Apology loose stallion

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libertehorsebox

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I am writing this post as its seems to be the only way for my apology to reach the numerous people effected by my loose stallion at this weekends Somerford park event.
I am so disappointed in myself and my horse, I let myself, the other competitors and the event down.
The horse, although he looked like an unmanageable wild beast, had actually been competing successfully all last season and this one in BYEH classes without putting a foot wrong. What happened on Saturday to change this behaviour I cannot imagine but change it did, and many people were upset and shocked by my stallion chasing a mare around the dressage arenas!, unsettling all horses and stopping tests. A judges car was damaged and spectators were visibly shaken.
I would like to thank all the people who helped and to the event staff who although asked me to leave the event ground,(rightly so) did so with grace and a warm smile.
I cried all the way home and am yet to stop, embarrassed and upset that I had caused so much chaos at an event, in the sport I love and have supported for many years. I am not a novice but am sti ll very much an amateur. I hold myself fully responsible for the behaviour of my horse however out of character, and would like to whole heartedly apologise to all.
 
Didn't you do this thread yesterday I'm sure I did a reply today.

Oh god please tell me I'm not going mad
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Didn't you do this thread yesterday I'm sure I did a reply today.

Oh god please tell me I'm not going mad
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You aren't going mad
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It was posted in NL yesterday and someone suggested putting it in CR incase any of them were at the event
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Didn't you do this thread yesterday I'm sure I did a reply today.

Oh god please tell me I'm not going mad
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[/ QUOTE ]

You aren't going mad
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It was posted in NL yesterday and someone suggested putting it in CR incase any of them were at the event
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Thanks Ishy actually I just looked back it was today and when you said CR I thought you ment common room
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Oh dear. Well horses are big and strong and potentially dangerous. This shouldn't be news to any horse person and anyone who would judge you for having a bad day would have to be pretty ignorant of the reality. I'm sure you'll take extra precautions next time you're out and all will be well. Anyone who has shown horses for any length of time will have at least one loose/bucking/generally insane horse story to share.

Good for you for saying something. If I was competing against you regularly this would tell me you're on the ball and thinking about how to prevent a repeat performance. I was at an event once where a stallion dumped his rider and took off, invading another dressage test and generally causing havoc. The worst was the owners and rider laughed about it! They seemed to think it was a riot and that their horse looked fantastic tearing around a busy showground. This scared me more than anything the horse did because it pretty much proved to me they weren't that careful to begin with and had no intention of doing better in the future, let alone caring about inconveniencing or even endangering the rest of us!
 
I was there later today and heard about it, how horrible for you aswell as others there! Good on you for apologising whole heartly and takeing responsibility, I dont think anyone will think anything less of you for it, hey s*** happens
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Even the most sanest horse is not 100% reliable and im sure this is not a rare occurence at competitions
As others in the other post have said, perhaps a letter to HH to spread your apology to others that were there and dont come on here would be a good idea. Also perhaps to the Kings? That is only if you did not have much of a chance today whilst everything was going on.
Hope your feeling better soon about all of this
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I think it has taken a lot of guts for you to come on here and apologise... You have my respect because as Tarr Steps has said, this has happened on countless of occasions and the owners have been a little less rattled by it.

You were obviously mortified by the events of the day and care for your horse very much. Please don't feel too disappointed in him, after all, he is a horse and entire at that. You now know it can happen and I am pretty sure from your post you will do everything in your power to prevent it ever happening again.

Don't be too hard on yourself either... It was a bad day, have a cry about it and then just try to move on!
 
ohh no - poor you.
As a mare fan, I would be mortified if a stallion started chasing mine, (but I think she would rather like the attention!! lol). However, I also know horses are horses and strange things happen often when we least expect it.
Chin up, keep smiling and all the best for the future.
 
You must have been mortified but luckily no-one was hurt (except the car). However it shows how unpredictable any stallion can be when the hormones kick in. I would be furious if a stallion started chasing my mare. In my opinion too many are kept entire and one day someone will get badly hurt.
 
Accidents happen - but you have my respect for apologising!

ANY horse can be unpredicatable - thats the risk you take when you start to deal with half a ton of animal with its own mind
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stallions just have more opinions than most!!

Sevo - as above
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when i was a child i was at a show when a big stallion got loose and started chasing and trying to mount a First Ridden pony, which was being led with child still aboard. really frightening for all, luckily someone had the idea of running the mare into a horsebox (nearly-squished rider still aboard) and slammed the ramp in the stallion's face... probably all that would have stopped him tbh.
just something to bear in mind if you are ever put in this position while riding or leading a mare...
 
I heard of a colt that got loose in an in-hand class and chased a filly out of the ring, knocking over a push-chair with child in it as they went. The filly headed back to her lorry and the colt followed her in. I'm not sure what happened after that, but I think it was rather noisy.

Luckily no-one was hurt and when the colt re-appeared in company he was a gelding!
 
Your not the first and you wont be the last. These things happen.
My old riding instructor was warming up his gelding when a stallion got loose. The stallion took a liking to the gelding so the stewards shut them both in the indoor school!

You seem as though you have realised your mistake and obviously feel bad. As someone else said, write a letter to H&H or BE (assuming it was BE)and put it behind you.
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My only comment is wouldn't life be dull without stories like this?

Its not unusual for dressage judges cars to get injured at BE:- I remember an advanced horse leaving the arena at C trying to jump the car and landing on it, fortunately horse was unharmed.

Downside is everyone will remember you for a while!
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It's really good of you to apologise publicly, but I've heard of much worse happenings!
One ex national Dressage Champion had his stallion in a box with three geldings. he got loose, climbed over the backs of the geldings and attempted to bonk a rather important dressage mare tied to a nearby box..
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(true because he told me himself)
He forever after used chains to tie him up in the lorry..
We have competed a stallion for years, the old one was always perfectly behaved in company, and so usually is the current one.
There was one time I attempted to travel a mare who came in season half way to the comp in the box, and he went ape when we arrived. I had to phone my husband to drive after us and help, as he screamed and threw himself all over the place, so yes, they can be unpredictable sometimes..
My daughter has fallen off him , once in the collecting ring when he got so fed up with the ponies tazzing under his nose he leapt in the air, tripped and fell over.. She rolled, leapt up in a flash and grabbed him.
Then there was the time he escaped and ran off at a hunter trial, she shouted him and the daft animal turned and came back to her..
We take precautions others may feel are extreme , but it gives us peace of mind.
I always put up a small square of electric tape round him, and use two leadropes, one to the ring, one to some string, in the hope if he breaks the shorter one the other will hold.
My daughter does not jump off after finishing the XC, she stays on until he gets back inside the square, most stallions soon cotton on that when riden they can';t think sex, but try leading them and they do look around hopefully. We tend to lead him at shows in his tack or a lunge line, pretty basic precautions but they do give you the advantage if they start messing about.
Stallions are stallions and what happened at the event is only one incident in a million. I've seen worse from horses exploding ditching their riders and running amock many a time. One of the reasons we fence him in is to protect HIM from such animals!
All he was doing once free was being a stallion, and all you can do is dive in and grab him quick.
My daughter always told the starter too she was on a stallion, that way if things hgad gone wrong, he could alert the commentator and jump judges.
Please don't feel bad, it's one of those things..by the sounds of it no-one but a car was hurt, and any judge worth their salt will be understanding if you pay up..!
 
Poor you
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That's horses though isn't it? No matter how old or well behaved they all have their moments. I can understand why you are upset but don't beat yourself up about it. If it's any consolation, I did an in hand class with my mare the other week and doing the lap of honour she decided she was going and there was no way I was stopping her!! She galloped out of the arena and across the lovely lawned area
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Poor you - but horses are unpredictable creatures at the best of times. FWIW I saw a horse at Broadway one year ditch its rider in the dressage warmup, hoon about for a bit, then jump the ropes, gallop across the middle of the all the arenas a few times, jump back out over the ropes, cause some more chaos in the warmup and finally get cornered. So it doesn't just happen with stallions, and the only reason it didn't cause an accident IMO was because the dressage judges were on a break so the arenas were empty and warmup was reasonably quiet.
 
A dog escaped on to the XC yesterday too and attacked 2 horses in the BE90 RF. It didn't just chase the horses, it was going for their legs.
 
Poor you but as others have said...horses can be just that sometimes. I remember vividly a few years ago one of the Whittaker's stallions getting OTT in the main ring and Hickstead.....rearing and mounting another Whittaker horse whilst entering ring for award ceremony! Was incredibly scary!
 
thanks everyone, Im feeling much better today. Took the boy showjumping today and he was an angel, typical heh.
hope im allowed to compete at Kelsall next weekend and I havnt been black listed!!! xxx
 
so glad no-one was hurt
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. Good on you for apologising hun
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It must have been terrifying all round. I have been to shows where geldings have caused havoc, and my mare decided that leaping backwards and sidewards was the thing to do at a show last weekend (though she can be a numpt, she'd never done that before). 'Tis the one of the things about horses, you never know what exatcly is going to happen (I came off last Sunday and spent three days in hospital with a bleed on the brain, now that was unexpected!).

I used to ride stallions (long ago, when I was younger and fitter and a much better rider
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). I remember that they were always led in a bridle, never a headcollar; there were always two leading; when a rider was on, we had to have someone walk with us (though I did make them take the lead rope off
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;o).

Sorry, will stop woffling, brain not so with it today
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Have a hug and a hot choccy
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I am actually the owner and rider of the mare in question. I have spoken to the lady that owns the stallion and of course accept her apology and appreciate that horses are living creatures with a mind of their own.

However, I feel I have to come on here to say I find comments like "wouldn't life be dull without stories like these" rather disappointing. My horse actually fell over trying to escape - not a pleasant sight. In addition, my mum was knocked over and I was knocked to the ground and trampled on. Initially my horse was simply tied up at the side of the lorry and having a stallion trying to mount her in such a confined space was frightening. I had to see the doctor on the day, now have a very painful back, was forced to retire from the competition, had to take yesterday off work and have been on strong painkillers since.

Eventing does not need incidents like these to make it exciting, it is exciting enough as it is.
 
Hi vicky100,

I sincerely hope that you, your mare, and your Mum are ok.

I am of the view that competing entires should be restricted to the experienced only, + that BE H+S people should pay more attention to the real risks, rather than the petty ones that seem to take precedence.

Your experience, + that of your mare's + your Mum's, must have been horrendous. And yes, it's applaudable that the stallion's owner has apologised (but what other option was there?).

She's now advertising on this forum for someone to ride out her horses. (I've said no thanks!)

I remember an incident at a national BSJA competition, some 6 years ago, where an entire got loose, and bit a huge chunk out of a stabled gelding's neck, which probably ended the gelding's career.

I firmly believe that regulations on competing entires need to be reviewed, and hope for a comment from BE on this issue, on this forum asap.

With my sincere best wishes to you, Vicky, your Mum, and your mare, BS x
 
Vicky, I hope you, your mum and your mare are all ok and non the worse for your experience. It must have been very frightening for all those involved, especially your mare.

However, I don't post on here much anymore but I felt compelled to after Brandysnap reply.

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And yes, it's applaudable that the stallion's owner has apologised (but what other option was there?).


She's now advertising on this forum for someone to ride out her horses. (I've said no thanks!)

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To be honest, I can imagine many people would not have gone to the trouble of advertising the fact on a public forum and apologising in this manner. I think the stallion owner feels bad enough without comments like those! I am around stallions daily as I have my mares on a stud and have seen how the sweetest stallion can become crazy through hormones. They almost go into a trance and it is very hard to snap them out of it. Even ones that have travelled with mares in the lorry and seemed content...

I am not making excuses, God forbid. Had this been one of my own mares I would have placed a reply very much like Vicky's; eventing is exciting enough without occurences such as this one. However, a valuable lesson has been learned by the stallion's owner and from her posts I can guarantee she will not allow anything like this to happen again.

However, the comment in your post regarding her advertising for someone to ride her horses I felt was uncalled for. This is clearly not the stallion in question she is looking for a jockey for (it says the horse is unfit), and this one incident does not make her horses nut jobs nor her incompetant.

To conclude, I once again must say that I hope you are all well following what happened and there are no long term effects.
 
thankyou jet set for your wise and kind words. I do not use this forum much and only started to after posting this apology. Since then I have realised how informative and interesting the forum can be.
I have never had a problem with said stallion before but even so, I have put strict measures in place so similar incidents cannot happen. I feel I am more than capable/experienced enough to produce and cope with stallions, mine are both home bred stallions out of St. pr mares and will be graded. I do not bred for the sake of breeding and take offence at brandysnaps such critical attitude towards myself, without knowing the facts. The horse I am looking for a rider for is a very experienced event horse (gelding) that is a schoolmaster and would give someone a great (free) oppotunity to ride out and enjoy schooling etc. maybe i need to stop using these forums, there is always someone wanting to stir things up!
 
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