BTB: "Who's to blame for injuries": Part 1

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"Who's to blame for injuries": Part 1 Posted: 02 Sep 2010 01:23 PM PDT The Horse Journal (Aug 2010) wrote on just this subject in Who's to blame for injuries? The author muses that when horses are injured,  blame can be placed on any number of people, or alternately " there is the 'accidents happen' excuse that lets everybody off the hook."  Accidents happen?? Well, when we talk about Exxon, or BP, or Toyota accidents happen is not acceptable. In these instances we ask a lot of questions about risk management and investigate whether safety practices were followed. Is 'accidents happen' a sufficient explanation for a career- or life-ending injury to a horse?  To me the answer is no. Okay -- some tragedies are unavoidable -- but so many more are the direct result of human indifference or arrogance. Catastrophic injuries are often the result of a cavalier attitude toward an animal's safety. Just a few examples from my own experience... A barn worker breaks a barn rule and ties a horse to a rickety hitching post cemented into the ground. The horse spooks and  runs away with the cement encased base of the post banging on his legs with each stride. Career-ending injury. A trainer leaves a client's horse in a trailer unattended while showing other clients' horses. The trailered horse gets his leg caught in a hay net and struggles violently. He is freed, unloaded, and initially seems to have escaped with a few lacerations. Within a few hours his condition deteriorates, and  he's dead from a head injury. A barn worker is frustrated with a hard-to-catch mare--she brings in the rest of the horses but leaves the mare out. The mare starts tearing around the field in a panic, but the worker leaves her out -- wants to teach her a lesson. The mare runs through the fence, torn up all over but badly injuring her knee. Out of commission for months, never really right on that leg again.   Choose your caretaker with care Horses are a tough business. Many caretakers have heavy workloads; they may be burnt out; or their ego may cloud  their judgement.    A caretaker may make the mistake, but he or she gets to walk away from it. We, the owners, are left with an emotional loss, big vet bills, and maybe even the challenge of caring for unrideable animals. Do you ever say to yourself,   Oh, but  I've done this for a long time, nothing's ever happened.  Lucky you -- your luck may run out, and it better not be my horse you're handling when it happens. It's true we can't control everything but that does NOT let us off the hook for accidents. Our job as owners, trainers, and caretakers is to minimize avoidable risk. J'accuse! It's funny that I'm picking on barn workers -- after all I am one. The point here is not to assign blame -- it's a plea to avoid risky practices. People who do dangerous things (like handling horses) daily can forget what can happen--until it does. Coming up next: Do our efforts to keep our horses safe hurt our horses?

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