It's amazing, isn't it? The tight spots that these huge, docile creatures can get themselves into. Above is Smart Lil Sassypants, my yearling. She looks pretty proud of herself, doesn't she? She is, for the most part, a very pragmatic little girl, wise beyond her years. In fact, while she was stuck in the position shown here, she decided she'd just nibble on the hay in front of her. Hay, like grass, is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Yet, calm and smart as Sassy is, she still managed to get herself stuck. That's the thing about horses: they can find infinite ways to get into trouble. Over the years, I've repeatedly heard the old horseman's adage about how you can put a horse in a rubber stall, and they'll still find a way to get hurt. I can't argue.
I had one little mare who turned her head around in the old horse trailer I had, and managed to get the rail jammed underneath her jawbone so that she was wedged in that position. I won't tell you how I got her free, because I know you won't believe me. Another horse came out of the same trailer on a pothole-choked dirt road -- while it was moving. The butt-bar and the door were both closed properly. The vibration of the bumpy road managed to jar loose the friction-operated latch, and the horse leaned against the side of the trailer to support himself -- which caused the butt-bar to pop free on one end. Somehow that darned Thoroughbred slipped through the 18-inch gap between the butt bar and the center post. To my utter astonishment, he wasn't injured. He had some missing hair on his hip and a scrape mark on one hoof. Thankfully, he wasn't tied -- I went through a period of time when I didn't like tying my horses in the trailer. It saved that one's life. The trailer went up for sale immediately -- for landscaper use only.
It's not always the horse who risks injury with their strange ability to get into mischief. I had just finished riding and rinsing one beloved gelding, Oscar, one summer afternoon. I picked up his front foot to check for rocks, and just about jumped out of my skin. There, neatly hanging out in the groove of his frog, was a perfectly intact, uninjured scorpion. He wasn't smashed into the hoof -- he was just hanging on. I nearly got stung by a scorpion that was in my horse's hoof. Now, could anyone have predicted that one?
I can't count the times I've had to cut a horse out of a fence, or flip them back over when they got hung up against a stall wall. The way to do that, if you haven't had that opportunity yet, is to loop a fat rope lead around the back legs, stand back toward the shoulder, and flip them. Get out of the way fast once they start coming over, and let go of the rope when they do. I've nearly had to cut one's halter off, when she rubbed her nose on the hitching post after I'd dismounted and caught her nose piece on the horseshoes welded onto the hitching post to make it easy to tie to. I've never seen a horse get hung up quite like that before. The hitching post will soon be modified to have those foolish horseshoes removed. I'll never understand why someone made a hitching post that way. Anything that protrudes from a fence or rail is just waiting for a tied horse to get hung up on it.
Then there's Ziggy -- MJ Royal Smartypants. Ziggy, a stud colt, had the advantage for several months of being turned out with a very gentle gelding, Frosty. I eventually had to separate them, as Ziggy was discovering his stallion-hood and continually trying to take advantage of sweet, defenseless Frosty (who couldn't kick due to instability in the hindquarters.) Although I quit putting them in the turnout together, I kept them in adjacent stalls when they were in the mare motel. Darned if I didn't come out one morning to find Ziggy in Frosty's stall, happy and quiet. He'd managed to slip beneath the rails -- and there wasn't much room to squeeze through, but Ziggy did it. He must have flattened himself like a hamster to slip through that narrow gap.
Guess what? Ziggy is the proud father of Sassy, the little filly above. Like father, like daughter. Sassy's mother? Well, she's the mare who got caught on the hitching post. It's no wonder Sassy has a big chunk of missing skin from her forehead this week -- she's genetically prone to get herself snagged. There's not a sharp object anywhere near her stall; I can't even figure out what she happened to do to herself. She's having more than her share of filly-hood bumps and bruises of indeterminate origin. She's following in her father's hoof-steps already.
Thankfully, across all the years, none of my horses have had a really significant, life-ending injury from their solo antics. Not for lack of trying, of course -- they find new ways regularly, despite my constant efforts to create a safe environment for them. They still manage to get hurt, despite the effort and planning -- horses just have a knack for that. You just never know what they're going to find to get into trouble with.
Here, though, are just a few common hazards:
- Wire. Wire fences, loose wire, wire that's exposed to them in any way. Horses love to paw at wire and wedge it between their hooves and their shoes; they can find myriad ways to get stuck in it -- or stabbed by it. If you've got wire fences, fasten it tightly to the rail at close intervals. Nip off any protruding segments. Consider anchoring it at ground level so a hoof can't slip underneath.
- Gaps between fence posts. Heads and legs easily become stuck.
- Odd-shaped spaces in fencing, especially those that are narrower at top than at bottom. Horses will pull their heads up as they're pulling back, so a keyhole shape is especially dangerous -- there may be plenty of room at bottom to free their heads, but as their heads rise, they become desperately stuck. This can quickly become lethal, especially in younger horses.
- Gaps in feeders, especially those with narrow rails, that a lower jaw can get caught in. I've known at least two horses who shattered their jaws by getting hung up on rail-type hay feeders.
- Spaces beneath barn doors or partitions. Horses can rip their hooves off when a foot gets stuck beneath a fixed object.
- Halters left on the horse. Here, again, I've known horses who died as a result of having their halters left on. Under NO circumstances should a standard web halter EVER be left on a youngster unsupervised. This is the equine equivalent of leaving a child alone in a pool. Disaster is imminent. Even adult horses get hung up -- but they aren't as likely to break their necks.
- Tying your horse to any object that is not fixed, solid, and heavy duty. One of the ugliest set of injuries I've seen was to a beautiful mare who'd been tied to a wheelbarrow. A wheelbarrow, folks! That wheelbarrow chased that mare for miles through the desert when she took off running, and it still amazes me that she lived through her injuries.
- Tying your horse to a gate. Please, just don't.
Remember, always have your camera at hand. Someday, I'll embarrass Sassy by showing these photos to her high-school prom date.
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