Horrible Morning

[RockRiverTiff]

So I'm feeling a little saner after I was forced to take a nap, but I still feel totally disoriented and sick about what happened this morning. I'd just finished a long night of mare watching, so when the phone rang at around 6 I was NOT in the mood to talk. I ignored it, but when it rang again I knew something was wrong. Grandma asked me if I was still at the farm (I had just gone home to grab breakfast) and said they needed me down the road at the highway because there were minis on the road. There was also a full-sized horse, and it had been hit, and by coincidence the person that hit it knew us and called before the sheriff even got there. I was out the door in a couple minutes. Halfway to the farm I got another call saying the sheriff wanted me to bring halters and leads and feed and that the owner hadn't come forward yet. They gave me a description of the horses, and even though I knew they weren't ours the very first thing I did when I got to the farm was go racing through all the barns to make sure everyone was there.

The first thing I saw when I got up to the highway was the big mare. She was badly hurt, down in the ditch, but the sheriff must've been intimidated by her or something because he didn't get close enough to finish her with one shot. He shot her four times. I hope I never have to see something like that again. I don't want to be on the wrong side of the sheriff, but I am strongly considering writing a letter to their office suggesting that they teach the sheriff and deputies how to properly dispatch animals. I jumped out with a bucket full of pellets and two halters/leads, and was approached by the local horse trader. Someone must have called her too, and while she said the horses weren't hers and she hadn't brought anything to help catch them she was ready to take them when/if we did. Of course.

Then the sheriff called me over and said they had found the owner, he was coming, and they wouldn't need my help after all. The minis had run off into a field and were nowhere in sight. I got back in the truck just as the owner was pulling up in his. No trailer, no obvious way to get the minis home. He got out without any halters or leads, took a look at the mare, shook his head, and then went to talk to the sheriff. The sheriff waved us off, so we left, but all day I've been wondering if they caught the minis. The first thing I did was go staggering around the farm checking all the perimeter fences...again. I do this every day, but today I just can't shake the paranoia, so I've got a bunch of grumpy minis penned up in their barns. Please please please check your fences - I don't think I'll ever shake the image of that poor mare.

 

[Taylor Richelle]

How awful!!!!

I am so sorry that you had to go through this. That poor mare

I sure hope they caught those minis and that none of them were harmed. So glad they wern't yours. I am also very paranoid about my fences. Our have gotten out before and ran down the road. I have never been so scared in my life. The two times they did that we got them back safely. My mom lost a horse due to it getting out in the night and she got hit. Hopefully this is a wake up call to everyone and that they double check their pastures everyday if they already don't. Again I am so sorry you had to deal with this...

 

[Kendra]

How awful!! If the sheriff wasn't familiar with how to properly destroy an animal, why on earth didn't they call a veterinarian?! Or a hunter ... someone who knew what they were doing.

A while ago some horses down the road from us walked over the drifted fences and got out on the highway. One mare was hit, but luckily it was in the middle of a blizzard and the truck was going slowly. The mirror caught her in the side of the head, and though she was pretty cut up, she healed quickly.

The frustrating part? Evan after that, there were still horses turned out in the pens where the fences were drifted under.

 

[Watcheye]

That is sick. It would haunt me forever

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I'm so sorry you had to be involved and so sorry for that poor mare. I can truly understand your disgust.

 

[LAminiatures]

Wow so sorry that happened to you. How heartbreaking.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

I'm sorry if my initial post was rambling or insensitive. Thank you to everyone that understood how I was feeling. I'm still a little shell-shocked and have been taking back roads to avoid driving by the place where the accident occurred. Some of my non-horsey friends and family have accused me of being insensitive to the sheriff, and I can see how that's something he probably wasn't trained to do, but as a horse person I just can't help thinking how unnecessary it was that the mare had to suffer through that when she was already in pain. Thank you guys for understanding - truly - sometimes it's really hard to be the odd man out in my own social circle.

 

[weebiscuit]

I'm sorry if my initial post was rambling or insensitive. Thank you to everyone that understood how I was feeling.

I perfectly understood what you were feeling! It makes me ill to think that mare had to be shot four times before it was dispatched! That is inexcusable!

Sadly, though, whoever the owner of the horse was is liable for any damage that may have occurred to the vehicle which hit it. Animal owners are responsible for keeping their animals inside the fences! If a vehicle had hit that horse and someone in the car had been seriously inured or died, the owner of the loose animal would stand to lose a LOT!

So it's not only for the protection of our own animals that we need to always check our fences, but it's also to prevent a serious accident involving humans!

 

[Blackwater Farm]

I had a friend of mine that was traveling down a back country road late one night and when she rounded a curve and ran into what she thought was a group of 4 deer. They weren't deer. The horses had gotten out of their fence in the middle of the night and the owner wasn't aware (of course). My friend said that just before she hit them it looked almost like they were having a meeting in pairs facing eachother. Her car hit right through them so she hit the front ends of all four of them. Two had to be euthanised on site the other two didnt make it through the week. My friend suprisingly (but thankfully) was not injured and her car wasn't even damaged as badly as you would think. Just another example of why it is very important to check your fences!!! Also why I LOVE my solar charger for my electric strands. I have board fencing but it has hot wire on the inside so they cant lean through or chew. I like the solar charger because it works even when the power is out. We got some bad tornados that came through here last weekend and I was comforted in knowing that my fence was still gonna work! With a full chrage the battery will run up to 30 days in total darkness...which I pray to the Lord I never see!!!

I also hate that that poor mare had to be shot 4 times. The horses in the above situation were euthanised by a vet on site. I agree that there should be at least one or two officers, maybe all if a small department, that should be trained in emergency animal situations, some are. My husband is an MP and they never trained him for anything like that but he does hunt so maybe if the occasion were to arrise he might be better prepared.