Horse walker issue

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Hindsland

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My horse has always been on a walker with no issues at all, this has been a help in the past when turnout has been limited. He’s on full livery at a very respected yard, yesterday I was informed there had been an “incident” on the walker. Someone had turned on the power to the pushers, which he has never needed which resulted in him becoming extremely distressed. He had been put on the walker with his heavyweight night rugs which were dripping in sweat and covered in foam, his nose had been burnt by the electric shocks. By the time I arrived, more than an hour later, he was still pacing in his stable, eyes wide and nostrils flared. There were considerable concerns about colic, although thank goodness this did not develop, he also had a small cut to his leg. After allowing him to settle I walked him in hand. The next day I lunged him quietly, very large circles and constantly moving over a large area. He was extremely stiff on one side, so much so that he did not want to go on to the correct lead in canter, obviously I stopped at this point. He’d been found on the walker by some one not working on the yard, they immediately turned the power off and ran for help, clearly to sweat so much and become so stressed he had not been checked on at all. My first reaction is that the yard were negligent in their care. The reason for my post is to seek others opinions before I address the issue. Thanks.
 
Firstly, there is something seriously wrong with the walker if it caused burns, and it shouldn't be used at all.

Secondly, no walker should be out of sight of the yard, and I wouldn't put a horse on one that was.

Thirdly, put on the walker in rugs of any kind? I'd be furious at that by itself!

I've used walkers for years, have had I think two incidents, both involving livery horses. One was when taking another horse off, and the livery horse tried to barge out, and the other when a fresh horse did an impressive display of bucking and fell over, the paddle went over him, and two horses ended up in the one compartment. Both freak accidents, nothing like what happened to yours.

I'd be having serious words.
 
Using the pushers is not in itself negligent, as an owner I would recommend introducing them to a new horse even if he does not need them, as one day he may be sharing the walker with one that does need them.

When I was at a commercial yard, when they were new they would be introduced in a supervised way until they had worked out what was electrified and what was not, but with someone there to prevent them getting in such a state. If they did not settle to it (some horses didn't) then they had a big notice/sign "NO ELECTRIC on the walker" so the mistake was not made.

If the horse had no warning, I don't think that putting him on with it was negligent.

I am not a fan of rugs on walkers, too much possibility of them getting caught up. I would only use rugs if the horse was a clipped woose, and it was a terrible cold/wet day - and then it would be a walker rug. Leaving stable rugs on is not what I would do (for the shoulder rubs alone) but I would not call it negligent.

Leaving the horses unattended. I prefer not to do this, but TBH have done so. I don't sit and watch them. I would put 6 on and go and do the 6 beds. Change them over and do 6 more. I would be around, emptying the barrow, they would generally be pretty much be in earshot all the time, but there have been times when I have left them on the walker and had a cup of tea if the beds did not need doing. I would check every 20 minutes. Is it best practice? No, I guess not. I know one yard who has a groom attendant, literally sitting and watching, but I bet that is not at all common.

Leaving them for less than an hour, I would not call that 'not best practice' but not negligent. Over that time may be. Only my opinion.

They had taken him off the walker, put him in the stable, assessed his injuries, monitored him for colic and contacted the owner. None of that sounds negligent either.

So, IMO not best practice for the horse not either being introduced to the pushers on first arrival, or a sign to say not to use the pushers. Not best practice fore night rugs on. Not best practice for left unattended. But no, I would not go as far as to say negligence.

If it left burns then it should be taken out of use and checked by an electrician. Maybe it could be negligent if it had not been correctly installed and maintained?
 
Agree with the other posters that if the electric left a burn then whole walker is very faulty. The electric for the pushers is only the same as electric fencing. Could what you are assuming is a burn in fact be a bad graze? Is it the normal practice for your yard to leave night rugs on when walking? Is that your instructions to them? Was there another horse on the walker that did need the electric on? If your horse walked normally how did he even know the electric was on and come into contact with it?

It is possible that the yard were careless - negligent even. It is also possible they were not. As yet you do not know what your loss is - hopefully your horse is just a bit stiff and will be better in a couple of days. If he is not and/or the answers to the above questions still leave a doubt then you will need to talk to the Yard owner/manager.
 
who on earth puts a horse on a walker in its stable rugs especially unattended? I'd be furious tbh and not able to trust them again. I have seen a horse burned by electric fencing fwiw, by leaning over the top strand. Walkers have their place but too many take them for granted.
 
That sounds horrific! I would never agree to have horses on a walker unsupervised. It is a machine, and machines can go wrong at any time. Or a horse can have a silly accident and things can escalate to catastrophic levels if nobody is around to take action quickly. As for night rugs being left on, it is pure laziness.
 
Something is clearly wrong with the walker, the wiring needs to be checked out before it is used again.

As for how do you stand legally you need to speak to a solicitor & you will get correct advice rather than hearing from H&H members who "Tell you what they think", not what the law actually states.
 
Apart from the rugs and the electric burn, I'd want to know how long he was left on the walker unsupervised to be in that state and what the yard proposed to do to make sure this could never happen again. I would ask them to pay for a physio too..
I use a walker and while I might not be standing there with a horse I knew, I would never leave them without checking every 5 mins when I was within earshot.
 
That's really horrendous. Poor horse. I don't know about legal negligence but they have certainly not looked after your horse to a standard I would expect from a "very respected" yard. I would expect a very, very sincere apology, measures put in place to ensure it never happens to another horse ever again and some financial recompense for vet fees and physio costs... And I might still move my horse...
 
I think you need to calmly address your concerns with the yard owner.

If they are as horrified as you are, take it seriously and put steps in place so that it doesn’t happen again then I would chalk it up to a momentary ‘issue’ that’s resolvable. Was this a new or junior member of staff etc?

If however they are dismissive of what happened I’d be moving the horse immediately.

I speak from experience, I had a very nice young horse written off through sheer negligence, on a horse walker, whilst on full livery. The groom initially tried to deceive me, it was a fellow livery who had witnessed the incident who told me what had happened that evening. I was up first thing the following morning to confront the YM who tried to lie through their teeth, before they conceded under pressure. My horse didn’t remain on the yard and I made sure the entire local grapevine knew why.
 
Thank you all for your views, puts the situation in perspective. Checked him today and he seems fine, obviously will keep a careful eye on him.

Thanks again, roll on summer!
 
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