KEVIN
THOMPSON/THE
HORSE
CHRISTA LESTÉ-LASSERRE, MA
W
hat, again? Of all
the horses in the
barn, yours is the
one that's managed
to find the one stray piece of
baling wire in a 5-acre turnout.
So much for that competition
next weekend. Oh, yes, and so
much for that new bridle/jacket/
small appliance/home decorat-
ing item you were about to buy.
Junior's vet bills will have to take
priority—again.
Last month he was the one that got
his hoof caught in the one hole nobody
had noticed in the wall no horse ever
stands by. Before that, he was the one
that scraped the skin off his cannon bone
on who-knows-what in a sand paddock.
And since you've had him, he's been the
one horse in the barn that's managed
to smack his head on a sky-high door
frame, get tangled in his own blanket,
snag his lip on a gate latch, and roll onto
the half-buried horse shoe your friend's
horse threw two weeks ago that no one
had been able to find. The list goes on,
and you ask yourself, why is it always my
horse?
Sound familiar? Before you lock him
in a padded stall, and before you start
scolding him for not playing nicely like
everyone else, remember this: You're
not alone. Even if it feels like it, your
horse isn't the only one who needs to be
Bubble-Wrapped. There always seems
to be one in every barn … and there are
lots of barns out there. So that makes for
plenty of horses finding trouble.
In this article we'll speak with sources
who have experience with accident-prone
horses to get their take on how to manage
these special characters. And we'll place
particular emphasis on best ways to
avoid problems—for his health and your
wallet—in the first place.
PRONE
