# July 4th Horse accident



## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

I have no words for this.




#!


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## GreyRay (Jun 15, 2010)

Accidents happen, especially when you are dealing with a 1200lb flight animal(or in this case two, hooked up to a buggy).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sullylvr (Aug 13, 2009)

Oh man...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ridergirl23 (Sep 17, 2009)

That to bad  compeletly terrible. but Accidents happen, we can only do so much to prevent them from hapening


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

You know I honestly don't think that horses should ever be put on a paved road with the public, EVER. I don't care how "trained" a horse is, it's a large animal with natural instincts and anything can go wrong with no where for them to go. 
Really unfortunate this happened, there were over a dozen injuries and a death due to the incident, not to mention some absolutely terrified animals.


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## ridergirl23 (Sep 17, 2009)

Not even police horses? because those have helped more lives then they ever hurt. just food for thought


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## A knack for horses (Jun 17, 2010)

I live near the area where it happened. The lady who died was driving the carriage and last I heard, almost all of those hospitalized were released from the hospital. They siad that the throat latch wasn't properly hooked and the horses rubbed their heads together and the bridles became loose and eventually fell off. So there was no way of stopping the horses after they spooked. Belleview, Iowa's mayor says he isn't looking to change parade policies to keep this from happening. I think that is bs, but there really isn't much you can to to stop a two horse buggy on a rampage.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

ridergirl23 said:


> Not even police horses? because those have helped more lives then they ever hurt. just food for thought


 These are professionaly trained officers. Those are meant to protect the public, those are meant for keeping order in place. Always a possibility for problems to, but I see that as a different ball game than your average horse rental company trying to come to a parade, or your 4H kid trying to show off some 4H things they have learned. 

Protection services- serves the public, everything else is for show, and leisure.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Um, first you say this:



My2Geldings said:


> You know I honestly don't think that horses should ever be put on a paved road with the public, EVER. I don't care how "trained" a horse is, it's a large animal with natural instincts and anything can go wrong with no where for them to go.


And then a couple of posts later you say this:



My2Geldings said:


> These are professionaly trained officers. Those are meant to protect the public, those are meant for keeping order in place. Always a possibility for problems to, but I see that as a different ball game than your average horse rental company trying to come to a parade, or your 4H kid trying to show off some 4H things they have learned. ​




You even capitalized the word EVER in your first post.

head desk


It is a tragic accident.

You can not legislate away tragic accidents. Geez. 


​


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm betting the cart is responsible for most of the injuries, not the horses.

It was a tragic _accident_.  One from which, unfortunately, the horse owner is unlikely to recover financially.

I used to ride my heart horse in parades. He did very well with the crowds, screeching children running amok, balloons, fire engines, and the high school marching bands. Wanna know what freaked him out? The LINES on the road!

He was controllable, but those lines were gonna _eat_ him, especially the yellow ones! 

Regardless of how well trained an animal is, you _always_ take a risk going out in public with them. Nonhorse people are unaware of the potential havoc an animal like that can wreak, so we as owners need to try and make sure they're as trained and controllable as possible. Even then, there are still tragic events that happen.

Amish cart horses are sometimes hit and killed by drivers speeding, coming up over a blind hill too fast, or because the horse spooks. 

We can't protect our horses or the general public from _everything_. Saying that no horse EVER should be on public roads or in crowds just isn't practical.

Sh*t happens sometimes, even when we've taken every precaution. Doesn't mean all horse use in public should be outlawed.


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## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

This may sound awful, and I think it's terrible and I hope the injured people recover without complication, but does anyone know the condition of the horses? The report says they ran into something that stopped them, and in the video, you can plainly see one PLOW a car, and keep going. I'm guessing they must have been hurt too.


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## LoverofHorses (Jan 3, 2010)

This accident was all over the news and our paper, they said the horses were fine. What a terrible thing to happen, especially on a holiday.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm betting they were too, Apachie.

Oh, and the woman who died? She was the driver's _wife_, not some random bystander.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

That is a tragic accident. Unfortunately, those things just happen sometimes. Often in parades around here, I see people on horses and driving teams that have not been properly prepared to be in a parade situation, they have never been through town, are only half broke to begin with. Even with proper preparation, things can happen. I have seen videos of people throwing things at the horses from 2nd story balconies just to see if they would spook. We had a team of mules that we used for everything, parades, hay rides, advertising, etc and we never had any incident with them at all. Sometimes things happen and other times they don't. Even cars have brakes fail and kill people.


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Um, first you say this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You're definitely "alwaysbehind" in taking the effort in writing an intelligent reply to threads, quit trying to pick fights.


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## MuleWrangler (Dec 15, 2009)

Yes, smrobs, it amazes me how appallingly idiotic people can get around horses and other large animals. "Ooo! Ooo! Let's see if these fireworks will make it bolt into the crowd!" "Hey, I'll bet hitting it with this bottle will make it jump straight up!" Those people need a cattle prod where the sun don't shine.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Was not trying to pick a fight. I was pointing out the conflict in your two posts.
You can not have it both ways.

And most mounted horses are really just every day horses. All the mounted patrols in my area are police officers first. Most have no horse experience prior to joining mounted. 


I was at a horse show many years back. Two ring one day hunter type show. Lots of trucks and trailers and horses every where.

Short version, a parked car rolled thru the place (bounced off some trailers, etc) and took out the registration tent. People and all. One woman ended up with a broken back.

It was a tragic accident.

Should we make having vehicles parked in the field at horse shows against the law because a bad thing can happen?


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## GreyRay (Jun 15, 2010)

Education before legislation. I, for one, do not want my right to ride my horse on the road(or sidewalk lol) taken away because people are to stupid to act appropriately. Maybe if people would stop banning things, and actually teach people how to handle sticky situation instead of "protecting" them by taking away my/our freedoms. We would have less stupid people...?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Well said GreyRay!


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## A knack for horses (Jun 17, 2010)

Since this was the product of a tack malfunction, I think the mayor should put a double check rule on parade buggys, saddles, coaches, etc. before any horses are allowed to enter the parade route.
Yes it is tragic, but the fact that this could be prevented from happening again should be dealt with. 
I'm not saying take horses out of parades altogether, I'd be mad if they did. The fact the mayor isn't doing anything to raise awareness or prevent another freak accident irks me.

We need to learn from accidents and improve our defenses against them, not ignore it and just eliminate the threat to keep it from happening.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Speed Racer said:


> It was a tragic _accident_. One from which, unfortunately, the horse owner is unlikely to recover financially.
> 
> 
> Sh*t happens sometimes, even when we've taken every precaution. Doesn't mean all horse use in public should be outlawed.


I am very sure the parade organizers have insurance that will cover any potential lawsuits.

Our saddle club is invited to ride in a huge 4th of July parade every year. The liability goes to the parade organizers, the town, etc. Our insurance agent is also an attorney and rides in our club. (and has one of the worst behaved horses . . .)


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

They probably do mls, but that won't stop people from suing the horse owner, too.

You know how it is it today's litigious society; squeeze every penny you can from everyone you can possibly lay _any_ blame for what happened.


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