What would you do in this situation?

M

Mbronze

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I have been told that a friend of mine at a previous yard had her horse kicked in the field by another. There were only three horses in the field at the time.
The kick was so severe (to the stifle) that the horse could barely walk and ended up in horsepital and it was touch and go for a while.
Anyway horse has now been given the all clear, but will now be off work for 6mths. Now whether the next bit is true or not (I'll let you decide) I have been told now that the owner of the kicked horse is going to sue the owner of the horse she 'thinks' kicked hers as her insurance only covered £3k and apparantly the hospital and subsequent visits will cost alot more!
Now I don't know even if this is true, but I don't entirely agree with it. Firstly I insure my horse for £5k vet fees in case the worst happens, but if someones horse did kick mine I wouldn't be blaming them as 'this is what horses do' when they don't like each other.
I just feel sorry for the kicker's owner (if they ever find out who it is) as I wouldn't want to be sued if my horse kicked another that she shared a field with especially if it wasn't known to be a kicker.
Why are people so 'sue-happy' these days!!!
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If you turn your horse out with another, you run the risk that it will get kicked. End of! None of us want to see our horses hurt, but there comes a point where you have to accept that they are living creatures, and that field squabbles are as common as office tiffs or playground quarrels. I agree with you - it is simply the nature of horses when in a herd, and if the injured horse's owner cannot accept that, then she should only ever have individual turnout.
 
A very sad occurence, but I'm wondering how the hell she will prove exactly which horse out of two, kicked her horse?

Also agree with the above poster, horses will be horses and accidents unfortunately happen, I wouldn't be looking to aportion blame.
 
Hmm, she wouldn't stand a hope in hell to be honest as (a) there is no proof said horse kicked the other and (b) that is part of horse behaviour so is a natural risk you take putting your horse in with others and hence why it's sensible to have vets fees cover.

I would never even consider suing someone - I mean unless maybe the owner had been negligent and say had let their horse into the field with mine but even that would be difficult to prove.
 
It does sadden me that everyone is so sue happy these days.
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If it was my horse that had been kicked (seriously) don't get me wrong at first I would be rather upset about what has happened to my horse that I would want to blame the owner at first but at the end of the day it has nothing to do with the owner at all it would just be my overulling (sp?) emotions. I certainly would not actually blame them and never in a million years think of suing, unless a horse is turned out alone you can never ever trust that they will not kick each other.
And if the horse is out with multiple horses, what will the owner do sue everyone who has a horse in said field?!

My horse apparently kicked another he was out with in the field, the owner was fuming and laid into me over it despite the fact it was her horse that kicked mine first and mine retaliated and missed him (mine was booted by the other horse) thankfully others told me what actually happened as she certainly didn't.
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I didn't blame her and didn't expect the blame to be placed on me.

At the end of the day I try treat people they way I want to be treated and I certainly would not want to be blamed for my horses actions when he is in a field when there is nothing I can do to control them.
 
Many years ago it was said that the old Appy mare had kicked a mare who was for sale. The owner of the mare also owned a stallion and had other mares coming to stay to be served by him. The owner said that she thought I should pay towards her vet bills and loss of value!
If they had been a stable herd I would still not have felt any financial responsibility towards the owner, but given that she was essentially dealing from a yard we were all paying livery for, thus bringing horses in and out, I certainly did not feel that I should pay anything towards her vet bills. It could so easily have been my mare on the receiving end of the kick. Horses will kick each other, that is one of the things we have to accept. When my sister got her latest mare, after careful introductions, my mare pushed her luck and got booted on the shoulder, such is life.
 
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I have been told that a friend of mine at a previous yard had her horse kicked in the field by another.

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Really? Horses kick EACH other ????!!!!! never!

Massive sympathy for the owner of the kicked horse though
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but come on, horses will be horses.

The only scenario in which maybe someone *might* have a valid reason to sue is if the horse was a confirmed kicker/aggressive horse that the owner turned out with other horses without permission or against the rules (if for example the yo said no turnout but the owner turned out anyway) without the liveries knowledge etc, something like that perhaps
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yes, for example, my friends horse is out with 1 other.

A new livery came onto the yard with a young colt...... was told to turn it out separatly in a turn out paddock with another youngster (preferably under supervision)

she turned it out in the field with my friends gelding...... the colt was seen kicking my friends horse, shattered his scapula and ended up with him dragging his leg behind him as it was shattered totally and he had to be PTS!

the woman with the colt refused to pay the vet bills etc! and my friend is unfortunatly too nice to get aggressive about it.

That instance I could maybe understand the suing as the livery was specifically told not to! but this a totally different situation to the OP
 
TBH these days it doesn't suprise me.
My pony got a kick broke a bone in leg in 3 different places.It was an accident!We knew exactly whose horse had done it but would never have dreamed of asking for vet fees/money.Only pain was owner of said horse kept saying it never kicks despite several people witnessing it,not that it mattered anyway
As has been said unless you put them in individual paddocks they ARE going to kick one another at some point.
So in answer to question I wouldn't do anything other than get vet to look at horse and care for as advised
 
That is ridiculous.

To be fair Monty was badly injured when someone put a horse that had been gelded in the market THAT DAY in with the herd. The owner did pay half my bills since that was an absolutely stupid thing to do.

However, that was a different scenario entirely. Under normal circumstances, horses do sometimes get in to scraps. Zoomy was lame last month from a bad kick but it just goes with the territory of turning them out with other horses.
 
That is incredible. I honestly don't know what planet some poeple live on. Horse are animals not machienes these things happen when they live together.

A few summers ago, one of the girls at our yard (11/12 at the time) ended up being flown to Southhampton hospital having been severly kicked in the head by one of my horses...however my girls had been grazing quite happily in the field when the kids had gone running into the field jumped on the rope swing and went straight in the side of her. The parents were as I was mortified, however as they said it wasn't J's fault the kids were not suppose to be there - she's a horse and was surprised
 
I agree it's silly to sue when horses are doing what horses do!

A question, though: in Canada, I was always taught not to turn out a horse that is wearing hind shoes with other horses, since it has so much more potential to do severe damage when it kicks. I've never heard this mentioned here, and the spooky pony's field has four in it with hind shoes on. How do people feel about this?
 
i think hind shoes are not a problem in a happy herd of horses but if a horse is a known kicker or newly introduced without would be safer..... but thats me playing safe
 
Being wise after the event we had the hinds removed for a couple of weeks after sisters mare kicked mine, they were left on originally as we were working my mare and were hoping to get the new mare out and about early on.
 
The only way she is likely to get anywhere is if there is evidence that demonstrates that the other horse kicked her horse and that that horse had a history in the past of kicking.

The other issue being the legal fees (which are likely to be more than the value of the injuries) if she fails to win.
 
Our pony was kicked whilst out on loan, had a star fracture of her tibia and was out of action for about 6 months in total. Would not have dreamt of suing the owners of the kicker (particularly as ours probably started it). Sadly it does seem that everyone is litigation mad nowadays. One of my daughters friends pony was kicked at the livery yard and her parents tried to get money out of the girl whose pony had done the damage. Tried to say the pony had been devalued by the kick etc, I supported the other girl as I knew the injured pony had never been worth much. They gave up in the end, but not before the other girls parents had decided the pony had to go back (was on loan) rather than risk it kicking something else.
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Horses are horses, and annoying as it is, if there is an injury when you put yours in a field with others tough, it's at your own risk, same as yourself, if you go in a field with horses in it's at your own risk, too much of this bloody sueing mentality, all it's doing is putting insurance premiums for all the rest of us right across the board, WE are the ones paying out, not the insurance companies, dont get me wrong I dont mind legit claims for genuine stuff, but these type of claims are a piss take.
 
At my old yard the YO's horse escaped from the filed and got in with my mare who was in season. He mounted her and caused damage to her sacroiliac. Several vets bills and a year later she still isnt right and is out of work. A couple of months ago I moved both my horses to a new yard (had nothing to do with the accident) and one of the other liveries asked why I didnt ride Gin. I told her what had happened and she asked me if I had sued the YO. The thought never even crossed my mind and I never took it out on YO. Accidents happen, whats the point in trying to blame someone?
It has worked out that my mare is now in foal which is something ive always wanted to do with her. I would love to be back out and about competing her but sometimes things happen for a reason. Horses kick, we all know that. Without knowing the full circumstances I very much doubt she will be able to sue.
 
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