Even a gentle horse can hurt you …

[OldKat]

Not sure anyone would consider this to be funny, but the story Plowboy related about the palomino coming over backwards on him and his nearly bashing his head on a large rock got me to thinking about a near miss I had along about this time of year probably 22 or 23 years ago. We were living on an old rice land place west of Houston in exchange for caring for the owner’s herd of cross-bred cows, mostly Brahma x Charolais.

Any cow that is described as “Brahma x anything” can be pretty salty when they want to be and these generally wanted to be. We had been living there about 5 or 6 years at this point and I had fairly well culled out the true crazies, which had turned that way after being virtually unhandled for at least 5 to 7 years before that. We generally started calving about the middle of February to take advantage of the lush rye and Texas Winter grasses that come on strong about the first of March. I had pushed about 30 or 40 head of cows into about a 55 or 60 acre brushy pasture about 2 to 3 weeks before to clean it up & had decided it was time to get them out and back with the rest of the herd.

Unfortunately several of them had calved and there was no way I wanted to be on foot in a Huisache brush infested pasture with a bunch of cross-bred cows that had just freshened. Huisache has thorns on it will shred you to pieces and darned if I wanted to have to jump into a bunch of it to get away from a salty momma cow. So I called the horses up and the first one I caught was a little black quarter horse mare named Misty that I had bought for a friend of mine from one of my former high school ag. students. My friend had said to just hold onto the mare until he needed her, and she had been with us about 3 or 4 years at that point. I sort of got to thinking that she was mine, and she was very, very gentle so I slapped my old rig on her and mounted up. We lived about 3/8 to 1/2 mile off the highway so I rode her down the lane to the highway and back just to warm her up a little, as she had not been saddled in probably 3 months.

When I got back to the house my daughter, Sara, who was no more than 2 or 3 years old at the time spotted us and immediately threw her hands up in the air meaning “Daddy, take me for a ride”. Sure thing; the mare was gentle & I had plenty of time before dusk so I had my wife hand her up to me and planted her in the saddle right in front of me. We took a nice leisurely ride up to the highway and back to the house again. Although Sara was protesting that she wanted to ride some more I handed her back to Donna, pointed Misty toward the back gate and kicked her up. I was still turned in the saddle and watching Sara pitch a fit because she couldn’t go with me when I felt something a little odd under the saddle. As I turned in the saddle I realized Misty was doing a little crow hop. I was amused more than anything else and not really concerned, certainly I could ride this little storm out. About 3 more crow hops and Misty really started to crank it up. I was doing okay until she snatched the reins out of my hands and planted her nose in the dirt. At that point I did a nice little somersault and landed square on my butt. Nothing was injured except my pride.

I got up, caught Misty and got those cows moved with no problem. I never knew Misty to ever buck again, and I don’t know what caused it that day. I do know this though; if she had decided to do it even 45 seconds before she did it could have sure been a whole lot worse than it was. A sure enough near miss.

[jen judkins]

I really like to believe horses understand the fragility of children…my horses always seem to act that way around them…but who knows.

[Theloggerswife]

I have a two year old boy that will not let the forecart leave the hitching post without him on the seat. He will sit on the forecart and watch me hitch the horses just to make sure he is not going to be left behind. When we get back in the yard, my husband will take him off the cart while I take the cart/harnesses off. When Jacob leaves the cart willingly the horses are fine, when he is crying putting and up a fuss the horses want to see him, so they fidget until they can see him. I always thought it was my imagination, but my husband has noticed the same behavior with the horses.

One of my Belgians cannot leave my son’s hat alone. Jacob comes into the barn with me frequently. We grain/hay the horses and head out through the run-in part of the barn to check if the river is still open for the horses to drink from. That horse will stop eating and pull Jacob’s hat off every time. The horse then picks up his head so Jacob cannot reach the hat to get it back. Jacob proceeds to cry and jump up to get the hat from the horse. I swear the horse loves the reaction from the two year old. The horse has NEVER touched my hat. The horse will even follow Jacob running from him in the pasture to get the hat. The horse doesn’t try to eat the hat, he just sits there with the hat in his mouth….very funny to me, but Jacob may start to have nightmares about this!!!

[manesntails]

The way I look at it is, you weren’t asking much of that horse til after the baby was off his back. Not that some horses don’t act more carefully around children, they do. We have all seen it. I think the reason the “kid horse” is a kid horse is that he likes the idea that the kid doesn’t ask much of him. He’d rather tote them around than have to really work with a more competent rider.

The horse you’re talking about hadn’t been ridden in 3 months. Of course that horse no matter how gentle, when not ridden regularly CAN give out a few crop hops or a couple bucks when first asked for speed. Many horses that are ridden every day will give you a buck or two when first asked for speed. It’s the excitement of being asked and the natural reaction to his first going off into a gallop, the same reaction he may have in the field when he’s feeling good and starts cantering; he may throw in a few bucks. Add to that the fact he’s been left to live life and make all his own decisions for three months; now you get on and egg him on for speed, tad of resentment for being told comes to mind. He’ll show his disapproval with a bucking fit. Had he been warmed up more slowly; walk, trot, get a little sweat going then asked for a canter…….may have gotten away without those bucks. With all due respect…Rider error.

The horses that really will fool you are the ones you’ve had for 20 years who you can put anyone on, and have never put a foot wrong. One morning you go to pick out his feet and instead of handing it to you he kicks you in the head. My uncle told me about one like that.

We can’t read our horse’s minds so we have to be cogniscent of even the most imperceptible changes. The mare in question had a rock in the opposite hind frog wedged right in there. When he picked up the hind foot and she shifted her weight she felt a sharp pain in that opposite foot which now, she had to carry all the weight of her back end on. She instinctively kicked out. She’d never done that before in all the time he had her. His head happened to be in the way of that foot and he was killed.

Gentle is no guarantee, and no matter how gentle, fresh is fresh.

[J-L]

Neat story OldKat. One of the best horses I ever had, had a little buck every morning. I’d saddle her up outside the horse barn, wrap the reins around the horn and cluck at her. She’d make her victory lap around the big with some big jumps corral and stop. That was it. It would take a month solid for her to quit that routine and she never bucked with me after she was broke. She was out of an old stud who had Wimpy on his papers and a grade mare that we thought had some Hancock or Blue Valentine. Her name was Rosebud, and she was really gentle too.
The ones I hate are those that will break in two at any time, even after a long day on the way back to the trailer or barn.
My neighbor bought a truckload of Brahma cross cows once. They were a real wakeup for a kid raised on Hereford cattle! I went to help him doctor scours and when you had a calf on the end of the rope they would come after you or your horse just about every time.

[OldKat]

@J-L 5468 wrote:

Neat story OldKat. One of the best horses I ever had, had a little buck every morning. I’d saddle her up outside the horse barn, wrap the reins around the horn and cluck at her. She’d make her victory lap around the big with some big jumps corral and stop. That was it. It would take a month solid for her to quit that routine and she never bucked with me after she was broke. She was out of an old stud who had Wimpy on his papers and a grade mare that we thought had some Hancock or Blue Valentine. Her name was Rosebud, and she was really gentle too.
The ones I hate are those that will break in two at any time, even after a long day on the way back to the trailer or barn.
My neighbor bought a truckload of Brahma cross cows once. They were a real wakeup for a kid raised on Hereford cattle! I went to help him doctor scours and when you had a calf on the end of the rope they would come after you or your horse just about every time.

The funny thing is straight bred Brahman cows can be among the most docile of any cow you will ever meet, it is usually the crossbred ones that will put you up in the bed of your pickup truck … if not on top of the cab!

My old friend and former boss Jim Warren (nephew of Bill Warren, the first president of the AQHA), who is currently the manager of the Warren Ranch near Hockley, Tx tells the story of how when he was in the Marine Corps and stationed somewhere in the mid-west, maybe Kansas City, one of his buddies (a guy raised on a Hereford farm nearby) asked him about birth weights on their range cows. Jim said “Oh, I dunno. Maybe average 50 lbs?”

The guy was horrified that exact birth weights were not taken. So Jim asked exactly how do you get those weights? The guy said “Oh, it is really easy. Just get a bracket made that will fit in a stake pocket of your truck, then get a hanging scale with a cradle to put the calf in & you are all set”. Jim “enlightened” him on the disposition his mother cows and asked if the guy would come show him how to get these birth weights next time they had some leave. For some reason the guy declined!

BTW: The Warren Ranch was the site of the first horses to be inspected for registration when the AQHA was established. Unfortunately, they have phased out their horse breeding program. The “actual” first number issued, which was either 20 or 21, was issued to a stallion they owned named Pancho. The earlier numbers were issued to stallions as they “earned” the right to those premier numbers. Wimpy was awarded #1 by virtue of winning the 1940 Quarter Horse show at the Fort Worth Stock Show; an interesting bit of trivia.

[Happy When Hitched]

@jenjudkins 5447 wrote:

I really like to believe horses understand the fragility of children…my horses always seem to act that way around them…but who knows.

Jen, my good horse Timmy (called Saint Tim by some) humored my fragility one day. I was taking my aged trail dog back to camp, after he had refused to go on. He was arthritic and I had known his time on the trail was coming to an end. I told the folks to go on, I’d just take Snappie back and ride out on another trail, maybe catch them coming in. I was busted up, having ridden with Snap for over 10 years. Blubbering and unable to see clearly. Saint Tim never looked back at his herd riding away. Never twitched an ear or made a sound. I finally thought “Annie, suck. it. up, girl!” and quit the blubbering. As soon as I got control of myself, Timmy started dancing around and calling to the other horses. Nothing major, but enough assing around that I knew he had been taking care of his old ma.:p

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