[Shah]

This is a rundown of the scenario in the eyes of those that either had good source or were there:

"According to the "other" site, the stallion Scapa took out handler Matthew Gale (is that last name correct.....he's in association with Brookville) not once, but THREE times. Struck out and shouldered the handler down twice and then went in to finish the job on try #3. The trainer is now out of the hospital and recovering. Allegedly, the stallion was with Matthew to "rehab" him again allegedly from previous halter "training".

"Yep, pretty much. I was there. Too busy gawking at Veraz (who made a gorgeous grand entrance) to see how Matthew went down the first time. I caught enough the second time to watch that stallion closely. The third time that horse took both his front feet and knocked Matthew down (almost like he was trying to mount him) and then proceeded to trample him. It was a deliberate move on the horse's part."

"...would be more like hoof beats on his back!! If you are trotting a horse, in main ring, picture you running to the left of the horse and slightly ahead. The horse was mounting him, from behind. Possibly, and this I cannot say for sure, the horse's hooves hit Matthew's head when he trampled him. I will tell you there was nothing hard on the ground for Matthew to hit his head on. I saw the horse's hooves hit his back. I saw him run on top of Matthew."


"I did not see the reason Matthew went down from his entrance. So sorry, I was busy gawking at Veraz. Above what I was talking about was the third time Matthew hit the ground, that I saw!!!!!! Second time, he went down, caught my eye and I watched closely after that."

"The third time it looked to me like the horse wanted to crush him. Kind of like elephants do when they are mad at a person, they push them to the ground and try to crush them. It was really stange, it all happened so fast. I am so sorry the handler was hurt. I did not see anything (in the ring) that provoked this horse's behavior."

"The whole thing was strange.

I will say that he was not the only horse to get loose, or fall down this week, because of that I was not too surprised when I saw the first time. With the hazing going on at the in gate so many horses have had "wild entrances". The second one, like Wendy, I caught but it was so fast that I cannot say what caused the fall, the third time I saw the whole thing. It looked calculated to me.


Kristine "

"The rumors floating about include that Scapa had been mentally fried from his previous halter training and was sent to Matthew for "rehab" and saddle work. Owners wanted him shown at Scottsdale, Matthew expressed concern about taking him, owners insisted, Matthew relented. From what I've seen described--stressing that I was not there and am simply repeating what I've seen reported elsewhere--the stallion lost it, had a major meltdown and that the 'attacks' were deliberate. The first two episodes were described as striking out and then shouldering the trainer out of the way, with the third time being a deliberate knock-down and savage, including the horse's knees on the trainer. Again, as I understand it, after the first two episodes, the horse was loose in the ring, but was easily caught with no aggression shown and these episodes occurred BEFORE the class was considered "in session".


"Read this on the sister site of ABN Real Story of Scottdale show
Shannon "

"Remeber that happened so fast that I think many of the people who saw it weren't quite sure what they saw. Also depending on the angle I'm sure it could change ones opinion of what actually happened.

Also, when he got loose after the second time he quietly trotted to the end of the arena and stood there to be caught, I watched him the rest of the class and never noticed any signs of aggression when he was standing on the rail or durring the stand up. Also I never really notice the horse pin his ears or anything durring any one of the 3 episodes."

Guess you can make your own assumption from this summation.

[jettanna]

Who ever said they were staring at Veraz was watching the wrong class, SF Veraz was in the 4 year old class and this incident happenened in the 5 year old stallion class.

[Wendy B]

You're right Jettanna, I was watching the first horse in the ring and mixed up my classes. I did not see the reason Matthew went down on the entrance.

[K2 Arabians]

jettanna, on 23 February 2010 - 11:24 PM, said:

Who ever said they were staring at Veraz was watching the wrong class, SF Veraz was in the 4 year old class and this incident happenened in the 5 year old stallion class.

The only incident in the SF Veraz class was Gemini VII getting loose and going after other stallions, teeth and all...

[jettanna]

K2 Arabians, on 24 February 2010 - 09:09 AM, said:

The only incident in the SF Veraz class was Gemini VII getting loose and going after other stallions, teeth and all...

I missed this one , and even seeing the Scapa & Matthew incidents I could not tell you exactly what happened, the 1st fall looked accidental . Seehorse will not release the video of the class until it is edited and approved.

[ridetowin]

188 guests reading this thread......... obviously we made it to Fugly horse of the day!!!

Once again the Arabian breed is being tarnished, just what we needed

[cecelia]

ridetowin, on 24 February 2010 - 11:53 AM, said:

188 guests reading this thread......... obviously we made it to Fugly horse of the day!!!

Once again the Arabian breed is being tarnished, just what we needed

Of course ABN made it to Fugly. This is what happens when people WHO WERE NOT THERE AND DID NOT WITNESS THE EVENT comment on it and blow it out of proportion. I think there are 2-3 people who have said THEY WERE THERE and THEY COULDN'T TELL WHAT HAPPENED.
Now Fugly has taken it and is running with it.
Whoever "reported" it to Fugly ought to be ashamed. Without knowing the facts they have once again tarnished the arabian horse.

jettanna, on 24 February 2010 - 10:15 AM, said:

I missed this one , and even seeing the Scapa & Matthew incidents I could not tell you exactly what happened, the 1st fall looked accidental . Seehorse will not release the video of the class until it is edited and approved.

Jettana,
I thought your stallion looked stunning. What a beauty!
Carol

[legacy04]

Edited Post: When I first read the Fugly post, I had 3 converstations going on around me while I was trying to read and completely misread it! ACK!! I reread it in silence and am taking back what I wrote the first time. It wasn't any seriously bad post or anything, I just want to make sure I write what I actually feel.

I sure hope they do what is best for the stallion. It is a shame that he was pushed past his mental limits with his previous trainer.

Oh and I do want to say that in my original post of they are making him out to be a horse with satan in his eyes basically, I was going off of reading some of the comments, not the actual post part. The comments on that site are usually the more cruel part of that blog than the actual posts are.

[ridetowin]

I have been around horses all my life, in my experience personally, I have never met a horse that was born mean, violent, or that came out of the womb wanting to intentially hurt a human. It is almost always due to horrible training, abuse, excessive confinement, ie: human error, or as stated before, a possible medical condition.

I feel awful for the handler that got hurt, as a few have stated he is a good trainer, and the stallion was with him for rehab. I hope he recovers quickly from his injuries, what an absolute tragedy.

I hope this horse is not bashed for what happened................ he needs time to defuse, possibly geld him if necessary, pull his show shoes, and turn him out in a big field for a year, let him be a horse. T

I am sure when this colt was born he was beautiful, soft, sassy, and sweet like all other arabian foals......... so sad

[Shah]

Just wanted to say that I did visit the Fugly website and read what the editor said about the incident.

The veterinarian's comments were posted and overall, I didn't feel that any overt and derogatory remarks were made to instigate/incite to make the situation worse.

I'd say the blog considered the horse and offered suggestions and understanding of its prior abuse and made reference to what might be the public reaction to the horse, the responsibility of the owner, apologies to the handler, and that the horse may have abuse problems.

At the top it did say that stallions require "responsible ownership" which, as we all know, goes without saying.

Let's just say I don't feel that the blog presented or inferred anything more than what we have inferred, posted, insinuated here.

Fact is there was an incident with the horse and handler and speculation is just that...speculation. We have no known out and out facts to back all that have been posted. We do know that there was an incident with a stallion and a handler. That's about it.

It can happen to any breed. I don't think such a beautiful animal such as Scapa's escapade will tarnish the arabian breed just because of this incident.

We all know the remarkable pride of owning and being with our arabian steeds. They are highly intelligent and bond with humans well.

Who cares what others think when we know them best. Let's just say that the breed is unique and special to only those of us who are unique and special to the breed. No one knows them like we do.

Aloha