Horse wrecks

[BuckSmasher]

Imagine a drawn bow. The limbs being the trail. He essentially made a trail like a bow string out off the canyon wall from one end of the limbs to the other.

He took the shortcut through the air! LOL. Nuts.

 

[rayporter]

a young gelding would throw a real fit on occasion. he threw me several times. i took him to a small rodeo stock contractor
who gave me a few bucks for him. he bucked him a couple times and bucked well. a month later they went to feed and he was laying in the pen dead. glad he did not drop on me out in the sticks. had a free race horse colic and die at home 4 years ago. he was packing real good too.

 

[87TT]

Man, that is weird, but super interesting.

My last horse developed like panic attack seizures or something. He would be fine then some small thing would cause him to lock up and pass out. Last trip in to the local wilderness, he put his head down to take a bite of grass and got my reins slack for a second and stepped on one when he pulled up it tightened and he passed out. He fell over a long steep embankment and down we went. We tumbled cartwheeling and rolling for about 50 yards as I tried to stay out of under him. My saddle was tore up and the contents of my saddlebags was mashed but somehow I didn’t get too hurt and we climbed back up. After that he would get nervous and pass out falling over. I was trapped with a leg under him and fortunately it was soft ground. After I got out , I walked out to the truck and ended up putting him down as we could find no way to get him better and I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

 

[BluMtn]

About 15 years ago my son and I had been hunting deer in the mountains and we had called it early one day and we did a little road hunting. I drove to an area that a packer uses. When I got there the packer and a friend of his was just finishing loading the mules to take into the wilderness for elk season. Both of these guys were at the time in the early 70's. When they were finished we said or goodbyes and the friend stepped up into his stirrup and swung his leg over and as he was putting his boot in the other stirrup that horse came unglued.

Now they were on a FS graveled parking lot when this all happened. He stayed with that horse for about 10 seconds and I thought he was going to get him settled, but that horse went straight up and twisted in mid air and unloaded that guy at the apex of the jump. I was already reaching for my phone to call the sheriffs office and have them get the helicopter coming before the separation because I knew what was going to happen.

We watched that guy take what seemed like forever to hit the ground. I took off running toward him and the outfitter was gathering up the horse, I got to the rider piled up in the parking lot and started checking him as he kind of started straightening out. I started looking him over and asking questions about his condition. He layed there for a couple minutes and I tested all his joints and checked his limbs and he was still in one piece.

We helped him up and I checked him over again and he said he was alright, but the outfitter and I convinced him that he needed to be checked over by a Dr. So we helped them unpack 10 mules and unsaddled the two riding horses. I sent them out first and we followed them to town before we turned our own way.

I saw that outfitter a couple years later during elk season and ask about his friend and he said that he broke his collar bone, but other than that he came out lucky. The outfitter said he couldn't figure out what caused the horse to act like that because that is the horse he uses when he has a novice rider going with him.

 

[TxxAgg]

This thread makes me glad I’ve never been on a horse

 

[RockAndSage]

My last horse developed like panic attack seizures or something. He would be fine the some small thing would cause him to lock up and pass out. Last trip in to the local wilderness, he put his head down to take a bite of grass and got my reins slack for a second and stepped on one when he pulled up it tightened and he passed out. He fel over a long steep embankment and down we went. We tumbled cartwheeling and rolling for about 50 yards as I tried to stay out of under him. My saddle was tore up and the contents of my saddlebags was mashed but somehow I didn’t get too hurt and we climbed back up. After that he would get nervous and pass out falling over. I was trapped with a leg under him and fortunately it was soft ground. After I got out , I walked out to the truck and ended up putting him down as we could find no way to get him better and I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

That's pretty rough, all the way around.

 

[Tobe_B]

This thread makes me glad I’ve never been on a horse

You’re missing out.

 

[87TT]

That's pretty rough, all the way around.

It was. He was a sweetheart and bomb proof before it started. Could ride him with just a halter and lead rope. Shoot off him, whatever.

 

[sotto3]

I was packing some oil field pipe to build a tripod for hanging elk in an outfitter camp. The string of mules blew up about half a mile from the truck. I got off and tied up my saddle horse to put them back together and found out that the reason they blew up was a ground hornet nest right under my horse. The horse started getting stung and wrapped himself around the tree so tight I had to cut the lead rope. I got stung about 10 times before I could get him lose.

 

[Tobe_B]

That sucks. Ground hornets are my least favorite obstacle.

 

[Solowhunter]

I picked up a nice horse in the 80s from the local track. His disposition was good and he was easy to work with that gave me great hope.

When we were setting up our camp, I loaded him with the tent and we started down the trail to the camp. In the steepest portion, he had second thoughts, rared back and pulled the string over the edge. Nothing like a ball of horseflesh rolling end over end down the hill. I learned to tie my strings with yielding ropes.

I unraveled the mess, started over and put my camp in. No blood or cuts but the beginning of my education.

The horse turned out fairly good but had a blockage in his windpipe and was a roarer and could be heard for miles going up hills. I sold him the next spring.

Man..... you have a ton of good stories!

I gave up packing stock and have turned to a backpack, to much work year round and in camp. I sure miss them when the meat hits the ground and your 5 - 10 mile deep!

Some 25 years ago myself and 3 other buddies spent 6 days in (horses only, no mules). We had 2 bucks down and hung them whole in camp, loaded them on the horses whole to pack out. On the way out I was in the back watching everyone's packs, we weren't 500 yds out of camp heading up steep switchbacks and the dude in front of me had his load slipping, I told him 3 times "hey man your load is slipping" and 3 times he said "I'll fix it at the top in the open meadow"........... we made it to the meadow just in time for the load too slide all the way under the horse with a whole buck on it! Horse EXPLODED and made 2 trips around us and the meadow folded in half with the buck underneath its belly, by then the head and antlers had come loose and were bouncing all over the place! About then the horse headed out the trail out of site, we found the horse middle of the trail a ways out load and deer still attached and shaking like a dog pissing peach seeds. Super sketchy pulling the cinches loose off the horses back but got it done, reloaded and off we went. Almost started a fight between us all, moral to the story is when your pack starts to slip FIX IT NOW! I've heard it said when packing stock the rider aught to be turned back watching the loads 99% of the time. Or have a wrangler in the back on load watch.

 

[Solowhunter]

That sucks. Ground hornets are my least favorite obstacle.

Just when the stock is all settled in and everyone is going good down the trail! I can remember thinking "what in the world is going on" aaaaand WHAM! You get nailed in the face by a ground hornet (feels like getting shot with a BB gun).

 

[Pony Soldier]

I had a favorite mare that stepped on a ground nest of yellowjackets on the trail. I swear she stood on one leg and swatted wasps with the other three-- for about 3 seconds and then down the trail we went at breakneck speed. Things got under control in about 100 yards before a major wreck occurred.

Fall riding keeps your head on a swivel.

 

[Tobe_B]

We had hornets real bad on the trail
A few years ago, ground hornets and hornet nests everywhere. One especially un-ideal spot the ground hornets set up. You could get a rider and two packs over before they came out, everything behind them was screwed. I generally rode behind, I got a good heads up about that spot, steep drop off one side and down timber on the other. Kind of just had to ride right through it. Going to get camp out we had about 8 head of spare stock between two of us, on the way in to pack camp we hit it going uphill and my mare broke in two trying to get away from them, she took a pretty good beating along with all the other stock in the string until it we got far enough away. On the way out the next morning we got to right before that spot and unloaded the hunters off their rides and told them to walk to the bottom and stay off the trail. They asked what our plan was, and we told them to just not be anywhere near the trail when we got to the bottom. It took us an hour to sort that mess out and re-saddle loads and get those guys back on. I was super glad when it finally froze that year and killed the hornets.

 

[Pony Soldier]

We went crosscountry up a steep ridge to get to place we wanted to hunt. My dad was riding a little mare and brought up the rear. As we broke out on the top of the ridge, his mare started to lay down. He stepped off but fell backwards and started to slide. The mare did the same .

We watched them both slide for about 70 yards until they pushed up enough snow tto stop them. I went down to get both of them and work our way back to the top of the ridge. Once there my dad said that hunting with me was always an adventure. He was in his 70s.

We discovered after that that the mare was suffering from a sellinium deficiency. I lost 4 horses before we got that one figured out. I was riding on a plane to teach a class in california and happened to sit next to a vet from the race track. He provided the symptoms and the solution that I shared with my vet. He found it was also the cause of retained placentas in cows.

 

[wymtnpounder]

Ground hornets oofff, never good.
I was lion hunting and will pack the dogs in open box panniers to protect their feet on multi day hunts. Well I was alternating horses and thought the kids horse ought to pack them fine trying to give a break to the one I had been using.

Well I got them packed up and off we went. That horse was acting a little silly when we left the trailhead but figured he’d settle down once we got going. I was wrong… We made it about a 1/4 mile up the trail and he couldn’t take it any more. He took to bucking and I swear he could have been in the eliminator pen at the NFR. Needless to say the dogs didn’t make the ride. I picked up the pieces, surveyed the situation and decided everyone was good to continue.

My hunter was wide eyed and the dogs weren’t very interested in getting back on lol but we continued on. I did pack the dogs on that horse later that day and he was fine but that was the last time I tried him lol.

 

[SanAntonioShooter]

Had the 3rd horse in my string of 3 try passing the horse ahead of him while going up a steep, narrow shale slide. His hind end started sliding down the hill and when he lunged to try and get back onto the trail, the weight of the wall tent on his back took him over backwards down the hill.
He rolled a few times and got stuck on his back up against a Volkswagen sized boulder. My buddy and I bailed off our saddle horses and did our best to run down a rock slide. We pulled our knives and started cutting sling ropes to get the load off of him, took both of us to get him back onto his feet.
Somehow he didn’t have any major cuts, just a bunch of nicks and scrapes. Took us a long time to pack the wall tent back up onto the trail and get him reloaded.
He finished the trip strong, but I think the tumble did some major damage to his back. I used him as a head horse for a few years after that and he’s currently my wife’s barrel horse, and if the chiropractor doesn’t come adjust him once a month he won’t run hard and wants to buck.

Sounds like his barrel racing days might be numbered

 

[sotto3]

Ground hornets oofff, never good.
I was lion hunting and will pack the dogs in open box panniers to protect their feet on multi day hunts. Well I was alternating horses and thought the kids horse ought to pack them fine trying to give a break to the one I had been using.

Well I got them packed up and off we went. That horse was acting a little silly when we left the trailhead but figured he’d settle down once we got going. I was wrong… We made it about a 1/4 mile up the trail and he couldn’t take it any more. He took to bucking and I swear he could have been in the eliminator pen at the NFR. Needless to say the dogs didn’t make the ride. I picked up the pieces, surveyed the situation and decided everyone was good to continue.

My hunter was wide eyed and the dogs weren’t very interested in getting back on lol but we continued on. I did pack the dogs on that horse later that day and he was fine but that was the last time I tried him lol.

I need to convince my old heeler to ride in a box like that. His lack of self control is really catching up with him these days.

 

[sotto3]

I had another ground hornet wreck. We had 10 mules loaded up with 4x12s for bridge decking . My buddy stopped to bump a load and had a big draft mule tied to a 3 or 4 inch lodge pole. When the hornets came boiling out that mule pulled the tree over and ran right through my string dragging it. Nobody got hurt but it was definitely a rodeo and took a while to catch up to some of the mules.

 

[RockAndSage]

You guys with lots of varied back-country time - are ground hornets a 3 season thing? Is there a time of year they're worse, or do you only get winter off from them?