As an avid horseback rider, riding instructor, and general lover of horses, this INFURIATES me. Thanks for posting this article - I can now cross off Connecticut as a potential state to live in (although, admittedly, that list is getting alarmingly small)!

This is what happens when you legislate via crisis.

Good grief.

Many states classify horses as an 'attractive nuisance' because people want to pet/ride/feed apples too etc., so insurance is high. Horses are not vicious. Quite the opposite. Horses are prey and from the horses perspective people do the same thing that a mountain lion does, get on their backs. The fact that they allow that is really amazing.

I had a 2 year old Quarter Horse filly who had yet to be backed. We were at a show (showing in halter) and she was tied to the trailer. A guy picked up his toddler and put her up on my horses back and stepped back saying "Now you're riding a horsey". I thought my mom would have a heart attack. My horse just turned around and looked at the kid with a "what the hell are you doing" look. That horse could buck too, as I later found out. She wasn't mean, she was a mare and very opinionated. Stupid people.

Here's the original article by the local newspaper (tweeted by the American Veterinary Medical Association): http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/artic...

As a soon-to-be veterinarian, this case sickens me. Because the exact horse could not be identified, the court did not have the power to sentence one animal to death... so they made an over-ruling judgement on an entire species. The parents obviously ignored the signs posted around the property that were placed for the safety of people visiting the farm. Horses are NOT vicious animals, but they also aren't always predictable. Just like children should be taught to ask before petting a strange dog on the street... common sense would dictate that an animal that stands at (or above) eye level AND weighs close to (or over) 1,000 pounds has the potential to cause harm. COMMON SENSE.