http://www.midhudsoncentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13769916&BRD=248&PAG=461&dept_id=462341&rfi=6
or http://tinyurl.com/54vb6
Those of you who hate fluffbunny rescue promotions can stop reading
after you find out whodunnit because a soapbox is mounted near the end
of the piece.
--Vic

From:	Jim Casey
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:06:21 -0600

vicsage@yahoo.canada wrote:

> http://www.midhudsoncentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13769916&BRD=248&PAG=461&dept_id=462341&rfi=6
> or http://tinyurl.com/54vb6

The story doesn't say who ordered the horse destroyed. I have to assume
it was the victim's survivors. It sounds like it happened too fast to
be a legal action.

Something like that happened to someone I knew: He was found dead,
lying behind his team with a scraped forehead. It turned out the man
had had a heart attack and fallen face-down.

- Jim

From:	vicsage at yahoo.canada
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:13:11 GMT

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:06:21 -0600, Jim Casey
wrote:

>vicsage@yahoo.canada wrote:
>
>> http://www.midhudsoncentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13769916&BRD=248&PAG=461&dept_id=462341&rfi=6
>> or http://tinyurl.com/54vb6
>
>The story doesn't say who ordered the horse destroyed. I have to assume
>it was the victim's survivors. It sounds like it happened too fast to
>be a legal action.
>
>Something like that happened to someone I knew: He was found dead,
>lying behind his team with a scraped forehead. It turned out the man
>had had a heart attack and fallen face-down.
>
>- Jim
>

Jim,

You're absolutely right. The story is poorly written and creates more
questions than it gives answers. I'd give the reporter an "F" and I
probably deserve a "D" for sharing it.
--Vic

From:	Jim Casey
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:28:58 -0600

vicsage@yahoo.canada wrote:

> ... The story is poorly written and creates more
> questions than it gives answers. I'd give the reporter an "F" and I
> probably deserve a "D" for sharing it.

You don't find too many first-rate reporters working at small-town
newspapers. It is something to add to the dumb crooks file, though.

- Jim

From:	Mary McHugh
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	21 Jan 2005 10:44:28 -0800

In article <10v01kb790agga7@corp.supernews.com>, Jim Casey says...
>
>vicsage@yahoo.canada wrote:
>
>> ... The story is poorly written and creates more
>> questions than it gives answers. I'd give the reporter an "F" and I
>> probably deserve a "D" for sharing it.
>
>You don't find too many first-rate reporters working at small-town
>newspapers. It is something to add to the dumb crooks file, though.
>
>- Jim

Not to mention... but perhaps someone else already mentioned this, but doesn't
the charge of "murder" imply premeditation? That would have made for a dandy
trial!
Maybe Terry would have been called as an expert witness. =:-o

I give Vic an "A" for sharing it for such an interesting yet on topic diversion.
:-)

Mary

>

From:	Jim Casey
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:42:22 -0600

Mary McHugh wrote:

> Not to mention... but perhaps someone else already mentioned this, but doesn't
> the charge of "murder" imply premeditation?

I thought the use of the word "murder" was too silly to mention. An
animal cannot commit a crime.

If the horse had been ordered destroyed by officials, that would have
been worth discussing. I've never heard of a horse being ordered
destroyed for viciousness.

- Jim

From:	wkambic at vic.com
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:44:46 -0500

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:42:22 -0600, Jim Casey
wrote:

>Mary McHugh wrote:
>
>> Not to mention... but perhaps someone else already mentioned this, but doesn't
>> the charge of "murder" imply premeditation?
>
>I thought the use of the word "murder" was too silly to mention. An
>animal cannot commit a crime.

Indeed.

>If the horse had been ordered destroyed by officials, that would have
>been worth discussing. I've never heard of a horse being ordered
>destroyed for viciousness.

A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
TN. The old man came into the pasture on a tractor and dismounted.
The stallion attacked him, drove him back onto the tractor, then came
up after him. The old man died of blood loss due to massive internal
injuries.

This event was witnessed by several people who called 911. Animal
Control responded. The unarmed AC officer drove her car into the
pasture, exited, and approached the stallion. He attacked her,
driving her back into her car. She radioed for help while the
stallion inflicted serious damage to the car. The situation was
brought under control when a deputy with a shotgun killed the
stallion.

IMO if the stallion had not been killed by the deputy the probability
of it being ordered destroyed by a judge approaches 100%.

This is a mercifully rare scenario, but it does happen every few
years.

Bill Kambic

From:	Hunter
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:02:56 -0500

>
> A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
> TN. The old man came into the pasture on a tractor and dismounted.
> The stallion attacked him, drove him back onto the tractor, then came
> up after him. The old man died of blood loss due to massive internal
> injuries.

I remember this, was the attack ever explained? Did they do an autopsy
on the beast?

Hunter

From:	wkambic at vic.com
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:19:12 -0500

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:02:56 -0500, Hunter
wrote:

>
>>
>> A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
>> TN. The old man came into the pasture on a tractor and dismounted.
>> The stallion attacked him, drove him back onto the tractor, then came
>> up after him. The old man died of blood loss due to massive internal
>> injuries.
>
>I remember this, was the attack ever explained? Did they do an autopsy
>on the beast?

I don't recall if necropsy was perfomed. I don't recall if a specific
cause was ever determined. My general recollection is that no cause
was ever pinpointed, but I'm open to correction.

Bill Kambic

From:	Susan Ravan
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 23:54:31 -0500

I was thinking that the horse tested positive for rabies, but I could be
thinking about another horse (also a TWH in TN).
Susan Ravan

wrote in message
news:qsv2v05eo1hbja2ff5osc7r4t6o7t72ql6@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:02:56 -0500, Hunter
> wrote:
>
> >
> >>
> >> A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
> >> TN. The old man came into the pasture on a tractor and dismounted.
> >> The stallion attacked him, drove him back onto the tractor, then came
> >> up after him. The old man died of blood loss due to massive internal
> >> injuries.
> >
> >I remember this, was the attack ever explained? Did they do an autopsy
> >on the beast?
>
> I don't recall if necropsy was perfomed. I don't recall if a specific
> cause was ever determined. My general recollection is that no cause
> was ever pinpointed, but I'm open to correction.
>
> Bill Kambic

From:	Hunter
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:38:19 -0500

> I don't recall if necropsy was perfomed. I don't recall if a specific
> cause was ever determined. My general recollection is that no cause
> was ever pinpointed, but I'm open to correction.
>
> Bill Kambic>

Scary stuff.... makes you wonder if the horse had a brain tumor or
something.... or was abused to the point where he finally had enough....

Hunter

From:	Jim Casey
Subject:	When good horses go bad (was: Re: Horse cleared of murder)
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:28:46 -0600

I know of one horse that suffered behavior changes similar to those
depicted in "The Horse Whisperer."

His owner lost control of her vehicle and flipped the trailer on its
side. The responding authorities figured the best way to deal with the
situation was to set the trailer upright with the horse inside (which
seems reasonable to me). Of course, it took a long time to assemble the
requisite equipment, six men, and a small boy.

The horse was not seriously injured, but he became the horse from hell.
In particular, he would strike out and bite people.

I suppose he had a brain injury.

His owner eventually moved him away. I didn't know her well, so I don't
know what became of him.

- Jim

From:	Jim Casey
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:12:09 -0600

wkambic@vic.com wrote:

> A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
> The situation was
> brought under control when a deputy with a shotgun killed the
> stallion.
>
> IMO if the stallion had not been killed by the deputy the probability
> of it being ordered destroyed by a judge approaches 100%.

Now I can no longer say I never heard of it.

Do you know if this stallion was incorrigible or whether he suddenly
"went nuts" for some unknown reason?

- Jim

From:	wkambic at vic.com
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 18:38:37 -0500

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:12:09 -0600, Jim Casey
wrote:

>wkambic@vic.com wrote:
>
>> A few years back a Walker stallion killed his owner in Nolensville,
>> The situation was
>> brought under control when a deputy with a shotgun killed the
>> stallion.
>>
>> IMO if the stallion had not been killed by the deputy the probability
>> of it being ordered destroyed by a judge approaches 100%.
>
>Now I can no longer say I never heard of it.

Indeed. ;-)

>Do you know if this stallion was incorrigible or whether he suddenly
>"went nuts" for some unknown reason?

Best I remember he was a "pasture ornament" used for occasional "field
breeding" of mares. I don't know of any confirmed abuse by the owner
or any physiological problems of the horse. IIRC there was a lot of
speculation at the time, but not much fact.

Nolensville is south of Nashville and in the the heart of Walker
country. This suggests many possibilities to those of us who have
knowledge of the general horsekeeping policies amongst Walker folk.
There is just no clear fact from which you can draw conclusions.

The Moral of the Story is that horses are not kind and gentle
creatures, at least not all the time. They can hurt you
unintentionally and can kill if spirit comes upon them. Fortunately
for use humans, that doesn't happen often.

Bill Kambic

From:	Kris Anderson
Subject:	Re: Horse cleared of murder
Date:	20 Jan 2005 14:09:25 -0800

The story sounds really, really fishy to me.

I read about the murder in the local paper a day or two after it
happened, and they'd already figured out by then that Olson had been
shot.

The horse may have been on her way to auction simply because the rest
of the family weren't horse people so didn't know what else to do with
her. Given the time frame though, I very much doubt she was headed to
auction because anyone still believed, at the time they arranged for
her to go, that she had anything to do with Olson's death.
Kris
--
Kris Anderson
Williamstown, MA