Don't frighten the horses
 

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | MoD blamed over horse kick injury

Naughty Chinook, anyone would think you were practising for a war zone:=

Anyone who rides these highly strung "flight" animals should be aware of the risks. If it had been spooked by a plastic bag, would she have sued Tesco's?

She wasn't riding it, it reared and bashed her head with its forepaw or whatever its called on an oss.

Still, seeing as how you can hear a Wokka coming for ages, she could have moved away from the thing if it looked nervous, it was the other side of a gate from her.

Not always true - the lower they are, the less you hear them in advance, and if she was upwind of the wokka, and perhaps behind trees/buildings, it could become very loud very suddenly.

How do you know that the woman isn't hard of hearing or even deaf?:ugh:

How do you know she is?:)

The article does not mention if she was wearing a flourescent jacket, provided 'free of charge' by the MOD to highlight horsey type people to helicopter crews, thus avoiding incidents of this type.

The same jacket may also prevent a 'car v horse' scenario which I believe is far more prevelant and accounts for far more injuries/incidents than the odd one involving helos and picked up by the press.

I can't stand horses, or most horseriders but I do respect their right to do whatever makes them happy.
Training for war doesnt make me happy, it merely increases my chances of survival as I go about the tasks assigned by the government these people have elected into political office.

There is a compromise to be made, which I believe is wearing the FREE day-glo jacket the MOD provide.

MGD - while the hi-viz kit is good, it's not a magic wokka-repelling suit. What if the horse/rider is masked by buildings/trees/hedges/vehicles/the lie of the land?

It's fine if they are riding across a flattish, open piece of ground, but otherwise it's as useful as a chocolate teapot.

If you like I'll ride a pre-agreed route on my grey (white) nag, and you can see how easy I am to spot from your airborne chariot.

I think you're playing devil's advocate AA. If a car drove past and spooked the horse, the woman would find it difficult, nay (do you see what I did there :}?) impossible to take any civil action.

I think she took her own risk by standing next to the horse in the first place and should take some responsibility for her own actions.

AG - to an extent, yes, but I was trying point out to MGD that the hi-viz gear is not a guarantee of aircraft (and only RW aircraft at that) not spooking the gee gees.

You FEEL the wokka before see or hear it.

anita

top handle mate, made I larf!

30 feet? Naughty boys (unless they were landing in the next field, in which case a hi-viz wouldn't have helped much!!)

AA - Agree it's not an infallible system, but a high viz vest would only have made matters better.

What a ridiculous thing to write. She wasn't riding the horse, she was stood on the other side of the fence. Why would you wear a high viz vest to stand and stroke a horse which is fenced off from you?:ugh:

Love him or hate him he really does have a point...........as he usually does :ok:

It's classed as a high risk sport (horse riding); therefore, take out an insurance and claim on it! If you can't afford the insurance - don't ride or accept the risk!

It would be interesting to see what damage was done to the building if the ac was that low. More importantly, the women obviously had a great deal of capacity to work out the ac hgt whilst taking a hoof to the head.....:E

Some would say that an imprint of a horses hoof upon one's dial might be an improvement. :}

Nice to see the Belvoir family well represented on this site :E

Unbelievable
 

I can't believe this.
This woman was actually outside the paddock when the horse reared after the Chinook flew by. And by the way it was not below 30 Ft as the data showed. So there she lies to start with.
Would you people go and have a go with a scared horse who is rearing and kicking? No one with common sense would. She did. She got kicked for it after the Chinook had gone. I understand the noise of the Chinook will potentially endanger the animal, but the noise of the Chinook did not throw her into the paddock into the horse's hoof. That was her conscious decision.:ugh: But yet she is going to claim and the crew will have to go through the process of the investigation. People who complain have know idea what awaits us downstream!!

I don't know why I rant, MOD will pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to shut her up. She should be privileged that in this country she can freely ride a horse. There is a good reason for that.

Wait, what? I did wonder what all the wars were for but now I know - defending our right to ride horses. Mega.

Fruitcake. 100% fact.

:hmm:

How do you get hold of a free Hi Vis vest from MOD?:)

You have to post pictures of you, with your horse, to your nearest RAF Establishment.

Don't get them mixed up with the piccys you meant to send to 'Animal Love Monthly' mind you...

Stopstart,

Thanks for your post. Brilliant.:ugh:

bast0n asked:
Assuming this is a genuine question, see here:

How to Get A High Vis Vest - British Horse Society

Google is your friend.

STH

Any time fella, no probs. Keep up the good work.

STH: Just tried to email the person named in the link... bounced back. Will have to continue to search for the elusive vest!

Try ringing the number then.

01926 707737

STH

Had she been wearing a high viz vest, then the horse would obviously have seen her and avoided the whole situation in the first place :}

Marvelous bit of kit, without the high viz vest where would we be today.......

Apparently, she was annoyed that the pilot left her there to die. Would he have even known she was there in the first place? I think not.

If the pilot had landed on to see if he/she could help, this victim would probably have sued for trespass or damaged crops....I do wonder if she was wearing a hi-viz vest or if she'd rung the Low Flying Hotline to ascertain any RW activity in her area before she set out?

I had a few horse complaints over the years. The best was a "reliable eye witness" who'd signed a statement to the effect that I'd been over their friends house at "tree top" height causing a prize mare (of which I've known a few..) to bolt into a barbed wire fence. Problem for them was that I was on the ILS into Chiv at the time and London had a radar trace to confirm that I was over 600ft at the time. I asked the plods if they were going to prosecute the "reliable eye witness" for perjury or fraud only to recieve a wry smile.

It is regrettable that this individual has been hurt whilst indulging in her passion, but then so do sailors who drown, hang gliders who crash and motorcyclists who skid on someone elses diesel spill. Blame the lawyers; nobody seems to take responsibility for their actions nowadays.

The crabs, wazzing everywhere at 50' even if there is no need for it? Whatever next.....

Really annoyed

Can't afford to buy one, me 'orse costs me too much!

cc

What a load of cock!! I work on an air ambulance and at least 50% of our call outs, and certainly more than motorbikers are to horse riders... and it's strange that they are so pleased to see us when we fly in. It's not impossible even to land in paddocks and stable yards and the anti helicopter brigade soon shut up when we pick fallen riders up.

I cant believe in this day and age that riders dont have insurance, no one would put there 10 year old daughter on a motorbike without a helmet and send her off down a busy main road at 30 mph, so why do they think it is sensible on a horse????:ugh:

Winchman

This message needs to be broadcast - everywhere - before these t*$%ers get their way - I heard this silly cow on the radio earlier, and it seems she completely fails to understand that there are a couple of jobs going on at the moment and people need to train hard.

She wants shooting - slowly!

Perhaps orse drivers should wear hi-viz vests AND transponders, that might help. It might be that this biddy might just be be grabbing at the chance to make a quick buck after a bang on the bonce from her bucking buckaroo! Someone might have just whispered down her shell-like -"Blame it on the Wokkas!"

Strange though it may seem,
Horses are quite adept at coping with strange situations and generaly panic when the herd leader ( read stupid woman ) takes flight or demonstrates fear.
When riding out I always face the horse to the possible threat be it fast car , loud tractor or low rotorcraft by not demontrating fear the horse knows it ok and not a threat.
We get a lot of training flights ( low ) and normal traffic here so the nags are used to it , they also like to follow the tractor when topping fields. Of course no horse is 100% and owners should take responisbility in assesing risk factors. as for Hi viz.too much about ,would be pulling up for paper boys , road workers,plod,joggers,discarded vests on the road side and on and on

It would be interesting to see if there had been any previous helo activity as horses get pretty used to things. I used to be a daily visitor to RAF Northolt when there were up to 16 horses stabled and non displayed any adversity to the aircraft, including zeppelins etc. I think she may have a job proving this as will possibly have to establish negligence as if the aircraft was flying within its legal and designated parameters there should be no problems. I feel for her as horsey myself (apologies for those of you who find us tyrants) and have experienced many situations were horses react pretty violently. I agree whole heartedly with the insurance issue and since I think there is strict liability with animals, also find it unbelievable that noone would insure. The case law recently on this, notably Mirvahedy -v- Henley and Another 2001 emphasises this.

Should have trained her bl#*dy horse better.Don't think the cavalry in WW1 had too many problems with their horses and the noise would have been a lot more frightening than a friggin wokka.

The BHS Safety Officer is Shiela Hardy- could help with the free vest thing. email [email protected]

Having lived for a fair old while in the country (ooh-ahrrr), one knows to slow one's motor whilst approaching Lady Chlamydia Winless-Chunder perched on half-a-ton of self-propelled Kennomeat on country roads...
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...rnet/zxzxz.jpg

But only because Lady C might well be accompanied by her young gels clad in tight jodhpurs and clingy blouses, under which bounce perkily their.....oooh, nurse, Kleenex! And quickly please!

Giving reasonable consideration to nag-navigators is one thing, expecting to provide every Dobbin with its own low level avoidance area whenever it goes for a stroll across the bondhu is quite another.

'twould not seem unreasonable for horsists to obtain their own all-risks insurance in this day and age.