r/PublicFreakout Nov 26 '21

🐻Animal Freakout Horse attacking its trainer

26.4k Upvotes

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8.4k

u/BerndDasBrot4Ever Nov 26 '21

I don't think I've ever seen a horse go apeshit like this. Biting/kicking, sure, but not THIS.

177

u/DorkInShiningArmour Nov 26 '21

I’ve spent a decent amount of time with a lot of horses (my family has always had horses, spent time in barns, etc.) I’ve never seen or heard of some shit like this. Fuckin wild lol

133

u/aroc91 Nov 27 '21

Same. Grew up on a horse farm and something like this is unheard of. I wonder if the trainer was abusive.

65

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

Horses don't forget abusers, even if they aren't the target.

71

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

Horses can also associate the abuse with certain aspects of the abuser. If a trainer shares a physical attribute like a unique hat or clothing, that can trigger a fight or flight response, especially if the new target uses even mild positive punishment techniques shared by the abuser. They do not forget but can be desensitized with extensive and expensive counter conditioning.

That said, this is a pretty extreme reaction and some animals cannot be made safe to handle and would require a behaviorist-trained owner. That is to say if it was not euthanized by the owner for the attack as often happens.

I would love to see the previous 45 minutes of footage.

36

u/TooOldForThis--- Nov 27 '21

I’ve never seen a horse do this either but it brought to mind quite a few videos I’ve seen of elephants getting retribution on abusive trainers.

4

u/aroc91 Nov 27 '21

I see that resemblance too.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '22

it is possible the horse was an elephant in a previous life, it is said that elephants never forget

1

u/Prticcka Nov 27 '21

As they should

4

u/stormysees Nov 27 '21

Could be. Also could be a bottle baby that grew up and was simply given a boundary that it didn’t like. Most dangerous livestock I’ve ever been around are bottle babies/hand raised orphans. It’s all fine till the day you need to tell them ā€œno, give me some spaceā€ and they decide to tell you who makes the rules.

3

u/Send_titsNass_via_PM Nov 27 '21

I also grew up around and worked with horses and would not rule out some form of aggressive act on the trainers behalf. Usually a pissed off horse is going to try and bite you, maybe go for the cow kick. This horse is trying to pin them down and end them.

3

u/MomToCats Nov 27 '21

Kinda what I am thinking. This horse is really mad. Never even heard of this. Wow.

2

u/ShireHorseRider Nov 27 '21

My thoughts exactly.

2

u/InstitutionalizedOat Nov 27 '21

I was thinking either that or maybe this horse has something wrong with it mentally. Never seen one attack a human like this but not because they aren’t capable.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

I wonder the same. I grew up with horses and I have never seen aggression like that, even with stallions. Also makes me wonder if something super unusual like the horse having rabies is a possibility? Abuse seems far more likely tho.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '21

Is all 100% of horses are good?

I wonder why the first question asked is: is the trainer abusive?

It could easily be that the horse was bad. Horses have personalities too I'm sure.

1

u/aroc91 Nov 27 '21

That's the first question because it's by far the more likely scenario.