Dangerous stallion?

[Rumtytum]

I also wonder what's been done to the stallion to make him so aggressive. I've never heard of a stallion purposefully attacking a human !

Many years ago I worked for a ‘gentleman’ racehorse trainer who also ran a small stud. One day the head groom was standing by a five bar gate when the stallion on the other side picked him up by his ear, dragged him over the gate and would have killed him if his screams had not been heard by others. The groom’s ear was sewn back on later in hospital.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Many years ago I worked for a ‘gentleman’ racehorse trainer who also ran a small stud. One day the head groom was standing by a five bar gate when the stallion on the other side picked him up by his ear, dragged him over the gate and would have killed him if his screams had not been heard by others. The groom’s ear was sewn back on later in hospital.

Sounds like I've been lucky in only meeting nice stallions, the few that I have !

 

[littleshetland]

My daughter was saved by her brave cob mare whilst being severely threatened by another horse in the field. Little mare put herself between my daughter and the attacker, taking the full brunt of the attack, whilst my daughter scrambled out of the way.
Twyford, I'm so sorry this has happened to your friend - what a terrible experience for her, I wish her a speedy recovery.

 

[Ceifer]

I’ve also worked with a stallion that had to always be led out with a chiffney, chain over its nose and you carried a whip. He had broken a grooms shoulder with his teeth. Picked her up and tried to drag her over the stable door.

I suspect with that stallion it was environment that caused the aggression. He was in an American barn with stallions either side of him. No turnout. He was ridden or put on a horse walker on his own. He was ok to ride but it was a constant fear falling off him as to whether you’d catch him.

His owner wanted to breed from him so kept him entire.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

A friend of mine was bringing her stallion in from the field, reached back to shut the gate and he grabbed her arm and lifted her off the ground. He was homebred, in his teens and up until then had been a really nice character. However he had been getting grumpy and the thought was that he may have had a brain tumour. He did her a lot of damage and was put down. The average stallion is not dangerous but they should be treated with respect however good tempered they are.
There is something seriously amiss with the one that did this and it needs PTS. Quite a coincidence that there should have been another stallion attack in Kent, surely it must be the same one. The thought that there are two like this out there doesn't bear thinking of.

 

[TwyfordM]

A friend of mine was bringing her stallion in from the field, reached back to shut the gate and he grabbed her arm and lifted her off the ground. He was homebred, in his teens and up until then had been a really nice character. However he had been getting grumpy and the thought was that he may have had a brain tumour. He did her a lot of damage and was put down. The average stallion is not dangerous but they should be treated with respect however good tempered they are.
There is something seriously amiss with the one that did this and it needs PTS. Quite a coincidence that there should have been another stallion attack in Kent, surely it must be the same one. The thought that there are two like this out there doesn't bear thinking of.

Yeah it's not that far away, wouldn't be surprised

 

[misst]

Oh my goodness that is dreadful those injuries are horrific but the aftermath will be worse I expect when she "recovers" and things return to normality. I really really hope she gets financial compensation for her injuries mental and physical but if it is a travellers horse she probably won't unfortunately. Nor do I think they will be prosecuted as it is likely not chipped and "no one" will own it.

 

[onemoretime]

She managed to get out through the gate and mare followed once she saw stallion off. Someone went and fetched her off the bridle path once they got friend off to hospital and sorted out her wounds, yep will do. Hoping there's an update tomorrow re surgery so we've got some idea on time frames

What a horrifying experience. Please would you keep us posted regarding your friends recovery. Thanks.

 

[Rowreach]

Yeah it's not that far away, wouldn't be surprised

The other report was from 12 years ago.

 

[onemoretime]

Shes asked me to sneak her a WKD into the hospital so sense of humour remains intact at least

Please wish her all the best for a very speedy recovery from all of us on H&H Forum. Added a small donation.

 

[Kunoichi73]

That's a dreadful thing to happen to your friend. Her mare is a superstar. That's the sort of horse I dream of owning - plus she's gorgeous. I'll add something to the GFM page later, when I get the chance.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Thats awful I'm horrified but bless your friends mare and generally Arab's are very protective and kind horses, please keep us updated on her recovery.

 

[Time for Tea]

Thats awful I'm horrified but bless your friends mare and generally Arab's are very protective and kind horses, please keep us updated on her recovery.

Ditto this, I wish your friend as quick a recovery as possible. How marvellous the mare is, and how impressive other people’s horses who have protected them.

 

[Snowfilly]

That’s awful. I’m not surprised about the Arab, they’re very brave.

I suspect it will be impossible to get anything done about the horse if he’s traveller owned, no police force or court will enforce anything against them. But he ought to be shot.

 

[TwyfordM]

That's a dreadful thing to happen to your friend. Her mare is a superstar. That's the sort of horse I dream of owning - plus she's gorgeous. I'll add something to the GFM page later, when I get the chance.

She's a proper sea-horse princess pony looks wise

She took a complete punt on her originally. She was up for £20k due to bloodlines, breeder contacted her and offered her Sats at a massively reduced price to get some of her horses out in the endurance side.
She then jumped a wall as a 4 year old and completely severed a tendon in a front leg, Tracey took another complete chance on surgery to remove the tendon entirely and did lots of physio to teach her how to flick her own hoof forwards as there was no longer that automatic reflex there.
She's done her first 40km ride this year at 8 years old sound as a pound and has remained sound through all the training etc so next season would be her moving up through the levels, which Tracey was very much looking forward to as it's so much more rewarding.

I think taking a punt on that mare twice over may have saved her life!

 

[Velcrobum]

The other report was from 12 years ago.

I know that but it could easily still be alive and it is more than a bit of coincidence that that location is near the location of this attack.

 

[PeterNatt]

I hope that the injured person makes a full and speedy recovery.
The mare was absolutely amazing and deserves an award.
The injured person should firstly use a specialist Equine Solicitor and initally make a claim against the owner of the field that the stallion was in as they have the ultimate responsibility for any animals on their land and should also hold third party iliability nsurance.
The Police should immediately remove the Stallion due to it's dangerous nature and if the other horses in the field are considered dangerous to people travelling along the ajacent Bridleway then the Local Authority should be asked to use the Enviromental Bill (As ammended) to take action against the owner of the field and restrain any animals coming close to the boundary of it.

Below is a list of Specialist Equine Solicitors:

Actons
Tel: 0115 91002200 Caroline Bowler

Mark Carter
White Bowker Solicitors
Tel: 01962 844440
www.wandb.co.uk
mark.carter@wandb.co.uk

Helen Niebuhr
Darbys Solicitors
52 New Inn Hall Street
Oxford
OX1 2QD
Tel: 01865 811 7000
01865 811712
www.equine-law.net
E: equine@darbys.co.uk

Jaqcui Fulton Equine Law
Tel: 0121 308 5915
jf@equinelawuk.co.uk
www.equinelawuk.co.uk

Hannah Campbell (Specialise in compensation cases)
Tel: 01446 794196 (Specialises in traffic accidents involving horses)
www.horsesolicitor.co.uk
info@horse solicitor
(Took on case in 2013 on behalf of Claire Berry-Jones) involving making a claim Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB)

Alexandra Agnew
Mischcon de Reya
Africa House
70 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6AH
Tel: 020 3321 7000

Jacqui Dark (Nee Fulton)
Equine Law Firm
The office
Home Farm Cottage
Kiddington
Oxfordshire
OX20 1BY
Tel: 0121 308 3132
E: jd@equinelawuk.co.uk

Deborah Hargreaves
Edmondson Hall Solicitors and Sports Lawyers
25 Exeter Road
Newmarket
Suffolk
CB8 8AR
Tel: 01638 560556
Tel: 01638 564483
E: solicitors@edmondsonhall.com
E: ah@edmondsonhall.com
www.edmondsonhall.com/page/1r6ef/Home/partner.html
Wrote an article on The Legal pitfalls of Buying and Selling Horses

Elizabeth Simpson Senior Solicitor at law firm Andrew M Jackson
Tel: 01482 325242
www.andrewjackson.co.uk
enquiries@andrewjackson.co.uk

David Forbes or Belinda Walkinshaw
Pickworths Solicitors
6 Victoria Street
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 3JB
01727 844511

Mark de-villamar Roberts
Langleys Solicitors Equine Law Group
Tel: 01904 683051
E: mark.Roberts@langleys.com
www.equinelawyers.co.uk

Elizabeth Simpson
Senior Solicitor
Andrew Jackson
Yorkshire
Tel: 01482 325242
www.andrewjackson.co.uk

Richmond Solicitors
13-15 High Street
Keynsham
Bristol
BS31 1DP
Tel: 0117 986 9555
Fax: 0117 986 8680
enquiries@richmonssolicitorsco.uk

Jacqui Fulton
Giselle Robinson Solicitors
Inderjit Gill
Jacksons Specialist Equine Solicitor
(Represented Gaynor Goodall in an accident on a bridleway on Tameside County Court 01 February 2010).

Knights Solicitors
Tunbridge Wells
Tel: 01892 537311
www.knights-solicitors.co.uk

Horse Solicitor
Tel: 01446 794 196
info@horsesolicitor.co.uk
www.horsesolicitor.com

Cathryn Godfrey
Irwin Mitchell
Specialises in Horse Riders injured on the roads

Hannah Bradley (Equine and Bloodstock disputes)
Setfords
74 North Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 4AW
Tel: 020 3829 5557
E: info@setfords.co.uk

Mary Ann Reay Charles or Chris Shaw
Shaw and Co Solicitors
Equine Law Specialists
Tel: 0800 019 1248
info@shawandco.com
www.shawandco.com

 

[millikins]

Sadly it does happen my OH had a groom in ITU who was mauled by a stallion. Some of them are very aggressive I know of a dressage stallion that was only handled by 2 men when it came out of its stable, all other people on the yard went inside just in case it got loose. It was only alive as it had been a successful GP horse and produced quality offspring.

So no thought of breeding for temperament, I think that's pretty disgraceful.

 

[equinerebel]

That is shocking. I wish her all the best for her recovery, physically and mentally

 

[cariadbach10]

Poor woman. What a totally nightmarish thing to happen. H & H should definitely be running an article on this brave little mare. Arabs come in for so much bad press but are just the most loyal little horses.

 

[tristar]

A friend of mine was bringing her stallion in from the field, reached back to shut the gate and he grabbed her arm and lifted her off the ground. He was homebred, in his teens and up until then had been a really nice character. However he had been getting grumpy and the thought was that he may have had a brain tumour. He did her a lot of damage and was put down. The average stallion is not dangerous but they should be treated with respect however good tempered they are.
There is something seriously amiss with the one that did this and it needs PTS. Quite a coincidence that there should have been another stallion attack in Kent, surely it must be the same one. The thought that there are two like this out there doesn't bear thinking of.

i have an older lovely stallion, i hug him kiss him, he is loved by all, but i am 100 per cent vigilant

i have known several stallions that have taken hold of people by the upper body or arm and just hung on, fortunately not leaving a serious injury, i always think with any entire i need to keep view of the teeth department

i have seen geldings attack after running through fences

twyford i do hope your friend gets sorted send her out best wishes

 

[Lexi 123]

Poor woman I hope she recovers quickly. Mares are so protective my mare is like a gard dog she protected me from getting kicked by another horse.

 

[Sky’s-Legacy]

I hope your friend recovers quickly.

Pretty scary I'm in Medway, hope I never come across where this is! Definitely agree should be PTS for such dangerous behaviour!

 

[Velcrobum]

So no thought of breeding for temperament, I think that's pretty disgraceful.

The offspring did not have the Stallion's temperament which is why it was still used for breeding, a Stallion son did not show the same behaviour when he subsequently covered.
The Stallion was hot but manageable during its ridden career but once it started to cover its personality/temperament changed. The owner was very experienced with Stallions having spent some time at the Spanish Riding School and at that time had a stud alongside a training facility. He was very safety conscious which is why everyone else kept out of the way when the Stallion was out of his stable. The Stallion had his own very secure double fenced paddock with geldings around him and up-wind from the mares so was not isolated they just managed him as needed.

 

[vmac66]

Hope your freind makes a,good recovery, her mare is an absolute star going to save her
Agree stallion should be pts but very unlikely to happen with the people he is owned by.

 

[Cragrat]

That’s awful. I’m not surprised about the Arab, they’re very brave.

I suspect it will be impossible to get anything done about the horse if he’s traveller owned, no police force or court will enforce anything against them. But he ought to be shot.

The horse and the owner.


So sorry about your friend,

In my experience, aggressive stallions generally have been mismanaged in some way, although I'm sure genetics plays a part too. Either way, this stallion is too risky to be alive, and his owner should never be allowed to keep horses of any type.

 

[DabDab]

A stud I worked on years ago had a gelding who was very aggressive. He had been gelded at about 2yo when the aggression started to appear but when I met him at 5yo he still had a significant aggressive streak. He was a homebred and the rest of their homebreds were lovely easy horses, so it was always assumed that he had a rogue gene somewhere. I backed him while I was there and he was actually a really lovely horse to ride and seemed to love the work, but he was absolutely not to be trusted on the ground. He couldn't go out with other horses because he attacked them, had to be in a paddock where someone would have to be seriously off the PROW to get near his fence line and was only handled by me and the YO.

To get his rug changed in the morning I used to have to bring him out of the stable, tie him up to a tie post (you daren't tie him to anywhere where you could get trapped between him and the wall) and hold a broom handle between me and head in one hand while doing the front buckles up with the other (not to hit him with obviously, just a visual aid to stop him swinging his head round and taking a lump out of me). While I was there he did get one of the other grooms when she went up to his stable door to check if he still had hay. Just shot over to the door and grabbed her by the shoulder and had half lifted her over the door before fortunately letting go of her. I've never met another horse who had that streak. His whole attitude and demeanour was quite un-horselike

 

[JoannaC]

Oh my goodness how horrific your poor friend, thank goodness she had a loyal arab mare although i'm not convinced mine would jump two fences to rescue me! Wishing her a speedy recovery.

 

[Sossigpoker]

A stud I worked on years ago had a gelding who was very aggressive. He had been gelded at about 2yo when the aggression started to appear but when I met him at 5yo he still had a significant aggressive streak. He was a homebred and the rest of their homebreds were lovely easy horses, so it was always assumed that he had a rogue gene somewhere. I backed him while I was there and he was actually a really lovely horse to ride and seemed to love the work, but he was absolutely not to be trusted on the ground. He couldn't go out with other horses because he attacked them, had to be in a paddock where someone would have to be seriously off the PROW to get near his fence line and was only handled by me and the YO.

To get his rug changed in the morning I used to have to bring him out of the stable, tie him up to a tie post (you daren't tie him to anywhere where you could get trapped between him and the wall) and hold a broom handle between me and head in one hand while doing the front buckles up with the other (not to hit him with obviously, just a visual aid to stop him swinging his head round and taking a lump out of me). While I was there he did get one of the other grooms when she went up to his stable door to check if he still had hay. Just shot over to the door and grabbed her by the shoulder and had half lifted her over the door before fortunately letting go of her. I've never met another horse who had that streak. His whole attitude and demeanour was quite un-horselike

I had a horse pretty similar , wasn't aggressive when I bought him as a 4 yo
Appaloosa though so a bit "quirky".
Less than a year later he nearly took a chunk off my shoulder over the stable door and picked a vet up by her pony tail and sent her flying.
He turned out to be a wobbler so clearly was getting increasingly distressed, hence the escalating behaviour.
He was PTS soon after diagnosis.

I'd like to think that a gelding that behaves like this either has been badly abused or has a pain /neurological condition

 

[dominobrown]

I can’t believe it. Best wishes to your friends and hope she recovers soon.