David Bradshaw Photos – Vol. LXXXVIII (88) – Horse

[Lee Martin]

A brown horse lay on its side in an iced-over brook. Found by its owner on a Saturday morning. She would say she’d seen her horse the day before, that it was fine at the time. Evidently, the horse had sought water, and slipped descending snowy bank. Or, the blanket covering the horse caught a snagged a rock, yanking the horse off its feet. The horse now struggled to gain its footing, dragging over root and rock into the narrow V of the frozen brook. The torn blanket slid its shoulders to bind its front legs.
The owner packed hay around her horse’s head, which had melted through the ice into shallow running water. She brought a bucket of grain, a hollow, well-meaning gesture to inspire the horse to rise. Temperature ZERO, a fahrenheit barely able to reach 15 this span of days.

The owner hails a neighbor, Animal Man, a wealth of zoological knowledge but about to make a mistake. The owner determines it is time to put down her 34 year old horse. Animal Man pulls a pocket pistol, plants a .22 Long Rifle “in the paint” of the horse’s forehead.

That evening I run into Animal Man at a dinner party. “We have an excavator coming tomorrow,” he says. “I’ll pull it out with my tractor in the morning.” Next morning I hitch a ride on his John Deere.

Pull Ruger 03 .45 Colt, plant a cast powder coat 330 grain (NEI 310) semi-wadcutter midway between eye and ear, just below the imaginary line.



Blood stain on ice from .22 Long Rifle “in the paint” 24-hours earlier. Temple entry of .45 fired a day later mercifully freed stricken horse of earthly suffering.



Burial for a 34 year old





-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"

[bradshaw]

There is a bunch of text missing, I think lost in transmission to Lee. The horse may have lain 12 or 20 hours on the frozen brook prior to discovery by its owner. The horse was 34 years old. When the owner hailed a neighbor, Animal Man, he pulled a pocket pistol and shot it in the forehead. Another neighbor came over the next morning to help bury the horse, only to find it ALIVE. Twenty-four hours alive on ice with a .22 bullet in its head. Along as part of the extraction and burial detail, seeing the horse alive on blood stained ice, the present shooter drew his Ruger 03 .45 Colt and slipped a cast powder coat 330 grain semi-wadcutter on the low side of the imaginary line connecting eye to ear-hole.

A task devoid of taste, yet one for which a good pistol is the best of all instruments.
David Bradshaw

[contender]

See my post on the Ruger Forum.

Good Job David!

[lscg]

that's a real shame but an excellent lesson on using enough gun and using it in the right place. glad you were able to put the horse out of it's misery Mr. Bradshaw.


reminds me of a similar incident my Father experienced while he was a sheriff's deputy. late one afternoon when he was on patrol he got a call on the radio that there had been a wreck involving a black angus bull. it had broken through the ranchers fence and got out onto hwy 290 and met up with an F150. there were several other officers already on the scene by the time my dad showed up. two of which had tried unsuccessfully to dispatch the crippled bull with their Smith 357's. after watching them try and fail yet again to kill the bull my dad went to the trunk of his patrol car and retrieved his HK 91 and finished the animal off with one round. and at the same time spooking the deputies in question who thought the evil looking black rifle was as machine gun.

the owner of the bull didn't want to claim ownership for fear of being liable (when asked repeatedly if the bull was his all he'd say was "well I can't says it is and I can't says it isn't") so my dad and two or three friends spent the rest of that night butchering it. I was too young to remember the taste but my dad always said that was the best beef he'd ever had.

[buckheart]

Sad story.

[hoover]

Damn! Sad story for such a noble steed! Glad you were able to finally end things correctly, David!

[stevewhr]

Putting an animal down is a grizzly task to be certain. For that horses sake I'm glad someone eventually came along with enough courage and wisdom to do what needed to be done. Hats off to you sir.

[kings6]

Once again the importance of shot placement is shown. All the mobile slaughter guys I use for my cattle use 22 mag rifles even on 1200 pound steers but they know they have that small area where the two lines drawn between the eye and the opposite horn cross to thread the bullet into. Done right half a ton of beef hits the ground like someone jerked all four legs out from under it at once. Thanks David for putting the poor horse out of its misery. I agree on blankets. My mules don't get blanketed in the winter but they are well fed and cared for and they grow long shaggy coats. Blankets only when we head to Hells Canyon for late elk hunts and then only if it is snowing hard.

[bradshaw]

Kings6.... thank you for the kind words, particularly to encourage those faced with putting an animal down to be deliberate and cool.

Animal Man recognized his mistake in not fetching stronger medicine to the task, and I doubt he'll ever repeat it. When asked the weight of the horse he said, without hesitation, "1,400 pounds."
David Bradshaw

[odis]

Depressing post, the Bradshaw series of photos is always so entertaining, this one is the exception to the rule.

[contender]

I agree that it's depressing a bit. But it is also educational. Many people do NOT have the field experience to properly dispatch an animal with a firearm. And it's all too often the very folks we THINK should know how.

[vonfatman]

Several years ago, my neighbor had a horse he needed put down. He asked me and I said sure. I help my neighbors with pets from time to time. Well heck, I'd never shot a horse before! So I went on line, found several informational sites and got boned up for the job. He'd dug the hole with his skid loader (BIG HOLE) and had the horse standing beside the hole...
He couldn't watch so I took care of the deed. It went like silk. I used my S&W 624 and sent the single bullet home. The old horse just fell into it's grave. I was surprised how easy it went. Not a kick or a whinny...but I was VERY careful to follow what I'd learned on line and did not vary a fraction.

I found that I learned a bunch shooting this old horse. I also learned from reading this post. I appreciate the posting Mr. Bradshaw/Mr. Martin.

I've never been a "horse guy" so this was not an emotional dispatch (for me). But when I had to dispatch my own dog(s)...I was cry in' like a baby! Now that I have indoor dogs, I have to call a friend to do the deed...indoor dogs are too much like folks.

Bob

[usajon]

dam pbr time

[bigmuddy]

An unpleasant task, but one sometimes necessary for country folk!

Dan

[theshootist1894]

I went through a similar transaction with My 30+ year old Walker early last winter, went down first bad snow and wouldn't get up and showed no will to go on, a 300 grain cast 44 Mag brought him peace. Not so much as a twitch from him once the smoke cleared, always bring enough gun . . . good on you for helping the neighbor with the unpleasant task