23/04/2026
A good lesson in always taking safety seriously
This was four years ago, and I didnât see it coming. It was foaling season, and like any other night I was up and in the barn checking every two hours, or more, through the night. The horse that did this to me, I had already owned for 5+ years, she was broke and super sweet, super quiet. She was a great broodmare, weâd had several foals out of her already and she was always easy to deal with from breeding to weaning.
On this particular pregnancy, she was quite a few days over her due date, just under 360 days. She was getting more and more uncomfortable and irritated with her shifting belly, but was still sweet and respectful to us as usual. At 3am I stepped into her stall, leaving it open just enough to slip through knowing she wouldnât care. I petted her by running my hand along her left shoulder, and leaned over to check for waxing or dripping milk, yet again. In a split second, I was on the ground in front of her in a ton of pain. She had whipped her head around, and grabbed me with her teeth so hard, she picked me up off the ground by my skin. I crawled out of the stall, hardly able to breathe. This was one of the worst direct injuries Iâd had at the time, and while it doesnât look near as bad as it could have been, let me tell you, that freaking hurt.
You can see above and below where her teeth scraped my skin, and that bright red part in the middle where her teeth connected is bleeding under the skin. The whole area was swollen. The crazy thing is, I had a Winter coat on too. In the days that followed the whole right side of my back was blue, red, and yellow.. my back and ribs were so sore and sleeping was a challenge. Two days later that mare foaled, with no complications, a healthy foal, and she was sweet as pie while we handled her and her foal. I was more cautious around her for a good while, but she never had an incident again.
I tell this to you all not for any sort of sympathy(because really these horse injuries just become more crazy stories that we share with our friends lol) but because itâs just so easy to get so comfortable with these animals. We love them, we have a connection with them, but theyâre still animals, and over a 1000 pounds at that. Donât get so comfortable that you forget what they can do or that a particular horse is just so quiet that there is no risk. Breeding and/or training puts a person far more at risk than the average rider.. first few rides, first few everythingâs, under stallions to collect, behind a mare to breed.. Breeding, foaling, and the time of year to season youngsters is all happening now, so stay safe! Thank your trainers and breeders taking the extra risk, and enjoy the season! đđ
