Red ribbon in tails in warm up rings...

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Super_starz

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My young horse got a fright in a warm up ring a few months ago and i am now worried he will kick out if a horses gets to close. So though i would do a sensible thing and put a red ribbon in his tail when i went to our local showjumping venue, i was told by a member of staff that i know very well that ''i shouldnt be wearing a red ribbon in his tail, as if another horse did get kicked i would be admiting liability''
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Would anyone agree with this
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At least when i wear a ribbon other people stay away on their horses
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stick a red ribbon on, i used to do it with my young mare. Keeps people out the way as she too got a few scares and become nervous. It is the correct way to do it IMO.

With my boy- im just rude and tell them to back off! People do get FAR FAR too close to horses bums IMO.
 
Use a red ribbon, it warns people that he may kick and in my opinion you are warning people to give you a wide berth, if they don't and he does kick its their own fault. I use a green ribbon on my youngster to tell people that he is young and inexperienced. I would say if you didn't wear anything and he kicked then you would be liable.
 
Chances are you could be liable either way so at least if you have one in then you might get more room and he is then less likely to kick. I've found thats its worth avoiding the outside track if possible as this way you can't get squashed against the wall, I realise this is not always practical but its worth trying for when possible.
 
I would say that if you're warning people with a red ribbon and they still get close enough to get kicked then that's their fault not yours, surely it's worse to think he might kick and not do anything to warn people than to use a clear and traditional method
 
After my last horrid experience in a warm up ring with my skittish TB I am going to be wearing a red ribbon for exactly these reasons!! I am also pleasant but fairly vocal when telling people to keep their distance!!
 
Someone suggested wearing a hi-vis tabard that says "caution young horse" to me. I haven't actually done it yet, but at my last thing my youngster nearly got crashed into and it really freaked her out, so I might try it. Yes I might look a prize n*b, but I don't think that matters (or is indeed that unusual
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Definately need a red ribbon. Common sense would say that the opposite of what that woman said is the case.

But the law is never straight forward!

Re riding on the outside track - you need to stay on the outside track often as there's not room to create an inside one if people are jumping a practice jump and then coming round fast past you.

I hold my jumping whip at right angles to my hip - so that it's sticking out. That stops people coming too close alongside me - or I will hold it beside her bottom to warn people not to come too close up her bottom - or just say.

Nobody wants to get kicked - so people are normally glad that you've pointed it out.
 
This is exactly the same problem i have with my horse. Someone came gallaping up his bum out hunting and this scared him. After this we have had a few close misses in warm ups, so now i have put a red ribbon in.

Dressage warm ups are fine as people keeps their space usually (and there is much less people in) but Showjumping warmups make him bouncy and likely to strike out. Now we avoid goin to places with small indoor warmups.
 
maybe a red and green one?! ok I know its 2 colours but at least you are saying "this is a young horse, and he MAY kick out!"

that way if anything happens you can say well I did make it clear!

Some people are just arses though dont forget! so i would rather have the advantage of saying that you had done the correct thing rather than saying, o well you should have known to leave distance (because you didnt have a ribbon in)
 
My daughter got kicked on her leg by a pony in a very busy,tight show jumping warmup a couple of years ago. When we asked the owners of the pony if it usually kicked they said,no never. But others watching told us it kicked regularly, and the reason they didn't wear a red ribbon was because they didn't want to admit that their pony was dangerous, and therefore open themselves up to being sued!
My daughter ended up with suspected cellulitis, and was in hospital for 5 days over xmas.
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I don't personally know about the law regarding this matter...but surely common sense should prevail.
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