[vxf111]

So sorry. Some people have no clue about horses.

This, I would educate them now so this never happens again. I agree that it was rude for someone to put corn on another's property without permission, but it sounds like there was some confusion over what club members are/aren't allowed to do on the OP's boyfriend's property. That needs to be clarified.

Likely the hunter who did this didn't know about colic and just wasn't thinking that he was throwing feed into a horse field. I assume the fields are large (they look so in the photo) and if he wasn't a horse person and the ponies were in a distant, non-visible part of the field-- he might not have put two and two together and realized he was putting the corn in the pony pasture. If he's not a horse person, you just can't assume that things that seem obvious to us (I opened a gate, therefore I am in a used pasture even if I see no horses) seem obvious to him.

Regardless, this is sad and should not happen again. The club needs to make the rules abundantly clear to all members.

Sorry for your loss!

[Reagan]

My husband has started hunting my parents property and I told him under no circumstances can they throw out corn. Even though there are only 3 horses in the 20 acre field he is hunting in and they very rarely go to where he would throw the corn it doesn't even come close to being worth the risk. I'm glad DH is smart enough to ask before he does anything on the property (and anything horse related). He understands what sensitive animals horses can be. Not all hunters are stupid, you have to find a good, responsible person if you are going to allow hunting.

I'm so sorry for your loss. It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful pony lost because of someone's careless ignorance.

[Sabino]

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 $#!%)

Just because a hunter posts a picture of their trophy does not make them an idiot.

[Bacardi1]

My husband has started hunting my parents property and I told him under no circumstances can they throw out corn. Even though there are only 3 horses in the 20 acre field he is hunting in and they very rarely go to where he would throw the corn it doesn't even come close to being worth the risk. I'm glad DH is smart enough to ask before he does anything on the property (and anything horse related). He understands what sensitive animals horses can be. Not all hunters are stupid, you have to find a good, responsible person if you are going to allow hunting.

I'm so sorry for your loss. It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful pony lost because of someone's careless ignorance.

How sick & sad that the state of Maryland allows deer baiting. [edit]

[candyappy]

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.

The hunter probably has no idea that horses/ ponies can't eat free choice corn like the deer. It should be made clear to all allowed on your land what is acceptable to do and why/ why not. What a sad and senseless way to find that out.

[Roxyllsk]

I'd also make sure to post 'NO HUNTING' signs on the perimeter fence of the pony pasture - because idiots sometimes do travel in packs.

Sorry to hear about the pony, he sounds like he was a wonderful guy.

[Trakehner]

How sick & sad that the state of Maryland allows deer baiting. Your husband must be quite the sportsman.

Well, wasn't that a nice dirty and judgemental attitude about her husband.

"Fudds" look down their toffee noses at anyone who doesn't use a side-by-side shotgun going after upland game. Those country redneck peasants going after deer for meat...how unseemly when the peasants pretend to hunt.

"DQ's" look down their noses at riders who don't follow their demands on how you should ride your horse.

There are more hunters who own land that riders use than riders who own land hunters use. Each year, nearly $200 million in hunters' federal excise taxes are distributed to State agencies to support wildlife management programs, the purchase of lands open to hunters, and hunter education and safety classes. Proceeds from the Federal Duck Stamp, a required purchase for migratory waterfowl hunters, have purchased more than five million acres of habitat for the refuge system (2005 statistics only); lands that support waterfowl and many other wildlife species, and are usually open to hunting. What do riders do for conservation?

Dirty attitudes won't open up land for us to ride.

[2113]

[QUOTE=danceronice;6595944]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,...

QUOTE]

Agree and as a landowner who allows hunting I make sure the club knows what is allowed on property before EVERY season begins. I consider it MY responsibility to keep my horses safe from the hunters who just don't know horses.

Very tragic.

[Niennor]

This makes me so d@mn sad and angry! godd*mn stupid people!

[To the MAX]

This was NOT meant to be a thread about hunters as a group. We all know there are some very stupid ones, as well as some very smart and respectful, just like any group of people.

FIL's have had this agreement with the hunt club for quite some time now. The club knows the restrictions of using their land. It was the club's fault for not clearly forwarding those restrictions to its new member (or maybe they did and the individual ignored those rules, I don't know).

Either way, due to the careless actions of this person, a beloved pet and hard working pony is now gone. It doesn't matter what he does or does not know about ponies, or if he had ill or innocent intentions. It matters that he thought he could do whatever he wanted on someone else's property and a beloved pony lost his life because of it.

[MistyBlue]

Awww, so sorry for such a senseless loss. He was absolutely adorable and, as someone else said, perfectly squeezable. He looks like a stuffed toy in that photo.

Some folks will gripe over hunters of any type and lump them all together. Sounds like your local hunt club, like all other hunt clubs, is a good one to have around. Here's hoping they really clamp down on the new guy...hard. What a stupid foolish thing to happen.

My condolences.

[To the MAX]

Just wanted to post another picture of Skeet that I just remembered I had. Took this one on New Year's Eve of last year. He really was a gorgeous pony. FBIL's girlfriend is going to get this picture put on a plaque for FMIL.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6...bbf66698_z.jpg

[Long Spot]

Max, he had one of those faces, didn't he. So full of expression, curiosity and kindness and eyes any horse crazy kid could get lost in.

A huge loss. I'm so sorry. I suppose if there is any consolation, it would be that I am positive he lives on in the thoughts and dreams of the kids he gave rides to. He had a noble job, and it sounds like he did it well.

[ldaziens]

I am so sorry that this happened. I hope that the guilty party steps up with a lot of sincere remorse along w/ paying the bill.

Hopefully, now all members of this hunting group will know that corn and other grains can KILL -- people are ignorant idiots about giving animals that don't belong to them treats; so aside from this awful bait thing, I would worry about well meaning hunters / visitors giving the ponies weird treats. At the feedstore a guy told me about a whole flock of goats killed by a neighbor who trimmed azalea bushes and threw the clippings into the goat's pasture for a "treat". By posting this, you may very well save other lives, since I am guessing those doing hunting leases will be reminded to make sure their hunters know the rules. We have sheep & horses, and I had a really hard time getting my husband to fully grasp that if the horses & sheep got too much grain or broke into the feed room and gorged themselves on poultry feed; it could be very well be fatal and at best a suffering animal and huge vet bill. Many people just cannot get their brains around the idea that an animal will eat itself to death -- though with a scientific explanation, my husband was convinced and has been given a stash of alfalfa pellets to give as treats. However, my husband would never feed or give treats to somebody else's animal without permission.

There is definitely a difference between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance is not knowing, and stupidity is not asking. This hunter was both.

[Trakehner]

A friend of mine had 4 horses she used for driving...she'd bred all of them. Her lazy stable worker was told to bury a bunch of moldy feed in the woods where no animal could get to it. He was lazy and stupid...he dumped it in the back part of the horse's field. They found it, they ate it, they died. The owner/breeder was devastated and no longer owns horses.

The worker just shrugged and went to another barn to work. A bunch of us wanted to find the boy and cause him pain...we didn't, but it was a lovely fantasy.

The hunter needs to pay all the vet costs and replacement costs for his carelessness.