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To Make the World a Better Place for Horses

Safety first - horse Monty had an guardian angel

By:
Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile
Date:
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed
When I saw yesterday morning our shy and still wild horse "Monty" in that hole full of water and mud, totally scared, his whole body trembling, unable to get out..stucking in the mud..no force in his wet body...eyes white...panicked, I panicked as well and thought on what Monty Roberts always says: Safety first! And I had not checked carefully the new area for the horses and there was a hole, covered by some chilean plants "helechos", which grow in wet areas. I feel very guilty since yesterday:
When I got up in the morning I only saw one horse, Robby, standing alone and not with Monty. They are always together. Maybe between some trees somewhere, I thought. But he didn't appear when I arrived to the field (sincevsome weeks both of them come rapidly to me). Robby was still standing at that place...don't moving...like saying:"Come to me." When I reached him I saw it: It was terrible...Montys head about 1 meter under my feet totally stucked in a hole. I shouted for help, but really had no idea who could help and how? Some workers, a neighbour and my husband arrived. I don't forget the picture:  my husband Pablo in the water with Monty, trying to help him, checking Montys legs. The workers taking away huge pieces of earth at one side of the hole to make a possible exit for Monty. Me feeding one apple in pieces to Monty (that I had with me that morning instead of karrotts) and only watching together with our horse Robby and our dog what was happening.  I am so impressed about Robby. He had told me that morning in his own language that something was wrong and during the whole rescue he hadn't move from Monty's side....don't being afraid of the tractor arriving...and our desesperate voices. Monty could get out of the hole after one hour  with 4 men helping him with improvisation of lassos around him and Pablo helping him standing at his side, rubbing him and pushing towards his back. ..He is fine...very very dirty, but no injuries.
If that night it had been frozen...Monty would probably have died. It is winter in Chile. Because of my fault.
Please think always: SAFETY first! This is what I have learned yesterday. I feel so grateful, that our wild Monty is alive. Huggs from Chile
Miriam (Holland&Germany)
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed
Hi Laura,
Thank you for sharing this frightful experience with us! 
Your horses have been so lucky that all ended well and that you 'listened' to Robby's changed behavior. Here's the lesson for us all, to check everytime you see behavioral change in our horses, be it pain or like in your situation an unsolvable problem to the horse. 
There's so much to learn, you learned the hard way to dubblecheck the safety of your horses. The more you learn, the better you'll be able to judge situations.
Keep sharing the process with the Forum, the good and the not so good experiences,
we're all here to learn from eachother.
Kind regards,
Miriam 
conniemacklill
Please upload your photo 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed
Laura

Well spoken Miriam. So true and it's a good thing you listened to Robby.
I'm so glad Monty is ok and just needs a little TLC to get him going again.

Connie Mack
JoHewittVINTA
Please upload your photo 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed
Hi Laura. Believe it or not there may be an advantage to your ( you & both horses ) frightening experience - sharing something like this brings you closer, like another form of Join up. I've always had a very close relationship with Kirk. I was the first human to touch him, on his first morning of life. I was the human he climbed on, literally at two weeks old he used to plant his front feet on my back when I bent over to tidy the bed. Fortunately, he grew out of that habit fairly quickly - but the photos are cute! So when he gets in trouble he waits for me to sort it. No panic, no distress, he has a go at sorting it & when he can't he just stops & waits for me. He was rolling & a back hoof got wedged between the double planks of the top rail of the pen he was in. I was nearby. He tugged hard a couple of times but his foot stayed stuck so he lay quietly on his back while I found a fulcrum to lever the planks apart & free him. Years later I shared the story on this forum, see 'Trust is a two way street', when Kirk put his front leg fully through the bars of a metal gate & was well stuck. Without a second thought I went to him, leaned down & manoeuvred his leg out of the gate. Not without some considerable effort on my part but it never occurred to me that my actions were putting me in danger, such is our trust & understanding. You have a small foundation on which to build. Cheers, Jo.
Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed
Hello all, thank you very much for your words. We put fences at all places, where we found risky places. Today we let the horses for the first time enter the field with the hole (put a large fence around it)  and I was a bit worried about how Monty would react. Maybe he would be afraid to be close to that fence... but something very strange happened: Both horses ran directly to the new fence at the hole and started to take the broken plants and roots (which were still lying on the field from the accident) in their mouthes and shuttled them like wishing to distroy them. It was a very strange behaviour, which I would not have expected. Monty and Robby inspected then the fence carefully for some minutes and then they started to eat the fresh gras. I feel better now, but have to admit that I still wake up during the night worried about the fence at the hole. Huggs from Puyehue, Chili

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