Does anyone have any horse drawn wrecks they would like to share with us? How would you change what you did to keep from having a wreck.

If you dont harness & hook them up you will never have have another wreck. Just be carefull & keep ahold of the lines, if they runaway enjoy the ride.

Started a colt for a friend of mine a couple years ago. A year later I started him a second time. Had him ground driving pretty good so I hitched him up with an older mare that was good and solid. Started across the yard for the forecart when the colt decided to run on two legs. The only thing in my way was a telephone pole. When the colt went one way the mare went the other and wrapped him around the pole and down he went. She was so mad at him, she backed up like a rope horse and held him there. Knocked out the power to the house and a wolf tooth at the same time. Drove like a champ after that. Two weeks later the horse dentist was there and wanted to know who took the tooth out!

Wes Lupher has one that managed to cream his bobsled, his wifes car, and his truck in one wreck. It might not have been the most spectacular but it was expensive.

I have a couple but they were more my ignorance and green horses. KM

I made the mistake of leading a mare hitched to a cart, which in itself I might have gotten by with, but she had a baby under foot and the baby came dashing past us, spooked the mare, caused her to bolt with the cart. I was not able to hang on, got run over by the cart, and she took a tour of the pasture. I learned to always ride in the cart, or in the very least use the reins not a lead rope.

another time the washboards on the road caused quite a rattle in the cart, spooked my green mare and she started to run, I was so coninced I had lost control it did not occur to me to just say whoa. When I finally did (about 1/10 mile down the road, she came right down to a walk.

Janet

About twelve years ago a friend of mine bought a large belgian mare at a farm sale,18+ hands,2000+ lbs. She ended up at my place to see if we could change her mind. She was a runaway horse right from the start. After a few times hitched and some hard work she started to mellow a little. She is still the most up in the bit horse that I have ever driven. Anyways, one afternoon just as the kids got off the bus I was ready to head out of the yard and my 11 year old daughter and 3 year old son got on the flat bed wagon to go for a ride. For some reason that day I used the only set of lines that I had that had snaps on,got them a sale and had not put buckles on yet, not to bright on my part, needless to say I have not used any lines with snaps since. We just got out of the yard across the road into a summer fallow field when that big mare leaned over and rubbed her head on the other horse, and as she did so the inside line on her bridle came unsnapped. I am sure she knew because as soon as she straightened her head the race was on, and the other mare went with her. I let them go to start with because it takes a couple of seconds to assess the situation. All I could do was turn them to the left and as I did so at a flat out run my son went flying off the wagon. As we came around in a large circle, on my command, my daughter jumped off fairly close to my son who was face down in the dirt and had not moved. As I looked back she was helping him sit up, thank goodness. Around and around I went in a huge circle a little slower each time until they were wanting to trot, each time they slowed I would give them a slap and go again. I only did this three or four times as I worked them closer to the approach into the yard. As I got them headed for the yard I let them slow to a trot and we came into the yard up to the hitching rail at this speed breaking off the middle six inch post with the tongue as everything came to a stop.Fortunately no one got hurt, my son just got the wind knocked out of him and after I changed the lines I went for an uneventful wagon ride alone. That big horse could never be trusted at the best of times and eventualy got a one way trip to France. What could have have been a real mess ended up ok. I have stopped bringing projects home to work on,I'm sure age has somthing to do with it. I'll leave that to someone else now, but I will never forget seeing that little boy laying face down in the dirt not moving as I raced by.

I had an interesting wreck wherein a front wheel actually walked right off its hub, no lie. It was a wooden wheel on a covered wagon. The wheel was poorly made, evidently. The hub bored its way right out of the center of the wheel. The hub stayed on the axle and the wheel fell off.

The pole and team were about 75 degrees to the front of the wagon when it happened. The wagon knelt and the front bow whacked the team on their backs. I was dumped onto a horse rump and then it was Away Hialeah! I became entangled in the pole/evener/front axle and was made acquaintance with the blacktop for about 30 feet before I managed to fight free.

With no one at the lines and the bow and canvas kissing their backs, the horses dragged the wagon on its side down the county road at a gallop about a quarter mile and then called it quits in a driveway, where I found them.

I learned to buy my wood wheels from reputable, knowledgeable sources. Cause the scary thing is that had given all the wheels a brisk shake not too long before and hadn't noticed anything amiss on any of them. The hub felt nice and tight.

I had a percheron mare that I mostly used for a spare horse, but last year I ended up short on horses and started using her more. My partner was disking a field with her in a three horse hitch. He said after he finished he hooked them to the forecart to bring them home. Just as he was going through the gate from the field he was disking this percheron mare, reared, plunged forward and ran. She finally managed to get the other two to follow her and away they went. When I got home, I met him coming from the back of the farm. He told me what had happened and I just laughed it off as inexperience. I took the lines from him and turned the three up and retraced their steps every where they had ran and they went along fine.
I continued to work this mare and then 3 months later it happened! I had mowed 2 acres of alfalfa with her, we had raked 2 acres after and had put 3 wagon loads in the barn with her. I had them hooked to the fore cart and we were getting ready to go back to the house. Both horses were standing still resting while the other guy was gathering up some tools. I was on the cart and had a good hold on the lines. The percheron mare all of a sudden jumped straight up into the air and took off. I tried to turn her into a hay stack but could not get her to turn. She either had the bit in her teeth, or her tongue over the bit, as I had no control and could not get her to turn at all. I managed to stay with her a little over a quarter mile the the forecart dropped one wheel in a rut and tipped up spilling me off. The team continued to run toward the house but couldnt make the turn in the road and the off horse went down. That percheron mare continued to run, dragging the off horse and the cart until she hit a wove wire fence and hung the neck yoke in it so that she couldn't go forward or back. She is no longer with us.

I just remembered another "interesting" one. Wasn't mine, but a friend's fifth wheel hitch wagon dropped its pin out.

What you're SUPPOSED to do when assembling a fifth wheel is to remember to drop the pin in from the top BEFORE you bolt the top half of the fifth wheel to the underside of your wagon. The previous owner of the wagon had forgotten to do that and instead just poked the pin in upside-down. Once day the nut rattled off and out came the pin. Away Hialeah! I was later shown the several impressions left by shod hooves on the front of the driver's box. And although I had not witnessed the wreck, the impressions left on ME were the importance of very thoroughly inspecting all newly acquired equipment, and to drill and wire pin all the important bolts.

Great stories! Keep them coming.

My dad tells great stories of his younger days with my grand dad. This story was one of them putting up hay with teams. Its not really a wreck but a disaster. They were putting up hay with buck rakes putting hay on the stack with an over shot stacker i guess all day long. 95 degrees most of the day and of course in Eastern Montana dry, hot, dusty. The last load of hay going up on a stack must have sparked a rock and caught the last bit of hay headed up on the stack on fire. Burnt the entire stack to the ground. Of course back in those days being 30 miles to town where I live at now there were no fire trucks. So needless to say they lost all the hay.

Hooked big mule to my forecart. Mule took off running. Rounded the barn to the front of the house. Logs on ground to park cars. Mule jumped log. Forcart sent me straight up in the air. Mother-in-law watched from window. She said I was holden the reins and there was nothing under me.

Thanks for telling on me Kari!
Another one I had was with the same pair of mules. They jack knifed the wagon in a creek crossing and hooked one double tree on the evener pin (which USED to stick up a little). They had boogered at a moose. We drove on out in the field and they were calm as can be, or so I thought.
I made the decision to pop the tug chain off the evener pin right there instead of goin on over to a cottonwood and tieing them up first. The singletree jumped ahead and spooked the spooky mule and away they went. I jumped up on the front of the hayrack and tried to shut them down. We hit a good sized ditch and it launched me up in the air and onto the rearend of the spooky mule. Bounced off of him and under the wagon tires.
Needless to say I was sore for a few days, but I lived. I had a saddle horse tied to the back of the wagon and I remember him jumping over me and landing just past my head.
Funny thing was they slowed down and hit all the culverts dead center and at a walk then went back up to a lope. Finally they stopped in a corner and I hobbled up to them and drove them home.
Had deep bruises on both legs where the wagon run over me and cracked some ribs. Glad it wasn't loaded at the time.
The fellow I bought them from told me afterward that they had run before. He didn't tell me because I didn't ask. I don't buy teams anymore, I make them. That way I know for sure.
I still use these mules and they are a good team, but it took two years of hard work.
I do believe any animal can run. No matter how careful you are it can happen. I've had a lot of wrecks, broken tongues, broken neckyokes, hamestraps, pole straps (coming down a steep hill with a load of hay, that was fun), and so on, and so on. If you work them every day, it'll happen sooner or later.

hooked team of ponies to the cart drove them 2 miles at a hard trot tied them to a cattle panel dident lock the loup on one halter rope. one ponie pulled the rope turned him lose lunged into other halter rope broke the halter rope snap away they went down the fence line into the trees, found a roll of wolven wire half bured in the dirt ran the end of the tounge into wire that stoped them about 100 yds away from me still trying to go when I got there. took 2 hours to get them and cart out, cart tounge bent harness peces broke but they pulled cart to the shop to be repaired. no more snaps on halter lead ropes now. those poines are my cakeing team they still like to run we look at alot of pasture when caking there geting better dont think ever be trustworth tho grand kids drive them one opens the gates, the other handles the ponies never turns lose of the lines ever.

This one isn't as exciting as some of the above but sure is a lesson learned. Was working with a new team and they were doing exceptionally well. Had them hooked to a covered wagon and working them in an indoor arena. I decided to go outside with them, opened the big doors and forgot I had some loose horses out in the yard I was going into. Those loose horses saw this covered wagon coming out of the barn and they spooked and away they went and my team decided to join them. Had a man on the box with me and both of us grabbed those lines and hauled leather and talked them down. The left horse was rearing and snorting and the right was calm and collected. We pushed them up to a tall wooden fence and got them stopped. WHEW, and hurray. We sat there for a while and then drove them back to the barn...Yes, after we put the other horses away. My lesson, was never drive a new team with loose horses where they can run with them.

Have two stories I'll share.

1. Was dragging the driveway (1/4 mile) standing on the old truck frame my dad and I have both used as a road drag. Fell off in front of the drag. Lost one line. Team went off the ditch bank and I was actually rolling in front of the drag in mud and snow.

2. Was leading the team in the barnyard. No lead ropes. Rumhead horse on my left side lifted his head to look at something to the right. Tore my rotator cuff. Surgery, pain and laid up for a while.

Notice a common thread here? Mostly human error.

One time I dropped the pin that connects the trail tongue on my feed sleigh. The rear bob and the feed rack stayed put and I became a human wrecking ball going through the front rack. I had a team of shires hooked to a single set of bobs. One horse had been worked 8 days and the other 4 days after a 3 year layoff. We covered a little ground that day but the snow was deep and they were soft enough we came to an understanding. I can see how cutter racing could be addicting.
KM

All good wrecks need to start with the redneck phrase for once upon a time. So there I was, with my son then about 4. We had the paint welsh pony QH crosses. The fact that pony is in the last sentence should be your first indication that this was a wreck waiting to happen. We had loaded a couple of bales on the old wagon and headed down the field. I notice the mare with the head stall off her ears but the bit still in her mouth. I got them over to the fence and stopped and got off to fix the headstall. This team was green and I was greener and ponies to boot. I slipped the headstall back on and went to tighten the throat latch and they took off. Not fast but fast enough that the fat guy could not get on. But with my son on there by himself I figured I had to get there. I caught the back of the wagon and hanging on while running I was doing the cartoon 30 foot strides hoping to catch a break before I broke. If you all have not noticed from the photos that I post I am not exactly built for speed and cat like agility. Finally managed to get on the wagon and to the front while the team had covered about 1/4 mile. Lucky the haul road we were now on was fairly smooth and fenced on one side. I only had one line left when I got to the front and turned the team out into the neighbors freshly disked up field. It wasn't long until the ponies let the horse side of their brain function and wanted to stop. I got the other line fished back up with the end of the buggy whip and we headed home. My little boy turned to me and said, "That was scarwee din it was fun!" I am not sure what station he was tuned into but as a dad with a little kid in danger it wasn't much fun.

I was a first hand witness to 2 parade wrecks that happened two months of each other in the early 90s. First one occured in Greeley where the wagoneer hooked the trace chains too long (and didn't use a safety pin to lock the yoke to the pole). Team moved forward, pole dropped, horses spooked and lurched into the by-standers on the side of the street and a female child was killed (resulted in a big trial and additional tragedy - but that's another story).

Second one happened when a gust of wind picked up a card table that some parade spectators set up on the side of the street. It blew into a team of drafts pulling a covered wagon. The driver was doing a good job of trying to keep it together (the horses weren't trying to bolt but were pushing to the side) Unfortunately, some spectators jumped in to "help out" and one elderly gentleman slipped under the wagon and was crushed in his mid-section. He later died from his injury. Driver did get sued though but, he had ranch insurance that covered the damages.

These two examples were often brought up in regards to the fairly new (at that time) Colorado equine liability law. In the first case, negligence was involved and in the second it wasn't. Spot-lighted the fact that you are soley responsible for your equines in a public setting.

I really enjoy reading all the stories, keep them comming. It's amazing the amount of wrecks that people have come through not being seriously hurt.

I have been in a good many wrecks and near wrecks and watched a few taking place as a spectater but one really sticks in my mind so well because at the time it was really funny. It was 50 some odd years ago, along about 1958 I think, I was just a big teenager. We had a big snow and no school so as soon as I got the chores done I throwed my wood on my horse and took off to my buddies house about 5 milesa away. He had a coming 2year old colt that was dog gentle. In the barn his dad had an old cutter that had'nt been used in several years but was in perfect shape. We decided to hook that colt to that cutter and have some fun. Now we never worried about the end results of doing things like, just having fun the way country kids did then. We harnessed him which wasn't any problem and one of us led him and the other one pulled that cutter about 1/8 of a mile from the barn. We got him between the shafts and he was plumb relaxed with the whole deal so I told my buddie to get in and I would hold him until he got his seat. When he picked up those lines and asked him to step up things went to happening. The colt ran off and kicking for all he was worth. Within the first 50 yards or so he kicked the whole front out of the cutter and and kicked my buddy plumb out of it and was running mighty fast towards the barn. By the time he got to the barn the cutter and harness was scattered everywhere, there wasn't enough left of that cutter to know what it was. My buddy survied it and I went and helped him get air pumped back into him as soon as I was able to quit laughing. The colt came out of it fine, got him broke later to ride and drive. He wasn't the only one, everytime we got to itching for some fun we would take saddle horses that had never been in harness and hook to a one horse wagon and head to town but them are all other stories. Most of the time it was with one side of work harness off of 1700-1800 lb horses put on 1150-1200 pound horses and the slack taken up with binder twine, didn't work out to good a lot of times but we had fun and kept our gaurdian angels on alert.

I just don't get that excited about parades and such anymore.

School and other groups coming here for stuff is a bit different. More of a situation that I have control of (sort of) and the rules are mine.

Go away from home for events with horses and I sort of feel like a sideshow.

Maybe just old and cranky.

I got home from delivering a horse. Conservation man was there and wanted to talk to me.We stood in the driveway talking when I heard my wife yell "WHOA"several times.Around the buildings comes the team with a forecart and rake hooked to it and they were moving. They come straight at the NRCS truck and smashed into the side of it and then on and over another forecart and then got hung up by a rock crusher sitting nearby.Totaled the rake and smashed most of the side of the truck.

NRCS guy likes to tell the story about how he looked at me to see what I was going to do and all I did was stand there with my arms folded and said"I don't think they are going to miss your truck". He sure got picked on about his damage report.

My wife was going to unhook when the one horse rubbed his head and got his bridle caught and panicked. Still have that horse but he did get a real strong training routine after that.

End result is that the gov vehicles don't stop here any more so not all accidents are bad.Plus noone was hurt.

I gotta make a little side commentary. Where I live there is one surviving old timer who took over the county fair wagon rides after one of my old bud's died. My buddy always stressed the two person rule when giving rides in public.

The other guy didn't believe in it, too much money to hire someone and my horses are the best he said. He dropped his lines and parked his horse and covered wagon built on a farm wagon chassis. He walked out the back on to the steps and was going around to tie the horses up. They took off.

They smashed into a loaded two horse trailer, tongue went thru the side. No horses were injured, equipment was badly damaged, no person was physically hurt. That was over ten years ago and it will be hell freezing over before the fair board alllows another team on the fairgrounds. Do I sound angry?

These stories are funny - after you survive the wreck! I bought a horse from a man in Mexico (first mistake!) who assured me that the horse was broke to drive. I was so excited and determined to drive this horse that I totally overlooked all the signs. I was just as green at driving as the horse.... We decided the horse needed to be tranquilized to get him harnessed because he was just too figity. Got him harnessed and hooked up. Started down the road at a walk and all was fine for about half a mile. We were in a rubber tire surrey of sorts and when the horse started to trot and he came apart like a cheap clock! It was a run away for sure! All we could do was try to head him into a telephone pole. When that didn't work, the buggy turned too sharp and the tire rubbed on the box and over and out we went! Horse ran home, buggy had bent shaft and had to be pulled back behind truck. Horse left next day... At least no major injuries and I can laugh about it!!

After driving for about an hour I parked my Standardbred and forecart at the hitching post, hooked by swivel snap on chain to halter. Went inside the barn to chat with ex-wife. About five minutes later I poke my head out barn door to see horse with cart at dead run, headed toward neighbors. He sideswiped the only car on their 25 acres and took out 40 feet of chain link fence (trying to jump it). He had figured how to move his head around enough to get the snap to open. Watched him do it later. I always double tie this guy now.