Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 29, 2012 at 9:25 pm
I would imagine it is not too hard to find the owners. The owners may not be the people who have been stabling the horses, so there may be problems of blame. But, the horse people are known to each other and missing horses don't go missing without being noticed.
Posted by reporting, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Dec 29, 2012 at 10:07 pm
I imagine this is just poor reporting. Identifying the owner should be easy and was probably done well before this article was posted. Contacting them on a holiday weekend might take more time.
Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 30, 2012 at 9:51 am
How tragic. My heart goes out to the drivers of the cars. Thankfully, nobody was killed.
I hope that the owners or those responsible for stabling the horses are found soon and charged appropriately for animal endangerment and held responsible for all damage and hospital bills to the vehicles and occupants.
Horses are not like dogs and cats. The owners have to keep them in secure locations and not allow them to run amock. Horses are not like deer or other wild animals that roam free in the hills.
Posted by Alphonso, a resident of Los Altos Hills, on Dec 30, 2012 at 10:23 am
Horses are like deer in that they both have an instinct to run free. Over the years I have seen many horses that have managed to escape - it is their nature. Not excusing the responsibility of controlling the animals but it is something to consider when driving in areas with horses and cattle.
Posted by Anonymous, a resident of another community, on Dec 30, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Having trained horses for decades, I know that horses ARE like deer in that they are flight animals and very prone to fright and flight responses. They have nothing to do 23-24 hrs per day and have all that time to figure out escapes--they are free-range herd animals and like to roam, preferably in the company of other horses.
I know of one escape artist who required no fewer than six locks on his paddock, and then he removed his gate by taking apart the hinges on the other side of it-- with his mouth! Once they make a successful escape it is hard to keep them in, especially if they can jump.
Webb Ranch is not the most secure stable, either. It is just relatively economical to board there ( which by no means says that it is inexpensive, just less so than most in the area).
This is a really sad loss of life, and preventable. Sadly, most stables cannot afford overnight supervision, and that is when many escapes occur.
Posted by Driver, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Dec 30, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Unlikely that the horse was standing still in the middle of the road. If the horse was running straight towards a car driving the legal speed limit, I really doubt that most drivers could safely avoid it. Same applies to a horse running across the road or a horse running in an erratic direction.
Posted by neighbor, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Horses are skittish and their stall, barns, stables, corrals, paddocks, pastures, or even just being held, all need to be well-secured. Horses loose on the highway = a horrible, terrible situation - dangerous and sad for all involved.
Everything should be done to try to avoid this from happening.
Posted by Felicity, a resident of Los Altos, on Dec 31, 2012 at 10:46 am
Well, it just breaks my heart the one or more horse owners are going to get the sad news that their horses are gone. They were probably relatively high quality horses so theirs is both a heartbreak and a financial loss.
Posted by So Sad, a resident of the Charleston Gardens neighborhood, on Jan 1, 2013 at 8:10 am
I feel terribly bad for the horses, the drivers, and the owners. But also for the last person who exited that gate on the evening before it happened. That person is probably now dying from remorse.
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