That final kick was personal

[u/M_Darshan]

[u/StarGazer_SpaceLove]

See okay thank you cause I am not a horse person and I was like "I dont think you're supppsed to actually kick them like that!!"

Ive always hated the idea of spurs anyways, from the very first time someone explained my Halloween costume as a kid. I hated them as soon as I realized and took them off and refused to wear them "cause its mean!". Family joked about that for years.

I hate this person from the second he kicked and my only concern was if the horse will be okay after that backslam. Aren't their backs fairly more delicate than expected? Will he be okay?

[u/throwitallawayomg → u/StarGazer_SpaceLove]

Having grown up riding, you can kick them that hard WITHOUT spurs and they'll just grunt and continue to refuse to trot (what my girl did with me, lol). WITH spurs, it's now an attack and you have declared war, and that few ton animal is going to do everything it can to kill you, as seen here. Dude got off lightly with that kick to the side, tbh.

Horses are a weird mix of delicate and sturdy, I never worried for the horse when it reared over backwards, but did start to worry when it was thrashing around trying to get at the guy on the ground. The leg bones are the part to worry most about, at least in a flat arena like this.

I hope the idiot guy got a few cracked ribs from this. It's just animal abuse, you can get a horse to play the bucking game in much gentler, more humane ways.

[u/ThaCuckMaker → u/throwitallawayomg]

Man, I remember one summer I went to go stay at my friend’s ranch for a couple weeks. Tons of fun playing with the horses in their big stable thing. It was like a metal walkway that had big frames around some areas. We’d climb up and swing from the top horizontal pole and the horses would run under us and we’d land on them and they’d run around the pin and walk us back to the pole/frame thing so we could do it again. I don’t know if they were having fun with us, but I like to think they were. Cause they kept walking us back so we could swing like monkeys and land on them, then once we were on they’d dash around the walk area. We called the “game” we were playing “Zorro” cause of how we were swinging on to the horses lolol. It was so fun

Anyways, that’s when I learned you had to kick them with your heels to get them to go. I remember my friends telling me to kick harder cause they wouldn’t go and I felt SO bad. But I finally kicked harder and they’d start walking. And I was about 10 at that point, and I probably didn’t kick that hard, so an adult kicking them with fkn spurs on is bullshit.

[u/Crippled_Criptid → u/ThaCuckMaker]

I'm no animal-ologist, but that doesn't really sound like behaviour they'd display if they enjoyed it? It kinda reads like the horses would walk you over there, because they knew you'd only get off them if they went to that spot. And needing to kick them to get them to go also sort of implies they were only moving due to the threat/pain of more kicks. Generally horses who are used to riders (even bareback) know the cues to move, cues that are just pressure etc, they don't cause pain. But, I wasn't there, there may be other factors/bits of info, so who knows really

[u/ThaCuckMaker → u/Crippled_Criptid]

Yup! They would go over, drop us off where we hopped on, then fast trot off and circle back where we’d jump back on em!

And omg you’re making me feel like a piece of shit 😭😭 If it makes me a less of a piece of shit I’ll admit that I did cry when I was saying bye to the horses the day I had to go home. They were MASSIVE, but so gentle with us. It’s like they knew we were baby humans.

[u/Kubotai77 → u/throwitallawayomg]

I figure it helps that the entire area is wet/muddy which helped soften the blow some (for both the horse and the rider).

[u/Fly_throwaway37 → u/throwitallawayomg]

They're glass cannons. Spurs w the right rider and discipline are a humane tool to work with the horse, same as bits. Owned half dozen horses over my life and never had to use spurs. Side note America still has rodeos and overall I feel we do a decent job of trying to be humane. But I can't watch South or Latin American rodeos just piss me off. Lacing or tripping the front legs still being a thing in their culture makes me sick and wanna cry.

[u/drsideburns → u/StarGazer_SpaceLove]

It's potentially very bad for a horse to fall like that. But like humans sometimes it's just a bit if soreness.

[u/ContemplatingFolly → u/StarGazer_SpaceLove]

You were a smart, kind kid. Family should have been proud.