If your Horses kicks another horse..

It's just what horses do. Often even best buddies fooling around together accidently aim a kick wrong and tremendous damage can be done. That's why some yards turn horses out in little individual paddocks. I guess it's an individual thing but I wouldn't keep a horse on its own like that.
 
I would say it depends on the situation really. If the horses are always turned out together and both owners are happy with this then i would say noone is liable its just one of those things. If say a the injured horse is usually turned out on its own and for some reason someone put the other horse out with it ( without the first horses owners permission ), and they have a fight, then i would say its the person who put the second horse out who is liable really. If this makes sense ?

What are the circumstances?
 
My friend is moving yards and the YO has told her to put her horse out with someone elses, the other person knows, but she is worried that if her horse did kick the other one if she would be liable - he's never kicked anyone else before - but like you say any horse can potentially kick.

She didn't know if she would be better off insisting on a seperate paddock, but the horse wouldn't be as happy.
 
In that case i would say if both owners are happy with their horses going out together no one is liable. Horses will be horses and you cant stop that. There is nothing to say that if turned out individually they wont get hurt. They will prob have a bit of a spat at first but usually settle down.
 
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Your horse has no history of ever kicking before.

[/ QUOTE ]I would take that with a huge great gulp of salt, and then go with YorksG and say 'nobody'. Horses kick/bite/barge. Owners can't really stop that - unless she fancies using the new Parelli Head N Leg Hobbler, only £199 with DVD.
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(Though on a more serious note, if one or other horse was a known bully, then I would see that differently.)
 
The girl who keeps her horse in the field next to mine sent me a text saying my horse bit her horse and I am liable for the vets bill. She said she will make me pay one way or the other! And that she will send me the vet bill - Well I hardly think any vet is going to do that - do you?
I said if she thought she had any grounds, then she would also need evidence in the form of a video or photo.
I asked her if she thought my horse would get a custodial sentence or just community service if proven guilty.
What a burke!!

I think the same applies with a kick, horses will be horses.
No horse owner can be deemed liable in these cases.

That's why we have our horse insured.
 
I have this problem too
My YO wants to put my boy out with her 3 horses who she uses for a wedding business. Thing is we tried this last year and one of her horses was getting kicked all the time.
My boy does not play well with others and I would prefer to keep him seperate. I asked her if she would sign something to say she knew what he was like and was willing to take the risk so I wasn't liable but she wouldn't sign it
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She hasn't mentioned it for a while so I'm hoping she has forgotten about that idea
 
It's a risk we take daily - and I'm not sure that anyone could be held liable.

It's the nature of the game.....
 
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It's a risk we take daily - and I'm not sure that anyone could be held liable.

It's the nature of the game.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Totally agree - well said! Although from a selfish point of view I would be reluctant to turn my horse out with a known kicker - but that's just me being an over protective mum!
 
Horses are horses I'm afraid and that's what happens sometimes. Yes it's awful for both people - one feels terrible and the other tends to the injury.

But at the end of the day, you can't stop this happening unless you give them individual turnout.
 
If there is proof or evidence that a horse has suffered an injury as a result of another horse kicking it then it would be open to the owner of the injured horse to take action to recover cost of treatment and care or even loss from the owner of the horse(s) that kicked it.

This is why it is so important that the owners of horses have insurance at a sufficient level to cover this eventuality.
 
My pony got kicked each time the two times he was turned out with a particular horse, one time resulting in a vets visit. It didn't occur to me at all to charge YO (it was her horse) for the bill. However, I did say I didn't want my pony turned out with it again as he was clearly petrified of it and I would have insisted she paid the bill if they had ignored my wishes and it was turned out with it again.

I think it is just one of those risks that we have to take. To make things easier I would just check that both horses are insured and if one is getting bullied insist that it is moved.
 

I was in a situation with my old gelding where he was out with my friend's horse, a mare got in, there ws some sort of fight and my friend's horse got kicked to the point where his tendon was severed.
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We will never know who's horse 'did it' or whether he did it himself.

My friend was devastated but understood that horses will be horses. I didn't offer to pay the bills - neitehr did she ask me too. He was insured.

I think this culture of 'name and blame' and make people pay is truly awful
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asd another poster said it is a risk we take every day with them if they are turned out with others.
 
It's so difficult to prove, anyway.
If I were the friend with the horse-moving problem, I'd try to make sure they got on before I threw them in together - by electric fencing the field in half first.
This gives them each a 'territory' or field end to retreat to, and allows them to meet and know each other over the fence. When they seem to be used to each other, then I'd remove the fence...
S
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This happened to me a few weeks ago. My horse was turned out with YO's horse, which was her idea (I was happy with my individual TO) and they were playing (we assume, as they don't fight and her youngster is very playful). Somehow her horse got kicked or injured and fractured his hock. He has had to have an operation, has tendon damage and had a bone infection. He was given a 50/50 chance of survival.

Fortunately he seems to be recovering well. It will be 6-12 months before he can be worked, but at least he's ok. I felt awful, but at the end of the day, horses are horses and it was her decision to put them out together, not something I requested or was even that happy about. YO is insured and has claimed on her insurance for the accident.

Feel free to PM me, as I'm guessing this has happened to you or someone you know. I felt awful and very sorry for her, but IMO horses are horses and that's one of the pitfalls. I've had the same thing happen to me - my friends horse kicked mine and fractured his splint bone. I wasn't insured either as I'd only had the horse a day!!! (Lesson learnt!)
 
QR : definitely not in normal circumstances. Different if kicking horse introduced without YO or other horse owner permission.

God think I would be bankrupt by now if that was the case having owned two Boss mares!! My current mare will always have a scrap if a new horse doesn't take orders and get in line where she wants them!

That's horses and herds. Most of the time, its all very minor and settles very quickly.

We have group turnouts at our yard and have to say (touching wood), that because care is always taken with introducing new horses and what groups they go into, we rarely get problems, but occasionally there have been the odd kicks and its just down to the owner of the kicked horse to be insured and claim accordingly.
 
My horse got kicked in the field last year - ended up with a fractured cannon bone ( now fully healed) - what a nightmare -I held no-one responsible because a) thats the risk you take poutting horses out in field, even in a stable group like ours b) it wasnt witnessed c) it could have happened in play anyway. Insurance company wanted names/addresses of other horse owners, which I refused to give - they paid up in the end, horse is back in full work...I try not to worry about it happening again...guess its just one of those things with horses...
 
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horses will be horses.

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Was the approach my insurance company took when my horse was kicked, this was not even in the field, but by a horse in a show ring. Totla bill was over a thousand.

UNLESS the horse is KNOWN to be a kicker, and the owner has been negligent in putting it into a situation where a kick could be anticipated.

Owner of injured horse should claim off thier own insurance, who would then claim from the alleged perpertrators insurnace.
So with own cover and BHS Gold liability, I would not pay for any injury but refer them to my insurance company and let the relevant ins cos sort it out.
 
I think like you say, horses will be horses. Different if it is a known kicker, but if you know it does it then best not to share turn out. i think it is the same with dogs, some years ago, a girl insisted on allowing her dog to run about, in between the horses legs etc. i told her repeatedly that my horse would kick it, it continued to sniff at her back legs etc, again the girl was asked to get her dog back, she said it would be ok, the whole time my horse was swishing tail and giving plenty warning. Eventually, she did kick it, dog had broken ribs. I was really upset and said to the other girls that i would offer half the vet bills. They wouldn't let me as i had warned her repeatedly and she wouldn't listen.
I felt terrible tho'
 
Unless the horse is known to be a serial kicker it's tough luck.
I allowed a neighbour who suddenly bought a mare to use a paddock for it here as a favour. They whinged it hadn't got enough grass so several days later after allowing it to meet the other mares over the adjoining fence I let it join them.
It decimated one mare causing over £146 of vet's bill, then kicked another.
We kept the injured mare in, it went loop the loop over the stable door and got wedged in the pasageway causing yet more injuries, total £460...!
I told the owner it had to go back in the paddock whereupon they moved it to their own garden.(!) in a fit of pique.
I was not best pleased to have the Mother complain on the phone that their mare had a scratch down one leg...
They have never said sorry which was all I wanted, or offered a penny towards the vet's bill.
Horses do fight and the only real way to avoid kicking matches is to put them out in feilds large enough for any to get right away from bad tempered ones.
My herd rarely get kicks (watch me eat my words now) due to huge areas to graze.
I think all you can do is rent individual paddocks for safety.
 
Not the same thing but my mare came in from the field and her rug had been ripped to bits by another horse (YO'S horse) I patched it up and mentioned it to YO but nothing done. Then when she went out on her horse from the field she left her rug by the gate and my mare pee'd on it. lol PAYBACK.....
Another time she went out for a ride with a friend and got kicked. The other horses ownner denied it happened but girl riding my horse said she bucked and kicked her. Cost me £85 vet bill and I wasn't even there. I don't let her go out anymore without me. They could have gone halfs atleast or covered the call out... it was a Sunday!!!!!
 
Thanks for all your replies. So she should be safe putting it out with the other horses as it doesn't kick. We have only got our own horses now, so if one of them did get kicked we would have to pay anyway.

I wasn't sure how far the sueing culture had got into livery yards
 
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