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At 00:08:47 on 24.06.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
I don't understand what they will achieve by investigating the case, horses are unpredictable and what can the police do other than report on it? Arrest the man for falling from the carriage? I would also like to know how they are planning on finding out if a horse is safe for carriage work without putting them in a situation with crowds, it only ever takes the once. I feel sorry for the lady and her family, especially since she wasn't involved with the horse. But honestly i don't see what the police can/will do... |
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At 22:48:19 on 24.06.11, Angelalain wrote:
You only have to go to a big show (like the Norfolk or East of England) to see accidents waiting to happen, people pushing kids in pushchairs behind and between horses/cows/ carriages etc. At the Agricultural shows the organisers do their best to make 'walkways' for the horses to keep people away, but the general public are, on the whole, clueless about the possibilites! The incident you are talking about couldn't actually fault the public since they were in the crowd and the horse bolted into them, it was a very large horse too! I do agree with Jess, what are they going to do, other than blame the organisers for not making adequate provision for keeping the horses away when they were not performimg. At the Norfolk show a couple of years back the parachute team jumped from the plane, then the plane flew low over the main ring in the showground so the soldiers inside could wave to the crowd. Unfortunately the Grade C SJ was going on in the ring next door. I was in the collecting ring, we had loose horses, one of which was having his saddle adjusted at the time and had his girth undone, people knocked over, the poor girl in the ring got run off with. In the end the only real casualty was the saddle, which was trampled and ruined, but it was just so stupid, and so avoidable! |
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At 21:26:00 on 25.06.11, ToriSilverson wrote:
thats awful :( we used to take part in an a small event in ballycarry called the broad island gathering, we would wear kilts and ride around the the village with some flag...i cant remember why but it was great fun. we had to stop taking part in it because people were being rediculous, they wer walking between our line of horses, a young child ran out at my uncles 16.3 young, hyperactive thoroughbred, someone pushed a pram right behind romany who is was spooky and is very prone to kick. just stupid |
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At 22:10:02 on 25.06.11, wrote:
JessAndGrenville123 and Angelalain have very good points. It DOES only take the once,no matter how safe the horse has proved to be in the past. Every day is different,(and it's impossible to see ahead to every possibility,isn't it).
Then there's the good point about keeping the horses in an area away from the public when they aren't actually doing what they were brought there to do. If the horse(s) will be near the public regardless, it would be essential for someone to be at its head, reading the horse's eye-and-ear language and and being a calming influence before this silent language got more intense. So many tragedies could be averted if this were done. Perhaps this would seem unnecessary/boring/SO not fun, to some people. Consider the public, though, in that largely horse-clueless group, out for a pleasant day. With the horses accompanied by a familiar and watchful person,(there could be more than one, and they could trade off so the others could take a break, see the sights--)the happy day would be just that, right to the end. Another alternative would be to have a fenced off area for the horses, bringing the animals out as needed. At a large State Fair in my area, a serious problem occurred when a six-horse hitch of Belgian show drafts who got themselves all hyped up and anxious to get into the show ring,got away from their people,galloped out of their huge gateless(!) harnessing area,right through the security men,toward the ring,and crossed the wide lane filled with fairgoers waiting to see all the hitches come through. Well, that hitch was early, panicky and unstoppable. Whether or not anyone was actually hurt, I don't know. It didn't make the news. The next year,gates of heavy metal tubing were installed and are always in use when the draft horse show is on. |
