Horses shot - roadside - be careful where you pasture

[ancientoaks]

A well known arabian breeder had two aged mares shot in an apparent random drive by shooting in Dec...This breeder has been prominent in the arab world for over 60 years. She is respected and adored in the arab community, had a huge and devoted staff, that deeply loved all the horses on the ranch and everyone is obviously devastated by this insane act . One mare had to be euthanized, the other is recovering..The suffering of both animal and human is beyound imagination..

Altho often not possible, this is another caution to night pasturing of horses in sight of a pubic roadway, something we have always considered when either buying or organizing our farm..Just a reminder to anyone who is searching for their dream farm or needing to set up their existing place. Plan on bringing them in out of public view at night (it seems that the drunken fools with guns more often hide behind the blackness of nighttime) Or plant a good screen of evergreens, or some other way to block roadside vision..
No one needs to go thru this, and unfortunately it seems to be occuring more often.

[cloudyandcallie]

See the thread on the GA mare up in Newnan or around there. Chocomare or someone in that area posted it.

That guy was caught as he bragged about it. If your Arab friend offers a reward, someone will snitch.

[talloaks]

You don't have to have your pasture on a public road to have a horse shot. We are on a private road and one of my mares was shot years ago--in Feb which wasn't deer season then.

[Zu Zu]

I have always kept horses and ponies at least one pasture away from the road for an extra margin of saftey. People are crazy ~~!

[ancientoaks]

there is a big reward, and I hope it pays off. and yes, it's no guarantee even when you are off the road. but it seems that a few horses (or even cows sometimes) alongside a road just DOES something to loony teenagers or drunken sops...

It's a darn shame to have something like this happen...and it is stunning when it happens to someone who's had large bands of horses for 60 years without a blip...

is it something about today's society perhaps? perhaps 50 years ago the only shootings of these animals might have been a hunting accident? There is meanness in the world today that us old folks just don't remember being as prevalent....I just feel so sorry for the poor mares lying there all night without help....

[camohn]

Sad but true. A couple years ago we had 3 mares shot with a BB gun....one we FOUND a BB in her neck and the other 2 had wounds consistent with BB pellets. We have an idea of which local teens may POSSIBLY be the cause but no real proof. (There are 2 teenaged boys that live catty corner to our property and the neighbors across the street from them had some vandalism problems with the little gems....so we figure they are likely suspects....)
The state cops gave the teens a little visit though under the pretense of looking into the matter....and no more happened after that........so hopefully they got the message.
Our pasture does go right up to the road, and we have no plans to be moving acres of fenceline so we can have more to mow.

[Dressage_Diva333]

I had a family member who's two horses were shot multiple times a few years ago, both horses had the be euthinized. It's just disgusting to me... what would provoke someone to do that to an innocent animal. I live in the middle of nowhere essentially, very far of a main road, you can't see that I have horses from really any direction... and it's something I've always worried about even though we are so far off the beaten path. Especially during hunting season... you never know when some idiot might confuse a bay weanling with a deer from a distance :eek: It's one of my worst nightmares. The thought makes me sick to my stomach.

[Fairview Horse Center]

Not just at night. A friend of mine had one of her horses shot in the middle of the day - not during hunting season. This was on a small, quiet rural subdivision road.

It is unfortunate that we can't always protect our animals from wackos.