team just won and you’re asking for a riot and congressional investigations. Go on a horse, and you don’t.
I didn’t say horses shouldn’t be used by police. I was just pondering that it’s not particularly safe for them. Maybe they ought to at least have some sort of vest on them like the officers do, something that would protect them in front. You know, a modern day lightweight version of armor!
I’ve been told that the police prefer horses for crowd control because the horse itself is so much more intimidating than a cop on a bike (motorized or not) to someone standing next to it. Not sure if that’s true on not…but I’ve heard it from more than one person.
I’d totally believe it! I’d be more intimidated by a horse than a bike, and I’ve been around horses all my life!
I think it works both ways. The horses are more intimidating to unruly people, and more friendly to children and the general populace.
I have also heard that children, and the civil population in general, regard a mounted policemen as ‘friendlier’ and less intimidating. They give people at a social event less of a feeling that they are being ‘policed’, except for the people that the police are there to guard against.
It’s the height advantage. When you’re talking to a mounted officer, and you are on the ground, you’re looking up at least twice the height of the normal human eye level.
Like I said, try to get that advantage with an armoured personnel carrier or a tank, which are also good for the purpose, and you will be in a world of trouble. Try it on a horse and it’s socially acceptable.
I live in a rural area where some drivers are considerate and others not, but pretty much whoever is coming up the road we pull the horses off and let them see what is coming toward them. The funny thing is they pretty much do it automatically when they see vehicles coming up the road.
Every year, where I live, we have the Lebanon Horse Parade. It’s all carriages. The people who run it run it very strictly. There are police officers holding the crowds in, barriers with 20-30ft clerance between the spectators and the carriages. It is loud, but not nearly as loud as a regular parade would be. People are very well trained not to yell or scream or clap. I think they do a great job with it, and for some reason, I’m always on my 14 year old toes to go help if something went wrong.
The horses and ponies all seem to be acclimated to the parade, and it’s done at night and during the day, with proper lighting. They go up one street, and then double back with a large square to turn around in. I loved seeing it, and they had every kind of horse imagineable, all decorated for christmas. I did see the police remove people from the crowds due to unruly children. I did not see ONE carriage without a driver and a side walker (Meaning that there were at least two people, even for the minis) They did have bigger teams, of 4 and 6, and those had a side walker for each horse. They did a very good job with this parade, and they have been doing it for many years. The story is horrid, and I wish people would be more careful in crowds.
“even at shows, there’s a fence between the spectators and the event with the horses. ”
Actually, a girl was killed several years ago at a local show. The horse was being led from the barn to the riding arena, spooked and took off running. The girl stepped out from behind a car, and the horse hit her and killed her. Freak accident? Maybe. But the point is, accidents DO happen. You minimize the risks, but you can’t totally eliminate the potential for a disaster.
I am a supporter of changing the way people respond to the world around them, instead of changing the world in an effort to wrap people in bubble wrap. Most of the time we agree, but not on this one. I’d love to see regulations to make these situations safer, but I disagree with the idea that a team of horses bolted during a parade, so no horses should be allowed in parades. How about we make it clear to spectators that standing under a horse’s hooves is a stupid decision to make?
At our 4-H horse show years ago, we had to put up gates and then keep them closed going into the makeup arena. Were the horses the problem? Nope… the families pushing strollers (Yes… occupied strollers) right THROUGH the middle of the makeup arena was the problem. Maybe natural selection is the way to go?
I have seen horses in speed events come over fences toward spectators. With animals you never know for sure how they will react.
I know of a horse that ran out the gate and jumped the bed of a pickup.
It’s true, you really don’t know. Although a closed gate helps!
“I am a supporter of changing the way people respond to the world around them, instead of changing the world in an effort to wrap people in bubble wrap.”
*sigh* amen.
And also, instead of changing the world to make is so easy to sue over every little thing!!!!! More natural selection, please!
Unfortunately, it just means you’re open to being sued for everything you own, and your income for the rest of your life could go to some asshat. I try to keep my horses -away- from the general public, period, because the general public is you and your horse’s your enemy. I don’t mean that every person out there is a hopeless asshat, but the reality is that the closer you are to random people, much less crowds, the more of a risk you take, and there are plenty of idiots out there. Riding or driving in any public place opens you up to legal action if things go south for any reason. I ride at a local beach, for instance, and although it’s usually fairly sparse and I stay well clear of people, I do worry that my horse could say, dump me and then run over some people who didn’t notice the horse galloping towards them because they are freaking oblivious to their surroundings. My horses aren’t fire breathing maniacs by any means, but they still have their moments sometimes. It’s scary to think of what could happen if the right combination of horse “moment” + idiot came together – well beyond them spooking my horse and ME getting hurt. I tend to agree with fhotd and some of the other posters. A parade opens people up to legal implications they may not fully appreciate and is a disaster waiting to happen if there is bad planning and an oblivious crowd. The guy was silly not to take more precauations where he could though – like the bridle :/ Ugh.
Also, a lot of the comments here shine a huge spotlight on the problem of the shrinking number of places to ride. Not everyone has a truck and trailer (I have old ones and it’s -still- a big expense, both initally and upkeep). Even then, not everyone has a place within reasonable trailering distance. I have to say, I am very surprised at how horse friendly Cali is. It just doesn’t add up, for the epicenter of cycling and snooty backpackers to be so horse friendly, but it is. But in most places, where there -is- public land available (and it’s usually much scarcer than Cali), horses have been or are being pushed out. People think of places like Nebraska as having endless places to ride, but it’s not true at all. I mean, there -are-, but it’s a lot more limited than you might think. -Everything- is planted fields. The park next to where I keep my horses legally allows both horses and bikes, but the asshat cyclists put up signs saying “no horses” around about half the park and the stable owner doesn’t want to force the issue because he knows the cyclists have more support. By the way, a lot of people resent horses even where they have solid access, such as some parks around the San Francisco Bay Area. God forbid they have to step over a road apple on the trail from those “rich assholes’ horses”. To be honest, we need an image makeover, but that’s hard to do when you’re justifiably terrified to let any stranger get within 10 ft of your horse, even if it’s reasonably “nice”.
Oh, and at that park we can now “sort of” ride in, if my horse poops anywhere on the trail, I have to get off and push it off to the side – not a rule per se, but the stable owner asks that we do this not to give the cyclists any more reason to try to actively kick us out. To be fair, there are some idiots from another stable who apparently ride recklessly and give all riders a bad name, but ugh. Also, I’ve met a few cyclists and most of them have been nice, and one even slowed way down when my mare, who hadn’t seen bikes, started getting a little nervous. I really appreciated that.
Baby strollers at shows drive me NUTS! People always just shove the occupied stroller right out into traffic in the warmup rings without looking. It’s like they are TRYING to kill their child.
i saw this on the news and it looked, to me anyway, like the horses were in fact slipping everywhere while they were running. as for the horses rubbing heads in harness, yes they are that “cozy”(as far as i’ve seen) but thats why driving bridles have throatlatches(which these idiots probably didnt tie tight enough) i have never liked to see horses in a parade, whether their being walked, driven, whatever. its to risky and all it takes is one cannon shot, a loose dog running through the parade, some flying candy or some horse eating balloons to set them off. horses are to unpredictable to risk this. its to bad that people had to die for these idiots to realize this.
Heard briefly about this but can’t bring myself to watch any video about it – am I correct that one person died? How did the horses fare? Any opinions about whether or not they will be safe to drive again, either individually or as a team? “Rubbing” off the other horse’s headstall sounds odd to me but I am only familiar with driving horses singly. Interested to hear what those of you who drive frequently think about all this. Goes without saying that driving + ashpalt is an evil combination for whatever reason; ask any former Amish road horse – like mine…
My trainer does train driving horses, and the gist of what I’ve gotten from her in the past is that once they have a wreck, they are pretty much ruined. In fact, if they are in an arena with someone who has a wreck, that generally fries their brain for further showing. She will pull out of a class if she sees a horse in the warm up that is iffy looking…she simply won’t show if it looks like something bad is likely to happen.
Yes, some horses who have a wreck will not be able to recover and drive, but that also holds true for some riding horses. Some horses do not have personalities suited to driving, just as some aren’t going to make good jumpers or endurance horses. I drive a pretty energetic hackney pony, and have seen some fairly bad wrecks. Like everything, whether a horse is ruined depends on the horse, the wreck and the driver.
In fact a friend of mine made a driver error with her OTSTD and the cart actually flipped over trapping her. Her horse was laying flat on the ground. He is well trained and laid until we unhitched and she told him to get up. He shook, we looked him all over, rehitched him and drove him home – he never had an issue. He had been used to do carriage rides, train young horses and he was a winner on the track until he bowed his tendons. He also have a wheel come off a buggy he was pulling, another time he had another horse being driven in a different cart attempt to climb in the buggy he was pulling, he had a young colt rear up and flip over(he got stung) when team driving. The command given calmly is just “Whoa Bob”, and he stands. He is currently 30 yrs old and living a very cushy retirement life in her pasture with a belgian and an arab.
My harness broke once causing the shaft to poke my pony, she jumped a couple of times each time it poked her, this continued for quite sometime. Finally the cart came loose and she stopped. I have hooked her again no problems….and this pony does have eye issues. My friend and I have driven both of these horses through our small towns, and down the gravel roads around our farms without issue. That said, I wouldn’t take my pony in a parade – that would be too much commotion for her. You need to be very aware of what your horse or pony can handle, KNOW your horse or pony.
Yes an wreck is not going to help the horse with their training, but I am not sure I agree that one wreck will ruin a horse.
Tragic event. Been on the news all night. Guess we’re going to ban horses from parades now. Too bad, always a favorite.
Even horses used to the crowds and noise of a parade can be frightened. I think having a person walking along side can be very useful. My friends pony was pulling the cart just fine, had done it before, parades ect. But when we got to the stage area, the loudspeaker was SO loud, said pony did a quick little rear, rear. At least the passenger was smart enough to finally jump out and grab his head. And he was unshod. I almost had borium put on my mare’s shoes. I had to keep circling her and it got dicey a few times. Kept just my toes in the stirrups in case I had to bale. If she had come close to the crowd I would have been off and handled it from the ground. The kids sitting on the curb when the horses go by always made me anxious, even as a spectator.
6 blocks is a long way to stampede. Geez…
The headstall coming off sounds like the beginning of the wreck. WTF?
From what I understand the guy who was driving (and owned the horses and carriage) has done the parade for years, so he was experienced. He was driving with his wife, daughter-in-law and two grandkids in the carriage. His wife was ejected out and is the one who was killed. The daughter-in-law and grandkids were in the cart when it flipped, but they had only bruises and scrapes. When the horses tore the traces free, the driver held on to the reins trying to stop them and was dragged down the street.
Two comments: First this was an experienced driver, and experienced horses, but still it happened. Horse will spook, and no matter how bombproof you think they are, they are still animals of flight.
Second Why didn’t the carriage have brakes? I don’t know if that would have stopped them completely, but it should have slowed them down enough to get them under control. I would never drive a carriage anywhere that didn’t have brakes.
As for the bridle coming off, that can happen to anyone. The bridle has a throat latch, just like any English bridle, but anything can be pulled off. I bet when the one horse rubbed, the bridle got caught on the shaft, or some part of the other horses harness, and was pulled off. When that happened, the blinkers may have pulled over the eye, or just the feeling on the head being trapped may have set the horse off.
Good point about the blinkers, etc. making the horse feel trapped and freaking him out. That could have been it, indeed.
And good for the driver for doing his very best to stop the horses, but it just proves my point that it’s simply too dangerous of a situation for horses when you put them on pavement surrounded by pedestrians and vehicles and spooky stuff. If even an experienced person could not prevent this wreck, what of all the less experienced riders and drivers?
I believe it was last year when a cop accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes and plowed through a bunch of spectators. A single fatal accident does not mean horses are too dangerous to ever be allowed in parades.
That is terribly sad for the family and for the injured bystanders.
Shoes make riding on slippery surfaces even worse. Last year my horse was shod on the front only. We were in a trail course going across the bridge. He fell as his shoes slipped right off the wood on the bridge. There are increasingly more alternatives to metal shoes, most of which I believe are all safer and healthier for the horse.
Yes, I know a lot of people using the boots now…they really do seem to be a MUCH better choice for trail riding, riding on any slippery surface, etc. Not to mention that they do not interfere with the horse’s natural hoof growth (which good shoeing doesn’t either, but bad shoeing certainly can and does!)
Cathy, have you heard of ever simply adding a resin or other rubbery/semi hard substance to the hooves? I always wondered why, with all the great bonding materials we have, that we couldn’t simply ‘add hoof’ if needed to a horse that was chipped or wearing down too quickly. It would wear off at a similar rate to a horse’s hoof, and could be trimmed, shaped, etc… I just wondered if I’m brilliantly ahead of my time with this thought, or if such a substance exists and I’m oblivious as usual.
There are fillers…I’ve seen them used when I had a mare that had white line. But I don’t know the specifics.
I am dating myself here but my dad grew up driving teams and riding horses. He would never allow us to ride in a parade. He thought that was the most dangerous thing you could do on a horse. With driving horses it isn’t if you are going to have a wreck but when. Even in the good old days they had big wrecks with horses who were being used everyday. Parade wrecks have happened before including fatalities. A lot of parade horses have a little something in them to calm them down. If you think about it there is a lot of things to spook at in a parade. As an adult I rode a totally bomb-proof mare in a very small town parade and she was terrified of the balloons. We made it with no incidents but I haven’t been back since. My condolences to the families involved in this incident.
I know what you mean about the horses having a little something in them to calm them down. I used to be part of a group that showed arabs in full costume at the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade. Each horse got a little something to take the edge off things plus we had at least 3 people walking on the ground with leads just in case something were to go wrong. It is both very fun and nerve-wracking to take a horse in such a large parade. It is also amazing how many parade committees will not take into consideration mixing horses with some of the rest of the parade entries. One year we had horses with a fire truck behind us that would occasionally sound it’s siren. It was a very long cold nervy walk, even for those of us on the ground. We have never had any problems but just like anything having to do with horses there is always the chance something bad could happen. We only used very sane well-behaved horses but we still never would have done it without extra people walking next to the animals.
It’s illegal in many places, and in my opinion, always immoral, to give horses “a little something” to do something like a parade. A parade is entertainment, and I don’t think of drugged horses as entertainment.
I have ridden in our town’s Christmas parade for the last six years or so – lucky enough to have a marvelous native Banker pony to ride. She’d been in every parade since they started – fifteen years ago or so. Never a relaxing experience even with her… kids on mopeds, shriners spinning in tiny cars, motorcycle brigades and the ever popular firetrucks with screaming sirens.
I witnessed several troubling brushes with disaster – one was a “crazy” arab who lost her shit and nearly took out a whole group of children. The rider couldn’t even handle her on the ground… it was a very frightening situation.
When I got my ottb last year, one of his selling points was that he had been in parades. I even saw video of it – cool as a cucumber. At the last minute I decided not to put him in last years parade and have since come to find that the horses in the video I saw had some chemical help from a vet who boarded at the barn with them. Good call I’d say.
Riding in parades is really fun when all goes well, but the level of faith you putting in other folk’s horsemanship and the common sense of the spectators is scary… I’m glad I’ve ridden in parades but will probably sit on the sidelines from now on.
This is Ginger and I last year – she passed away from a choking incident a couple of months later at 30+ years old.. loved that girl
You look REALLY familiar… Philadelphia area? My email is cygnata at gmail dot com.
-Cyg
Must be my doppleganger – I live in the steamy south
P.S.
Shortly after this photo was taken I began wearing my helmet every single time I ride, without exception. I got plenty of commentary as no one here rides with a helmet. Figured my brain is (way) more important than my vanity
In towns I agree with you – I would never ride through the centre of town however in the UK, in many places there isn’t any option but to hack on the roads, plus it can be very good for fittening work. I’m lucky, in the summer we have a couple of decent length rides around the side of crop fields but in the winter there isn’t anywhere else to ride but out on the road. Because we’re rural most people do slow down but not every one does so we’re always careful to introduce the horses to traffic carefully. My young mare doesn’t bat an eyelid at air brakes going off or cars because she’s used to them. We also stick to quiet roads. Most of our hacks also include going over the top of the motorway (or freeway) on bridges as the quiet roads are on the other side of the motorway, however with time and a good lead they get used to even this. It’s still kinda scary for my mare but she’s getting used to that.
This senario with horses in the middle of a parade I can see being a bad idea
It’s a touchy subject. I see where you are coming from but I think we should have horses in parades. I think parades should be careful who they allow and they should insist on special shoes, such as those used by mounted police. We need equine ambassadors to interact with city folks or we will lose the sympathy of the general public. Horses inspire the imagination but they must be well-trained to be trusted near the public. As depressing as it is to see marine mammals in captivity, the amount of public awareness and donations given to help their wild cousins, as a direct result of people getting close and personal with dolphins, is astounding.
It sounds like a proper harness, outrider, or just a focused driver could have prevented this tragedy.
Here are a few of my ideas:
1) Perhaps, we could have something akin to the Canine Good Citizenship so horses can prove basic manners before they are allowed at public events.
2) In addition, inspection of tack and harnesses by an experienced horse-person should be required before any horse is allowed to join the parade line up. No, the horse should not have been able to rub off their bridle on the other horse. What the heck was the driver doing and who harnessed that team?!
3) The use of outriders, ready to stop the team, would have prevented this outcome. It is critical, however, for the team to be accustomed to the outrider through practice.
4) Parade organizers should also ensure that drivers do their job rather than worry about waving to the crowd. If you have ever seen a Budweiser team live, you’ll notice that the driver never takes his eyes off his team but there is a passenger there to wave to the fans.
My farrier in the past has told me they have some special stuff they can put on the bottoms of shoes that is designed for riding on asphalt (for parades, etc) that is really rough so they can get and keep traction. Can’t remember what he called it.
I believe that is Borium. My geriatric Belgian gelding has 2 small borium dots on each of his hind feet to help him with traction as he has started to slip often.
His giant forelock makes sense now though, with Belgians being bred for harness and the drivers braiding their bridle in. So cool!
When we were at our hometown parade yesterday (north of Pittsburgh), my boyfriend mentioned that some town around Pittsburgh had their parade the day before and the horses went crazy and all that. I didn’t believe him at the time because he isn’t really fond of horses and figured he was just trying to make me mad. So seeing this today made me realize that he wasn’t lying, haha!
But in all seriousness, I do agree with you. While it’s fun to see the horses, they can spook and things can go wrong. And with so many kids and slow-moving people around, bad things can happen if they spook or freak out or whatever. Yesterday at our parade, some dad just left his kids sitting in front of us (rude, I know) and walked away. They were sitting right on the edge, like several other kids….I can’t even imagine had the few horses who rode by us dong something.
Also, the last horse in the parade:
Very popular theme in fugly
(sorry, long time reader but first time poster…don’t know how to post photos!)
Huge horse, with something covering his eye, handler doesn’t even have proper shoes on, rider has nothing to hold on to besides mane….and NO HELMET. Apparently the parents don’t understand how much pavement hurts when you simply trip, much less are falling from a huge draft.
WHY DOESN’T THAT CHILD HAVE A HELMET ON ???!!!
I’ll take a stab at the picture.
-No helmet.
-Bareback only instead of a properly fitted child’s saddle.
-No bridle for the child to have any control. If she isn’t a novice, she shouldn’t be up there so why the hell doesn’t she have control? Sure, mom can also onto the lead rope of the halter fitted underneath the bridle.
-The horse’s vision is obscured, much like blinkers would do.
-The child is not wearing proper riding attire although she actually wearing boots, which is rare in these cases.
Very stupid people got very, very, lucky.
I’ve ridden in four parades and, each time, despite that I had properly shod, well-trained horses, I had an “oh shit” moment somewhere along the route. I’m getting too old for that adrenalin rush so I’ll be on the sidelines ready to snatch up my kid and run if something goes wrong.
Can I just add…. WHY IS THAT HORSE WEARING A BLINDFOLD!?
In almost 20 years of riding, I’ve had two serious accidents. The second was not asphalt related, but the first was. It was about 15 years ago when I was remounting my mustang mare (on the roadside) and she unexpectedly lurched forward towards a group of other riders in the far distance at the exact moment my rear was in the air headed towards the saddle, resulting in me landing not IN the saddle, but behind it. Which she did NOT approve of in the least, and popped a perfect heels over head buck, throwing my already unstable self right over her head onto the asphalt, headfirst. Helmetless. Oh, the joys of vanity. (you think I mean the helmetless, right? No – it was the vanity of training my own BLM mustang at an early point in my horse career…I didn’t even own a helmet at this point)
While I was briefly unconscious and bleeding profusely, I recovered consciousness within a few minutes, mounted back up (mare was standing quietly the whole time), and rode home in that adrenaline fueled and bleeding out daze that allows for a single minded purpose only. I probably should have gone to the hospital, but never did. The grey mare was red when I got home, as were my clothes, with blood. I was fairly well out of it for days, and it took a long time to heal since I refused to get it stitched up. Had a great knot on my head composed of dried blood, hair, and bits of asphalt that eventually must have operated as a bandage holding my flesh together, because it DID heal, in time.
However, I have ridden since then on roadsides, but only with very select horses, and only on occasion. I’ve been shot at by rednecks wanting to scare the horse, I’ve had fireworks shot off towards us, and of course, all manner of morons yelling, honking horns, etc. My criteria for riding the roadsides not only includes a reasonably bombproof and quiet attitude, but the movement or shoe/boot type that prevents slipping. A shod horse with traditional shoes is dangerous to himself and others on several types of asphalt due to the extreme slick nature of the finish. Not all roads are the same, and PARTS of the same road may be different than others. I’ve found driveways and smaller roads tend to be more slick than highways. The older I get, though, the less I want to ride the roadways. Last time I did it was with a completely (and I mean completely) bombproof TWH that I was going to advertise as bombproof and wanted to be damn sure before I sold her. She’s the one where rednecks shot at us from under a bridge where they were fishing – her only reaction was her skin flicked like a fly was on her.
That said, I don’t own a horse I’d ride on a busy road right now. Every time I get one to that level, they sell rather quickly, and I always seem to have a new one needing to be worked/trained, etc. Many horses are never suitable, but are great in other areas. I’ve only had 4 horses that were traffic/moron safe. I’m getting to the age where I can afford to trailer my weekender somewhere nice and ride in (relative) safety whenever I want, anyway – the roads are for the young and fearless.
As far as driving horses being able to rub their bridles off – not if the harness/bridle FITS. I see a lot of oversized harnesses being put on horses and mules, however. I drove a team for carriage rides as a part time job about 8 years ago – even with that experience I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but I sure cringe at what I often see in parades and on local wagon trails (yes, we have wagon trails here in TN, and they are fairly popular).
And as for riding horses rubbing bridles off – I have a 2 year old filly that is now doing all her ground work saddled and bridled. Part of my young horse routine is long hours standing tied before and/or after work (something they need to do quietly as adults while camping) and I’ll usually leave a bridle on for some of that time, especially when it’s still new. She can handily remove any (even minor) loose fitting bridle with the assistance of the fenceposts or any solid tall object. She is very adept and thoughtful during the process…she’s also the one who can open gates, steals and runs off with the water hose (running or not – she prefers it running), etc. For months I thought someone was letting my horses out with malice – I was ready to start padlocking everything – until I caught her opening a gate and waltzing out like she owned the place. Fortunately, there is so much distracting green grass that they never GO anywhere, they just happen to be on the wrong side.
Another bridle-lost story: When my 4 year old was 3, during one of his very first trail rides, the bit snaps BOTH apparently failed at the same time, the reins were attached to the bit, which was no longer located at his mouth but around his neck. It happened during a canter (his first trail canter), and was one of those moments that you are so very happy that you do so much groundwork before saddle work, because not only did the verbal whoa work, but the neck pressure did, too. Not that I’d trained for neck pressure, but the idea of responding to pressure ANYWHERE was a help.
Similar bridle falling off story: I was cantering a three year old colt who had just recently graduated from the round pen to the arena when I noticed that he wasn’t steering around the circle as smoothly as normal. I looked down and saw that the cheekpiece had broken and the bridle fell off. It was dangling under his head by the bit, which he had held onto. That wonderful colt kept his head set, steering, and brakes and let me stop and dismount without incident.
Sounds like a tragic accident, that could have been prevented with proper safety. That is too bad. Sometimes people take for granted how big and unpredictable these animals can be. I think driving can be difficult even in more controlled environments, because at the Stampede here I have seen horses get a little bit iffy in the driving competitions which are held indoors where there is less distraction than in a parade!
As for riding on the roads, I’d be quite happy if people stopped! We have a boarding facility down the road and the people there have zero sense! It is a miracle that no one has been hit and killed. The road is quite busy, and the ditches are deep in most parts so you can’t ride in them. This road often has multiple cars at a time, and there is a bunch of construction for new subdivisions so there is always construction equipment and traffic. These people always ride down the MIDDLE of the road – and don’t even think to move over when there is cars coming. They ride in runners and shorts, with no helmets, and smoke! The worst situation I saw was when one girl was riding her mare bareback down the road (in shorts and runners) and had a foal running loose along side. Yes, LOOSE on the busy road! If you are going to ride on the road, at least where a helmet and when you see a car get OFF the road. When there are 2 cars coming in opposite directions, they stay on the road in front of one of the cars – which is always good, because horses love being followed by vehicles! People like this just make me crazy, because they are going to get hurt or one of their loose horses is going to hurt a human. (But of course these people also think it’s ok to come flying out of their driveways and across the road, despite on coming traffic, on bikes and quads – so you know they are very intelligent)
My sister and I used to go riding in the ditches on our road, but the traffic has increased so much that I wouldn’t even think about it now. Horses are too unpredictable, and I’m not signing myself and my horse up to get hurt!
“As for riding on the roads, I’d be quite happy if people stopped! We have a boarding facility down the road and the people there have zero sense!”
That’s my main objection to it. PEOPLE ARE NUTS. Look at all the drunks on the roads. Do you want to be out there with a horse? There is no protection for either one of you. Hell I won’t go out there in anything less substantial than a Volvo. There are just a bunch of loons out there and way too many of them are drunk or high.
“The worst situation I saw was when one girl was riding her mare bareback down the road (in shorts and runners) and had a foal running loose along side. Yes, LOOSE on the busy road!”
Just horrifying.
Speaking of bridles that come off…
I prefer not to ride with the currently very popular “2 ear” (or 1 ear) show bridle for my Western classes. It is a little old fashioned, but I show with browband bridle that has throatlatch strap also. As a chronic worrier, or perhaps more accurately, “compulsive contingency planner”, I’m always trying to anticipate what could go wrong, even though horses are much like little boys and one can not possibly anticipate everything they will do. I just do not want to take a chance that the bridle fall off, fashion be damned.
We have the trendy 2 ear but we use fishing line for a throatlatch! Otherwise we’d be doing a bridleless exhibition with the naughty VLC whether we planned on it or not. Apparently, no one cares if you use fishing line and a lot of exhibitors do it.
Well… hauling to trails is not always practical, either. I live in a rural area and I ride roads a lot. I deliberately choose roads with wide shoulders, though- room to get out of the way when a car is coming. Areas with no shoulder, I do not venture into. I’ve always got one eye on my exit route!
The nearest public trailhead to my farm is over 1 1/2 hours away and so I can only go on a weekend, and then only if I can get my truck away from my husband, who uses it to go fishing! If I were depending on trailering to trails in order to ride I’d rarely get to ride, and I could forget about competing in NATRC CTRs like I do.
Road riding is not so bad- IF you do it carefully and sensibly. For one, stay off the actual road as much as possible! Get off the road when traffic approaches. Wear a helmet! Avoid busy roads. Desensitize your horse to traffic BEFORE riding him out onto a road. And remember that the most unflappable horse is likely to get freaked out by teh Clampetts, flapping tarps, moving trailer homes, farm equipment, tractors, log trucks, and other scary things that use the roads. If you see something approaching that you are worried will frighten your horse, get far out of the way, and if you can’t, get off!
One last suggestion– make eye contact with every single driver you see coming. Put your hand out, wave, get their attention. I seriously make eye contact with EVERY driver, and if I can’t make eye contact with them, I’m moving off the road in a hurry.
Oh, and if there are too many cars to make eye contact? You are on the wrong road.
I get the trendy saddles with silver. Fine. Doesn’t effect the saddle’s effectiveness even though it does add weight, but why on earth is it trendy to have marginally effective bridles? I will not use the split ear bridles. Heck, I don’t even like using Chicago screws on tack but you have to in all those fancy classes. If I EVER bother to return to a show ring, it will be in working classes only, LOL! We can chase cows all day.
Shudder~
Years ago when they first came into style, a pleasure horse was being used for handicapped rides. He pulled back for some reason while being led, and his bridle came off. They grabbed him before he went too far, but… can you IMAGINE!?
I agree about horses and roads not mixing. I rode in an event once where during the cross country, the horses had to cross a paved driveway on part of the course. Sure, you see that sometimes with events, even the big ones, but they go to the trouble of covering the crossing with plenty of dirt so it’s not a deathtrap. Not so in this case… the organizers apparently did not think that galloping horses with metal shoes crossing asphalt was a problem! If that wasn’t stupid enough, I witnessed rider after rider actually galloping their horses over it! Imagine the horse’s surprise when suddenly, they’re skating. I was doing beginner novice and cared not about time penalties, so I slowed to a walk to cross it.
When I was a kid, and couldn’t wait for the riding ring to unfreeze in the spring, I would ride my horse up and down a grassy shoulder next to a road. She was the definition of bombproof, so I wasn’t worried about her, but I did become worried about the drivers eventually. Some people were so careful, passing slowly and far far away, but others zoomed right by at top speeds, and a couple of people actually TRIED to spook my horse. They’d honk, or yell out the window… one person threw a piece of trash at us. ?! Why would anyone do that to a random rider on the road?
I live on a narrow country road down which people speed like crazy. There is no sidewalk and no shoulder at all. I won’t even walk my dogs on my own street, I take them onto the (readily accessible) wooded trails, or bring them to the dog park. There is a girl who lives down the street from me who rides her Arab mare down the side of the road… bareback, no helmet, no shoes. It’s not like she is actually traveling anywhere, like to a friend’s ring or something…. she just saunters up the road and turns around eventually. And her family owns all the wooded land where the trails are! So, why the road….. it makes my brain itch.
One of the best parades I have ever seen was the Ringling Brothers Circus Parade which used to be held in downtown Milwaukee. Virtually every exhibit in this parade involved animals — camels, llamas, and, yes, horses. All of the floats and wagons were horse-drawn. They used the old painted wooden circus wagons and they were beautiful. All manner of horse-drawn combinations, breeds, sizes — it was a horse-lover’s paradise! ALL of the wagons had headers walking beside the horses; some as many as one walker per horse. From what I understand safety was paramount in this parade and horses had to have documented parade experience or be “tested” before being allowed to go in this parade. Some of the circus wagons held tigers, leopards, etc; and the horses pulling these wagons had Vicks Vaporub put in their nostrils so they couldn’t smell the predator behind them!
Both years I attended, the parade highlight was the 40-horse hitch: 40 Belgians! Before this wagon came down the road, parade officials came down the street and had all the spectators standing up — just so, if something went wrong, we could run the heck out of there. No way was any driver / header going to stop 40 panicked horses!
The daughter of a friend of mine used to drive in this parade both in Milwaukee and in Baraboo. It was relocated for some years to the Circus World Museum. She drove in the parade the first time two weeks before her eighteenth birrthday. She had to pass a driving test, not a problem for she had been driving since she was a small child and been doing competitive plowing since she was twelve. Anyway she drove the tiger wagon and yes she had to have experienced walkers and a rider on the wagon. She had a four horse team of Suffolk Punch horses and usually had at least one foal and sometimes a foal tied to each of the lead mares.
Just some small corrections on a couple of things.
Yes, horses that are hitched properly, can reach other( if you allow it ) and touch each other. Mine do all the time for reassurance, communication.
A tight throatlatch does not prevent a bridle from being pulled off. It can help. I had a child ( 3 ? ) reach up and pull a properly fitted bridle off one of mine in a second once. That was an oh s##t moment.
A gullet strap does not prevent a bridle from being pulled off. It can help.
Bridles can hook on most anything. A horse can reach around to grab at a fly and the bridle can hook on the front of the pole…..ect. ect.
The man whos team ran away was not an idiot ( as some here have called him ) It was an accident. I am reading that he was an experienced teamster and he had paraded alot for years.
Had the horses been driven open cheek, seeing the carriage rolling behind them ? One might guess not.
Some lapse in judgement by getting off his carriage to fix his horse’s bridle ended up being a fatal decision that he will have to live with now forever.
Who here has not made one shortcut or done something that we said later….” that could have gone badly ”
Also, FUGLY, blinkers do not cause driving accidents. Blinkers help settle driving horses from having them. Just FYI.
Plenty of horses involved in driving accidents drive again, same day, next day. Not that these will ever be hitched again. Just saying. If a ridden horse spooks at a plastic bag and jumps sideways, will you ever ride it again ? Of course. We train by causing ( as best we can ) every senerio thats possible. You cant plan for elephants. ( been there, Norco, CA parade, right behind one. )
Prayers for the injured and also for this driver / owner. I cant imagine the guilt and pain that he will have to face, with his wife dying, friends and neighbors lives changed…..
Totally agree with your post. This was an accident and hindsight is always 20/20. Good drivers, just like good riders, aren’t perfect and make a mistakes.
Another thing to consider is that around here, farmers often train their horses to stand at a gate while they get out and open it – with no one in the wagon/farm equipment. They then give a good trained team a voice command to come through and whoa while they close the gate. (This is also often a task in a farmer obstacle driving class in our area) It is not totally unheard of for drivers to exit their wagon without a header or someone in the wagon holding the lines. If he had done this at home or at a show (and I am totally speculating here) it may have something he didn’t think twice about.
My heart goes out to the families, the driver and the horses.
I do know of one wreck that was caused by blinders, but this was an unusual case. A friend was driving her donkey and a horse coming from the opposite direction spooked at donkey/cart. Her donkey couldn’t believe that a horse was spooking because of HER! It must be something behind her! She couldn’t see behind because of the blinders, so she did a quick 180. I don’t drive my burrito with blinders but I may reconsider with a horse since they have different fear/flight reactions.
I haven’t the time to watch the video now. But I had to chuckle at your statement about the only places horses should ride is on dirt w/no motorized traffic. Well—-where I live, the ONLY place to ride is on the dirt roads. The chaparral is way too heavy to go cross country without a bulldozer, preferably a D8 at least. However, up in the hills here, there is very little traffic on the dirt roads, which have good space for all in most places. And sometimes we have to ride on the pavement to get from one place to another. The biggest problem is the mountain bikers who will come speeding around a curve or down a hill silently and can be upon one with no warning. The next biggest problem are the “Dirt Heads”–the dirt bikers, the ATVs, the quads & 4 wheelers–who think our dirt roads are their own private playgrounds; and why there has been no head-on collision of a dirt head w/someone who lives here is a mystery. Of course, my one neighbor who took to loading his shotgun w/rock salt and shooting the dirt heads did cause a reduction in their population a while back!
When you really live “out in the boonies” like that, obviously it’s a little different than if you’re in the middle of a city, trying to ride on roads that have FAST traffic…which you do see.
Sylmar, CA is particularly scary. I have almost hit a horse/rider there – people ride in the dark with NO reflective stuff on, right on the main roads.
Couple of weeks ago, I was coming home late on the road you are referencing and knew riders were crossing the street only because I could see a cloud of dust on either side of the road. Then one of them stopped his horse in the middle of the road so that all traffic had to stop in order for his buddies straggling behind could catch up the rest of the group…thank god there wasn’t much traffic for him to hold up, but it’s not smart to antagonize drivers in this town.
Actually, I did that as part of my job with a wagon train. Talk about a PR job. It takes a whole lot of smiling and gushing thank you’s and waves to drivers to keep smiles on those peoples’ faces! Especially when a 20 entry wagon train is what is crossing the road or intersection.
As for crossing roads while on trail rides, standard procedure is to cross as a group, because otherwise the horse left behind can get upset and jump into traffic. The flip side of that is that it is wise to make sure all the riders have caught up so the road crossing doesn’t take very long.
This is why I not only ride with reflective gear, I cover my horse in it too – - because I want to be prepared in case my horse dumps me and runs home without me.
Sorry, sometimes my computer sends on its own. Not sure if half of my post was sent or not. Sheesh.
Anyway my town allows anyone to ride in their 4th parade including the idiots with the cart complete with a Peacock riding on it. they just have to show up. My last parade was when they put the ambulance behind me blowing its horn. I always had people walking with me just in case of a problem.
It is a horrible loss in Iowa. My heart goes out to them.
I’m a bit scared to ask, but what happened to the horses after? Were they injured? It didn’t say in any of the articles I’ve found, and I don’t have volume so I can’t hear your video.
I’m enjoying seeing the few parade pictures posted (although aghast at the one with the little kid bareback). Here’s a picture of me on my grey Morab in my hometown’s Memorial Day parade many years ago. Only adults in our club were allowed in parades, no one under the age of 18. Helmets are optional but you can clearly see in this photo that english riders chose to wear helmets, but none of the western riders ever did. Boy, I loved this horse. I still stand by my earlier post — if a parade instituted a new “no horses” rule, I would totally understand given the liability involved.
What a good looking horse = )
As for going in the back of the parade to be safer … the first (and only) time I took a horse in a parade was when I led my then-6-year-old daughter on her pony, Comet. It was a very small town parade, and I parked Comet at the very end, figuring that way if he acted up, we could just step out. Well … little did I know that the parade was SO small that the whole thing went around the block TWICE … meaning the front became the back. What is at the front of every parade? Of course, the fire engines! Suddenly I had fire engines, ambulances, and police cars right on Comet’s tail, all honking and blowing their sirens, of course. Fortunately Comet, bless his Arab-pony heart, handled it all without batting an eyelash.
And btw, my daughter wore a HELMET, we both wore appropriate riding attire and footwear, and instead of a potentially spook-inducing costume, Comet wore red-white-and blue leg wraps and a few ribbons braided into his tail.
I guess I will be another ‘long time reader first time poster’
My mother has been doing our local 4th of July parade for a number of years now, and every time I go out with her (missed it this year sadly) I typically drive our 33inch mini while she walks. And every time I am super grateful that we spent so long (and continue to do so) spook-proofing him to everything he shows the slightest reaction to. I get nervous enough driving our little bombproof guy and cannot imagine how stressful a parade is for the people who drive a triple hitch team of Percherons every year.
Just last year I had two incidents that made me love me our horse all the more. One of my friends also joined us this past year, a little antzy and plucky but doing alright, I think it was more the excitement that got him prancing than the actual noise. But at one point going around the corner to the actual route our wheels bumped, and when I look back I realized just how big of an accident that in itself could have caused. But we got them out of it, uttering thankful praise the entire time that neither one of them decided that today would be the day to bolt.
It does not help that while we do have police along the route they cannot be everywhere. They claim they keep the crowd back, but that still did not keep some little five or six year old girl from running out of the crowd and petting my horse right next to his next. I swore she was going to get hit by a pole, go down and get run over. Turning him would have gotten her hit, stopping him was the only option, and if he were a hard-mouthed horse there is no way I could have stopped him.
I have always loved seeing horses in parades, they are the reason I go (if I am not driving in it myself) but I am always glad when we get home safe and breath a sigh of relief that nothing went wrong.
Ok so I didn’t read all the comments yet so if I’m repeating what has already been said..forgive me!
I have been to countless parades where horses are freaking out! People that have never been around horses usually end up making matter worse by yelling and being obnoxious. Now I’m not saying that its these non-horsey people that cause any of this but as a horse owner you must take this into consideration before you take a horse in a parade. If I was a horse, a parade would be the scariest thing ever! It takes a special kind of horse to be safe in a parade. Of course, everyone would love to see your Friesian (I just randomly picked a breed, I’ve got nothing against Friesians), with its long flowing mane and tail and its gorgeous movement but that does not make him/her a parade horse! Some people think that if they have a spook proof trail horse that it can handle a parade! Well it could and it could not!
Nothing is more scary than watching a parade and seeing a horse with his head up, stiff necked, white eyed, hollow back, prancing sideways, chomping on the bit and just waiting for someone to move the wrong way and that horse looks like its going to explode!
Hell I’ve seen tiny kids that can’t even reach the stirrups riding in parades without a helmet! Are you freaking kidding me!
And I forgot to mention…….even if you have a horse that is not spooky, this same horse could very easily react if another horse freaks out! Its like a domino effect!
I remember years ago I was riding down the shoulder of a fairly busy road and was kicking up a bit of dust. Here comes some hotshot in a new corvette and he of course was pissed that I was making dust that would end up on his shiny car. Well the dumb ass decides he’s going to show me, so he guns the car beside me, radio blaring the works. By the grace of God and one hell of a horse nothing happened we continued on and the dumb ass had a dirty car.
Now I live on a private dirt road that my moron neighbors treat as if its I-5. I used to ride down the road, and I have to say how surprising it is how many stupid people their are and dont realize just how fast that 1200lb animal could end up on the hood of their cars. I have even had HORSE OWNERS drive like their feet were permanently welded to the gas pedal. Come on folks, slow down, turn down the radio. Im quite certain you dont want my horse and I as your new hood ornament.
No, you can’t be scared by this stuff.
Life is dangerous and unpredictable. Monday Morning quarterbacking this man and his team is useless.
Let parades go on with horses and other scarey things… like crowds of people. This was an aberration, not a real problem.
I am so sick of the “these things just happen” attitude. These things DO happen, but they’re usually a series of preventable mistakes. EVERY accident should be analyzed and learned from. I think the majority of accidents “just happen” with horses the way that drunk driving deaths “just happen.”
Last year during the big parade in town an ambulance needed to pass through the parade quickly. There were all these vehicles decked out going by me at the time, but also a six-horse hitch of Percherons. They killed the siren when they saw the horses, and actually the horses got over to the side of the road much much faster than any of the cars. They had a girl get out and head the horses–the whole hitch, horses and humans, looked like they knew what they were doing. I was like, “Wow, that is soooo dangerous. They’re going to try and take that ambulance pass those horses with that crowd?!!” and no one around me had any idea that that could be a problem.
I could see the crowd pressing again the police tape the horses were up against, reaching out to pet the horses, touching their braided tails, even though I could see the people on the wagon trying to wave them away. Not one of them had any concept of danger, from the fact that they were mostly in flip-flops, to that fact that horses kick, or that the whole shebang could come flying sideways with crushing force in an instant. The ambulance went by with the side mirror inches away from the horses. Thankfully, the horses stayed steady, and were watching their girl who was keeping them all calm. But geez, we could have been discussing my hometown if one of them had flinched.
And that’s not even mentioning the man who was throwing out frisbees to the crowd, who kept chucking them at the team of horses behind him. I could see those horses going OMG O.O and throwing their heads every time one almost knocked their ears and veering around the street. The dude was laughing, he thought it was funny, ass. I got my group to bellow at him in unison to stop before he caused an accident, but he didn’t listen to us. So we managed to get a police officer to listen (it took three tries) and he went up to the guy and had a word with him, and the guy quit chucking things at horses.
“Gee, Officer, I don’t KNOW how that frisbee ended up sideways, halfway down his throat. I’m sure he’ll be able to explain it once they surgically remove the obstruction, and he can talk again.”
You know, parades don’t move really fast. I bet I could outrun that guy’s vehicle. Now, THAT is a good reason to have a header or handler with the driver. To handle idiots throwing frisbees.
Some awesome Percherons… BUT if you aren’t positive that your horses could do exactly what the team paintedponygrrl described did in the event of an emergency (dealing with the ambulance) or dealing with idiots (frisbees) if asked to do so, then you have no business putting your horses in a parade.
Frankly, about the ONLY horses that reliably can handle parades are… mounted police horses and city carriage horses. These are the horses trained and mentally (and physically) equipped to handle the stress of a parade. ANYTHING can happen, and there usually is NO exit route.
Does anyone know what happened to these two horses? How injured they were? Are they safe? Will they be sent to auction?
I hope that they won’t pay for the accident.
Many cheap racetracks have their stable areas paved to and from the track and between barns, which is extremely dangerous for horses and riders but no one is raising hell about it. Go figure!
I just want to agree with those folks who state there is a big difference between a team being driven regularly and once a year in the parade. Ive seen it lots in midwestern states. The local farmer hitches his team up once a year for the parade. Disaster waiting to happen!!!!!!!
Horses + crowds + traffic + loud music and noises = Accident Waiting To Happen.
In this particular case it’s hard to see what initially spooked the horses, but there’s always a few idiots who think chasing the horse is a good idea, aren’t there? Cos that won’t make the horse freak even more!
But really, here in Australia many groups are lobbying to have horse-drawn carriages banned in the cities for this exact reason. Had those been two ridden horses the damage would have been far less. With a carriage hitched to them the horses don’t have the opportunity to bolt off somewhere and calm down because they’re freaked out by the carriage rolling after them, smacking into things etc. and the feeling of being ‘trapped’ in the harness with the other scared horse.
Even the most bombproof horse can have bad day and go nuts at a parade. If we really love our horses let’s not take that risk, and just leave the poor horses at home.
For what it is worth and slightly ‘off’ topic’, Eventors and Steeplechaser here in NZ used to routinely plait their bridles ‘on’ to prevent them coming off if the rider fell and in the process pulled the bridle over the ears. That way they could hop back on and continue. Now that H&S prevents riders resuming after a fall this safety feature has become a little academic in the eyes of some people.
Wow…
I’ve been doing a lot of research on Victorian times recently, and the papers are full of people killed by drivers. We just don’t think about it today, but they were obviously hugely dangerous even when people were used to them and respected them. It seems to me that it would be simple to just get out of the way of something going maybe 20 mph, but in practice it doesn’t work that way.
My mother drives, and she’s let me drive a couple of times. I’ve ridden the big jumpers with no fear, but I gotta say, driving TERRIFIES me. There’s so little control if anything goes wrong, the ways of communicating with the horse are limited to voice and reins, and you’re basically trapped in the carriage, they aren’t easy to get in and out of. On my mom’s birthday I went driving with her and near broke my foot catching it on some bar across the floor of the thing while getting out.
Horses are the reason why i will watch a parade. However of all the parades i remember, the horses always seemed antsy to me. They also make the horses the last part of the parade.
I have yet to go to a parade this year though. This article however caught my eye Monday.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100704/NEWS05/307049938
Just a couple of things…blinders are not to “settle the horses” as one has said. Blinders should not be a crutch so that your horse doesn’t see what is going on behind it…they are to be used so that the horse does not see the whip cue and respond before the cue is given..in proper driving. Much like ridden horses will not wait for cues..driving horses will start doing the same thing and in inadvertant whip movement could easily ruin your dressage test.
And…I really don’t see how a piece of fishing line is going to keep the one ear or two ear bridle on a horse if it rubs it off. I doubt that fishing line comes in 1000 lb test..well maybe it does.
I myself will not drive one of my horses in a parade..or ride in it either for that matter..simply because I have no idea what IDIOT is behind or in front of me.
But, I do occasionally drive carefully down my quiet country road for a short distance..and I keep a VERY watchful eye out for any idiot coming by.
This is unfortunately one of those shit happens..and that poor poor man has to live with his choices. I have seen a good many person driving a horse..that has no business doing so.
I saw a local yahoo…come to a driving meeting in a cart being pulled by a mini..he stopped, hopped out of the cart, left the mini hooked and took of the bridle and let it GRAZE!!!!!! My friend and I left the meeting (new group) and never went back…he was going to be helping out the less knowledgeable people!!!
OT: Anybody else watching the jumping on HRTV right now when we should all be getting some sleep, lol? Man, can Todd Minikus ride. A lot of guys who ride showjumpers scare me, they’re like all over the horse with elbows flapping and lower leg flying everywhere, but Todd is very quiet and controlled and has lovely hands. It is so cool to watch people who can ride like that!
I am not in favor of prohibiting horses in parades. I think that people get too much enjoyment out of seeing them. Safety rules and procedures would be a good thing.
I have driven (single) and ridden ponies in quite a few parades, mostly as a child. I have never had an adrenalin moment. There was one incident that could have been, if my pony had not been so calm.
The town I grew up in put the horses at the end of the parade. I think this was done mostly so that the other units would not have to deal with horse droppings, but it also avoided having anything behind the horses that might spook then.
The town I rode in as an adult had barricades along the edge of the street between the crowd and the parade. It did not allow the tossing of candy. We were not at the end of the parade. I do not recall any other horses except the two neighbors that rode with me one year.
My biggest problem as a adult was that my pony thought that a parade was an admiration op. The first year I rode, some neighbor children were near the start of the parade and called out to my pony by name. I thoughtlessly allowed her to go over and greet them. Children farther down the line saw the pony come over to be petted and started calling “pony, pony†as we went past. That was all my pony needed. She was very ‘independent minded’, so we had a parade-long ‘discussion’ as to how often she was going to stop to be petted. (Answer: not so often that it slows down the parade.)
Our last year in the parade, I drove her. I knew I was going to need a whip to keep her moving. I was afraid the children would react negatively to the driving whip, so I carried my dressage whip directly below one line where it was not very visible. I drove the pony up the middle of the street, keeping her as far as I could from calling voices and beckoning hands. When we reached the main parade viewing area, the barricades had been moved into the street to allow more people behind them, leaving a single lane up the middle of the street. This allowed the voices and hands temptingly close. I decide to trot my pony through this section both to keep her moving and so that she would look ‘smarter’. After the parade, I had several adults ask me why I had trotted through that section. They complained that we went by too quickly and they had not gotten to see as much of the pony as they would have liked. I can only assume that many children felt the same way. It was also a bit of an eye-opener for me that most people don’t care about the horse ‘looking smart’ or doing fancy things. They just want to see a horse.
I drive a team of 3 Clydesdales. I was kind of thrown into it, the cutest 75 year old man owns them. My mom said, ‘Go help Fred” and I’ve been going once or twice a week since. That guy F-d up bigtime bigtime. If he didn’t have two competent drivers on the seat and at least 1 if not 2 ground crew, he souldn’t have been out there. It makes me sad to see he had to learn that by losing his wife. Reality is a harsh ruler. I work my girls hard, up and down the street, on the farm, and yeah, we don’t farm with em, but I make em do all kinds of wierd crap, just so they will be ready for anything. I never let them rub, there is no talking or rubbling on my watch. I never let people pet them, just tell people they are not allowed while they are working. Ever. I take it uber seriously, safty is always first. I never ever drive them alone. If I can’t find a helper, its not a driving day! When we are out in public, its like we have to protect the girl from the people. It is amazing how stupid people are around my 6000 lbs of animal! I have had people just walk out in front of them, walk along next to them, lliterally 6 inches awy, and I will yell obscenities if I need to to get their attention, if my ground man can’t get there soon enough. By the time we are done with a public outing, my brain is fried. Fried, fried. People are assholes, but the smiles kind of make up for it.
I also have to disagree with the idea that once in a wreck a driving horse can never be driven again. I use to drive carriages in Downtown St. Louis. We used well fitted and maintained tack, and each horse had his own gear fitted to him alone. We had one guy rub his bridle off on a trashcan and take off for home, luckily with an empty carriage, however he did manage to over turn his carriage which tripped him up and he hit his head on a curb. He got a nasty head wound and broke the bone forming his eye socket, along with other assorted scrapes and bruises. Once healed up he was able to go back out on the streets with no problems.
My idiot story: I was crossing a large intersection and the traffic light went yellow then red before I made it completely across (slow horse, big intersection, no way to to make it in time) with an out of state cop behind me. He pulled me over (flashing lights and all!) and motioned for me to come back and talk to him. This was NOT at one of our usual stopping areas where the horses are comfortable standing, on a fairly busy street, with a full carriage. I just shook my head. If I had gotten off that carriage to go back to talk to that dumb cop, that slow old boy would have made a bee line for home, with 4 people in the carriage, thru who knows what. Finally he came up to me and berated me infront of my customers about not clearing the intersection in time. I think only my rear wheels werent clear thru the cross walk when our light went red. I also have to add, there was NO traffic in sight on the cross street (I actually think it was closed due to one of the Cardinal’s games getting ready to start) which was why I did chose to cross instead of make the usual right turn.
Ah, wanted to add that if the percheron who wrecked wasnt able to handle being driven again, the owner has a nice retirement farm (where all the working horses spend a week and a half each month while working too) for all his horses that he doesnt give to their favorite drivers so he did have options.
This post totally confuses me. It might make more sense with some more commas. Anyways, are you trying to say that he doesn’t give the farm to his favorite drivers? Huh? what does that even mean? I don’t hand out properties to my favorite employees, either, actually….
I think they’re saying that the horses who get retired go the retirement farm if they don’t get given to their drivers. (kind of like police dogs going to the policeman they were assigned to when retired, if possible)
just a comment re UK horses and tarmac/asphalt we also use ‘road nails’ which are normal horse shoe nails but with a small tungsten tip. Some find they loose the tungsten quickly but we have one in each hoof and it lasts 6 weeks. But while it would help with normal slippage not sure it would make much difference if an issue occurred… although saying that my boy had front legs on road and back legs in ditch and managed to have enough grip to pull himself out a while back. Also there are possible issues of it affecting foot balance but you have to weigh up the pros and cons.
In the UK they have found there are particular types of asphalt which are slippier and if there is sufficient rider demand these have been replaced. We road ride all the time as we have no other options without trailering 30mins which isn’t practical before/after work and parking is an issue actually I have known very few horses who have injuries resulting from slips/falls on the road.
We have one track we can access from our stables.. it is about 500 yards long, definitely no circular routes! unless in national parks provision of access is actually better nearer cities than in the rest of the semi-rural country.
generally the parades we have here only include police horses, in fact in the local parade an old guy used to have a lit up trolley with his 2 greyhounds trotting alongside but they stopped him on welfare grounds.
Totally OT fugs, but I had to share this http://cgi.ebay.ca/DD55-mini-minature-horse-neoprene-splint-boots-White-/370221672351?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5632ee679f
I don’t get how someone can screw up simple splint boots like that!! Poor pony.
HAHAHAHHAHAAHHA do you think they ever even SAW a horse wear splint boots before? xD
First of all, a properly hitched team CAN and WILL rub heads, especially in hot, sticky weather. Not knowing the true situation here, even the best fitting bridle, with precautions taken, can come off a horse – strap accidentally hooked to a snap while rubbing, for example. Regardless if a horse is “spooked” or not – a bridle-less carriage horse is like a car without a steering wheel. Perhaps OK if he isn’t moving, disastrous if he is.
I honestly have heard no comment from the gentleman who was driving the horses (also the owner)? How well trained were his horses? How well fitting were the bridles? Was there something to “spook” the horses, other than the loss of control? It did not happen because horses do not belong on the streets. It did not happen because horses should not be hooked to carriages. It did not happen because manes weren’t braided or because steel shoes were used instead of boots. It happened because it was a horrible ACCIDENT, and, as in all industries, accidents happen.
Check out this guy…. You’d think they would make enough money breeding the ‘brindle horse’ to pay a proper designer to create a website without shiny pegasus graphics xD http://www.sharppillows.com/
This is off topic just a bit, but this post reminds me of something that a horse livery on Mackinac Island, Mi. allows. You can rent horse and carraiges. Meaning, anyone, regardless of their horse experience can rent a horse and cart to drive around this very touristy island. There are no motorized vehicles at all, which is good, but still. Can you even imagine? Of course, people can rent riding horses and go off without a guide as well. Once in a while, you’ll see a loose horse running wildly back to the stable….so dangerous! I have rented one of the horse and carraiges before, and they basically have you fill out the basic questionaire, give some simple directions then send you on your way – YIKES YIKES!!!!
OMG
I’m a driving wanna-be. My mare has been grounddriven since about 2005. Finally got a used easy entry cart and hitched it up wrong last month (first solo I was drivng/walking behind ) and we had a little freakout in the arena. Her WHOA is solid
and she let me take the time to untangle the mess giving me her “you are pathetic look”. Today my BO wanted me to let the campers ground drive Joy like I did last time- no way- last month I let two campers with walkers grounddrive her in front of me after we spook tested her briefly first. How stupid was that- thank you God I didn’t make the news. Today I rigged up extra lines to the traces and the handicapped campers drove her from BEHIND me. They called out the voice commands and we painted a G and H on her butt to help them remember Gee and haw. One camper got confused and frustrated and almost instantly I had some antsy behaviors to address. The camper stepped aside and we took a few rounds alone to get her brain back to thinking . I so admire the skill it takes to drive well. The accident was very sad for everyone. If I witnessed my grandson/family in danger from a unpredictable event or my own mistake I don’t know if I would have been “man” enough to stay with horses until they stopped as this driver did.
Fugs , I disagree with this opinion: “…just another example of why horses and asphalt don’t mix, and why we need to accept that it is 2010 and the only safe places for horses to be ridden and driven are places with dirt footing and no motorized traffic.” Don’t even go there. You imply we should do away with carriage/driving along with mounted patrol and city kids/adult with horses. Good people who are responsible with their horses and take proper precautions should not be denied the privilege of using their horses in the city. What would be next? Horse shows? Trail riding? After all, accidents do happen in the ring, on the trail, in the barn, etc. And anyway, the footing and the traffic had nothing to do with the cause of this tragic event. Lack of control is 100% to blame.
PS Well, it is good to know I’m not a zombie and simply agree with everything you say. 1 out of 1,000,000 times is not too shabby
Oh, I totally believe what I said. I think asphalt isn’t a safe horse riding surface. Nor is concrete. It’s unsafe for horses and for riders. Too slippery plus hard on the joints.
Not everything is a slippery slope. Saying horses shouldn’t be ridden on roads with motorized traffic is NOT a slippery slope to horses shouldn’t be ridden anywhere.
What a tragic accident. I drive on town streets- asphalt- and I don’t agree that horses don’t belong in parades or on the roads. I actually use a doctor’s buggy in town (pop. 1,500) to do errands. I live a mile from the courthouse square. With the high price of gas, I think that driving my horse and buggy are a good way to save some money.
I also provide carriage rides around the courthouse square during our town’s monthly Market Day to help care for the semi-retired horses that live at my place. I have a small private horse refuge, and it is quite expensive to provide these elderly, but mostly sound horses with a good safe retirement home– if not for me, they would all almost surely would have ended up at auction and on a slaughter truck.
As with any activity- even driving a motor vehicle- accidents can happen. I have ridden or dirven in several parades. I am careful to ask that I not be placed in front of the fire truck, etc. and if the parade organizers insist that all horses and horse-drawn vehicles be bunched up at the end of the parade, I politely bow out of the event because I know this is not a safe situation.
I, too, am worried that horse owners will find ourselves and our horses incerasingly banished from public roadways– roads that our tax dollars help build and maintain. The more horses are seen and used, the more familiar the public will become with how to behave around them. Until just about 100 years ago, horses WERE the main mode of transportation (other than walking) and it is important for horses ahd horse owners to keep the right to use public roads (within reason.) Just as I would not ride a bike on or walk along a highway or on the interstates, I don’t advocate using horses on these roads. But when it comes to rural town streets, I say horse owners should demand their right as taxpayers and citizens to use the roads. I actually would like to see horses be able to use some of the many “trails’ being built for cyclists.
And as for horses in parades, well I grew up on New Orleans, too. I have seen lots of drunk ‘dukes” who could hardly stay on their horses during the annual Mardi Gras parades, but most of the accidents I remember involved float riders falling off their floats, or people getting run over by floats while trying to pick up “throws” out of the street.
But I do agree with the other N.O. poster that the horses used to carry the krewe dukes are often pretty sorry-looking animals. I think something should be done to regulate the “stables” that supply the parade horses. However, the NOPD Mounted Patrol always looked just great with well groomed and well trained horses.
But back to the original subject, the accident in Belleview. I hope that all of the injured will recover. I really feel very sorry for the teamster who lost his wife. I think he did his best to try to stop his horses from getting away when they bolted. He just was not successful. According to one report I read, the mayor said this family was a regular participant in the annual parade and had been for years, without any problems.
I was very upset with the reporters who used such words as “rampage” to describe the horses’ obvious frightened flight down six blocks during the parade. These animals were not out to “trample” people; they were just badly frightened. I have read several different accounts of what happened to them. I would like to know if they are okay or were they badly injured? Does anyone know?
I’ve driven precisely ONCE. And one of the things the owner of the horses made very clear was just HOW vital the header is.
This accident was, plain and simple, caused by not having a header. The FIRST thing that should have happened would be a trained person who was NOT the driver going to the head of the horses. Even I know that.
Hmmm… Looks like people and asphalt aren’t a good mix either. Let’s just get it over with and ban all parades.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/24/germany.panic.deaths/index.html?iref=NS1