[To the MAX]

My fiance's family has a pony ride business, and has a herd of about 30 totally bombproof ponies. They are all worth their weight in gold, but one in particular, named Skeeter, was the ultimate. As sane and sensible as they come, he's gone inside churches, up freight elevators, walked by moon bounces, given rides during fireworks, bagpipe parades, helicopter landings, and everything in between.
Yesterday Skeeter was at a job and wasn't acting right. FI was home for the weekend and was called to come pick him up. He is a bit prone to colic, so FI gave him a shot of banamine and tubed him. He felt better for a little while but then got substantially worse. It was determined that he was impacted and late last night they drove him to Mid Atlantic for colic surgery. The surgery went well but his toxin levels were too high and they had to put him to sleep early this AM.

The reason? His family allows a hunting club to use their land for deer hunting. Some IDIOT placed a barrel of whole kernel corn in the woods in the corner of the pony field to bait the deer with (obviously without asking permission, they already had a baiting station set up in a hay field). All of the other ponies seem OK, as Skeet was the alpha and got first (and probably most) dibs.

In addition to being the best pony in their string, he was also FMIL's heart horse. She is just distraught. They buried him in their yard and will place an Oak over his grave. I told her to take some tail hair so that I could get a bracelet made for her.

It just sucks that he had to go through so much pain because of the careless actions of some idiot.

RIP, buddy.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...156_8455_n.jpg

[Long Spot]

He was beautiful. So sorry for your loss. I would hope that the person who was baiting without permission would pay for the surgery, after being told their permission to hunt the property had been rescinded.

Poor little dude. RIP Skeeter. Tragic.

[MunchingonHay]

this does suck.


I am sorry for your future in-laws loss.

[rabicon]

So sorry. Some people have no clue about horses.

[Bacardi1]

Ahhh - yet again why I will NEVER allow ANY hunters on my property. The stupidity level is WAY too high.

[dacasodivine]

How awful. Poor little fella. I hope the FILs tell the deer hunter what he has caused at minimum. Deer hunter really should be paying for the pony and the vet.

RIP Skeeter.

[JGHIRETIRE]

What a cutie - so sorry for the loss.
It amazes me how arrogant people can be - just ass-uming they can do as they wish.

((Hugs))

[Bluey]

How terrible and senseless to lose him under those circumstances.

I hope that hunter is told of what happened and asked to make some amends.

[goneriding24]

I'm sorry for poor little Skeeter and your family. He was a kyootie-patootie alright.

[danceronice]

What a cutie - so sorry for the loss.
It amazes me how arrogant people can be - just ass-uming they can do as they wish.

((Hugs))

I doubt the hunter was being "arrogant"--more likely he/she/them didn't have the SLIGHTEST idea that corn could in any way hurt a horse, as don't horses get fed corn? (I'm a little more stumped by baiting, as it's more or less against the law here--mostly because of bovine TB and CWD, they don't want deer congregating. But different states, different laws.) Not arrogance, ignorance--the OP's FILs should definitely talk to whoever it is, and I'd see if they offered to pay part or all the costs (which, depending--surgery's expensive and a lot of people would put the horse down before it got that far, extreme measures aren't the hunter's fault or choice) when they found out what happened.

Corn's grain. People feed horses and other livestock grain. If the hunter's not a horse person I doubt they went in thinking it would in any way be harmful to the ponies, especially if there's already a bait station on the property. COTH has a lot of threads bemoaning the general population's ignorance of horses and the crazy things people do when they DON'T have permission to be on the property. I'd say the ass-u-me'ing is thinking there's any reason a non-horse person would know corn is bad for horses. If it's a club, this is a good reason to go over with them clearer rules about baiting, where it's allowed, and to make SURE their members get this clarified to them if they're going to be allowed to continue to use the land.

Non-horse-people don't know anything about horses. We can't forget that or put it down to arrogance or malice or even "stupidity." Stupid is being presented with information and ignoring it. Ignorance is never having had the information in the first place.

[Tif_Ann]

So sorry for your loss He sounded like a fabulous boy, and looks like a very loved pony in his picture.

[shea'smom]

so sorry. Stupidity is a terrible reason to lose a loved pony.

[Bacardi1]

Stupid is being presented with information and ignoring it. Ignorance is never having had the information in the first place.

Ahhh - but then you have the hunters who are both ignorant AND stupid (not to mention self-centered & self-important).

[To the MAX]

I doubt the hunter was being "arrogant"--more likely he/she/them didn't have the SLIGHTEST idea that corn could in any way hurt a horse, as don't horses get fed corn? (I'm a little more stumped by baiting, as it's more or less against the law here--mostly because of bovine TB and CWD, they don't want deer congregating. But different states, different laws.) Not arrogance, ignorance--the OP's FILs should definitely talk to whoever it is, and I'd see if they offered to pay part or all the costs (which, depending--surgery's expensive and a lot of people would put the horse down before it got that far, extreme measures aren't the hunter's fault or choice) when they found out what happened.

Corn's grain. People feed horses and other livestock grain. If the hunter's not a horse person I doubt they went in thinking it would in any way be harmful to the ponies, especially if there's already a bait station on the property. COTH has a lot of threads bemoaning the general population's ignorance of horses and the crazy things people do when they DON'T have permission to be on the property. I'd say the ass-u-me'ing is thinking there's any reason a non-horse person would know corn is bad for horses. If it's a club, this is a good reason to go over with them clearer rules about baiting, where it's allowed, and to make SURE their members get this clarified to them if they're going to be allowed to continue to use the land.

Non-horse-people don't know anything about horses. We can't forget that or put it down to arrogance or malice or even "stupidity." Stupid is being presented with information and ignoring it. Ignorance is never having had the information in the first place.

Sorry, but as someone said above, the ignorance/stupidity...whatever you want to call it, was because when on someone else's property, even if you have permission to be there, you ASK before you do something different than that which you've given permission for. It has nothing to do with having knowledge of horses.

[Event4Life]

Sorry, but as someone said above, the ignorance/stupidity...whatever you want to call it, was because when on someone else's property, even if you have permission to be there, you ASK before you do something different than that which you've given permission for. It has nothing to do with having knowledge of horses.

This!! It doesn't matter what they knew or didn't know about horses - you don't do something on someone elses property without their prior permission! I would think hunters especially would be very careful about that, but apparently not.

I sincerely home that after your fiance's family has some time to grieve they approach these hunters and ban them from using the property in the future.

RIP, Skeeter. I'm so sorry, he was a beautiful pony.

[ellebeaux]

So they were baiting in the horse pasture? Were they going to shoot in the horse pasture?

I'm sorry about this but they really do sound inconsiderate. I hope they are not allowed to hunt there anymore.

[To the MAX]

So they were baiting in the horse pasture? Were they going to shoot in the horse pasture?

I'm sorry about this but they really do sound inconsiderate. I hope they are not allowed to hunt there anymore.

Honestly, who knows...I sincerely hope not but it seems as though it was a definite possibility. It's not an overly large farm but it would be a couple minute walk from the designated tree stand to the area where he put the corn in the pony field. He must have been trying to be sly about it, as the quickest/easiest way to get there would have been through the main driveway of the farm.

The hunt club itself pays a large chunk of some of the farm's expenses, so totally banning all of them is not really feasible. But from what I understand the guy who did this was new and the club itself apparently had no clue what he was up to. I definitely believe they will go after vet expenses from the individual, and he is obviously not welcome back. Hopefully in the future the club will put a little more effort into teaching their members proper etiquette.

[springer]

Living in an area where hunting is a very big deal, I can indeed attest to the fact that many hunters are idiots. Some get great joy out of the killing and even post pictures of the dead critters on FB. It make me sick. I really hope that someone approached these morons and attempted to educate them. (Though knowing the type they probably are, I'm guessing they wouldn't give a $#!%)

[big_red_ottb]

So they were baiting in the horse pasture? Were they going to shoot in the horse pasture?

I'm sorry about this but they really do sound inconsiderate. I hope they are not allowed to hunt there anymore.

This was my first thought...it doesn't matter if they didn't know that much corn could kill a pony when a) they didn't have permission to put a baiting station there in the first place, b) they were at a risk of shooting a pony because of where they put the station, what an idiot, and c) they didn't have permission to put a baiting station there in the first place!! So yes, I think it's safe to say the ignoramus hunter was arrogant and ass-uming, much moreso than any horseperson thinking the general population should know better.

I'm very, very sorry for your family's loss He looked like an adorable pony. I hope the hunter is told about what his actions have done.

[Ellie Mae]

That is really heart-wrenching I'm so sorry.