Aways wear a hat to bring in / turn out....

CharliesAngel

CharliesAngel

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Jan 15, 2010
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do you ? ? i confess, i dont! Not even leading in stallions, mares & foals.. nope.

today i went to see a little 12hh pony id seen advertised, a rising 4 year old. Potentially as a wee project for the summer to back and for MiniCA to go on to after his mini shetland.

the girl wore her hat up to the field to bring him in, caught him and i held the gate for her and shut it, we took a few steps away from the gate and she said something about just checking it and passed me the leadrope for a minute to hold him while she did. In that minute a lorry came along, far too fast and the next thing I know I was on the ground being knelt over by a postman and a lady who had come out of a house to help.
He had freaked out and jumped into me, knocking me into a metal gate. The side he was on, he grazed past my head with his own and pulled a chunk of my hair out on the headcollar, the other side cracked off the gate and there is a rather large gouge out of head, which of course bled like hell and is now swollen and very very sore. they called an ambulance and i have spent the afternoon in A&E. The only person at fault was the lorry driver, who didnt stop.. but its made me think about wearing a hat!!!
 
Omg, ouch! U poor thing! Im guilty dont wear a hat when leading, picking feet out or anything... Only ever wear a hat when riding! Makes u realise how an accident like that can happen so quickly and so unexpectedly
 
Crikey that is just awful! :O I do hope you are OK now - have they let you home?

No I never do, but know I should - but strangely enough just yesterday one of my sons was down the field with the dog and said he would bring Dolly up for me ready for her feed....he has done this dozens of times for me.....yesterday she was the horse from hell, no idea why possible the storm air pressure on its way. As he approached she tore around him bucking and farting and throwing her heels up around his head and higher! He is very calm and confident around horses but he said it really shook him as he actually felt the wind as her hoofs flew past his head!

Just goes to show that yes, we should all do the correct BHS thing and catch up and lead in with both hard hat and gloves no matter how well we know the horses and trust them. :confused:
 
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Ouch poor you. Make sure you sit and relax you could suffer delayed concussion. That is gonna be very sore.
 
It is a rule on my yard that we always wear a hat to catch and lead. Someone got kicked in the head and almost died on my yard, since then no one has argued against the hat rule.
 
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That is one heck of a smash! And from a small pony too, not that that makes it any less painful but he must have really crashed into you hard to knock you over like that. Hope you are going to be ok.

Generally I don't wear a hat for handling at all, on a day-to-day basis anyway. As a rule I only really wear one for riding. However I do put one on sometimes if I have prior knowledge of the horse that leads me to think it would be a good idea - for example when leading a horse that has a known habit of rearing up and striking out. And the stud farm I worked at in New Zealand insisted on wearing a hat for feeding out (sensible idea when you are going into paddocks of foals etc with buckets of food!), and any time leading a foal or youngster that has not yet learned its manners.

It's just a calculated risk I guess. Freak accidents can happen at any time. Should we wear a hat and body protector and gloves any time we're simply in the vicinity of a horse? I got a broken nose and a concussion just from being kneed in the face while oiling a hoof. You have to draw the line somewhere don't you.
 
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joosie said:
I got a broken nose and a concussion just from being kneed in the face while oiling a hoof.
Click to expand...

Oh heck yes I remember this happened to me with Solly - I was actually on my knees clipping around his chest area between his legs (he always stood as still as a rock whatever I did with him) and apparently (I don't remember it clearly but friend told me afterwards) he just happened to bring his massive great heavyweight cob knee up as something irritated him and smacked me straight in the face.....the result wasn't pretty but I sort of think it probably would have happened even if I had a hat on - still would have smacked me in the face wouldn't he? :O
 
Oo Jeeps, I hope you're not feeling too awful.

I don't generally, my yard area is also the horses shelter within the field so I'd have to wear one all day, tho I did put one on a couple of weeks ago to catch and tack up as she was on one. I probably ought to given my history with Jess :rolleyes: but accidents happen regardless and I know her well enough to know when she's liable to do something silly, you just have to assess the risk and make your own mind up.
 
Jeepers, that's horrid. Please look after yourself and don't be surprised if you feel addled for a week or so, being knocked out really takes it out of you!
 
Nope not as a hard and fast with my own horses once they know me and I know them or horses I know.

With my own I will say yes initially in the beginning when we are getting to know each other. When halter breaking and backing definitely yes but general leading to and from the field then no. I will however just refuse to deal with horses if I don’t get a good vibe from them. After my eye socket getting fractured by the YMs youngster when I wasn’t even handling her I pay more attention to my instincts, I’d never really felt 100% comfortable with her. Now I watch her like a hawk as she’s rude, Bargy and greedy and I don’t trust her.
 
No but know I should do, my horses are very placid, if they were young or highly strung I probably would think more about it and wear one.

When I was younger I had a friend who's Mum died bringing 2 horses in from the field not sure what happened exactly but one spooked and whatever happened killed her.
 
oh lissie that is truly awful :(

I havent had a great night , Im very sore and feeling very shaken , it could have been so much worse.

I went back today to collect my car and while I was there I went to look at exactly where it happened again. A man came out of the house there to say he saw the whole thing and would be willing to be a witness as he could ID the lorry - from a local transport yard, apparently they are a menace speeding along there all the time. We’ve been and made a report to the Police. Looking at the road, the gateway etc there really was nowhere for the poor pony to go bless him. I will be going back to see him next week when I feel better - I only saw him for about 10 seconds and it would have been a damned bomproof horse that didn’t react under those circumstances. He may not be suitable but Id rather assess him properly, it wasn’t his fault at all.
 
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Poor you @CharliesAngel thats just so really unlucky. Freak accidents are just that - freak accidents. Personally I don't think all the precautions in the world can stop one "when its your turn"! On saying that that probably would make me think hard about wearing a hat on the ground:eek: I don't and don't plan to change that, I do however wear one when I'm just lunging my mare as she can get a bit on one sometimes out of the blue.
My RI years ago got kicked on the forehead by her own mare when picking her back feet out, the mare when to chase away a fly and her hoof went straight into contact with RI's forehead:eek:
Hope you feel better soon, good that you went to A&E, knock outs can be nasty, I hate them. I'm hope they'll have told you all of the signs to look out for to get back to A&E pronto? xx
 
@CharliesAngel i hope you are feeling ok, I imagine you are feeling very delicate today. Look after yourself concussions are nasty.
I hope the police can do something with regard the lorry driver, what a horrible thing to happen xx
 
Hope you feel better soon.
The cynic in me wonders if the pony is known for this hence why the person leading had a hat on.

I do for leading youngsters/ horses I do not know that well. I do for leading anything on the road. I did for bringing mine in because she could go upwards and if she starts that habit again, back on it goes.
 
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I didn’t want to say too much @newforest but it was at a centre so it was a member of staff & she was just following yard rules. I think there would be very few ponies that wouldn’t have reacted, especially a youngster.
 
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