Teacher filmed attacking her horse

[GrabbyAbbie]

Just seen the footage of a woman attacking a horse after a "drag hunt"
She is a primary school teacher and a member of the pony club.
Aibu to think she should lose her job over this?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2021/11/09/foxhunter-filmed-slapping-and-kicking-horse-is-primary-school-teacher-15567946/amp/

So we've gone from saying that she was 'disciplining' the horse, to acknowledging cruelty to the horse - do you think that cruelty is somewhat more concerning than 'going over the top'?

From a person in a position of quite some influence in the community as a Big I Am in the Pony Club, and as a teacher of young children?

She is the one that created this situation, she is the one who behaved in such a manner, with such a lack of self control, in a very volatile situation where surely she would have known that the provocateurs would use whatever ammunition she gave them to further their own agenda.

And I don't have a 'burn the witch' mentality, I have a 'actions have consequences' mentality, and in the days of social media etc, and a fairly high profile in her community, these are fairly foreseeable consequences of her actions.

@CatsArePeople

if she was a cleaner or a cashier - her job would be irrelevant. but as a teacher of young children - she can't be trusted.

Although I’d sack her if she was my cleaner, because I wouldn’t trust her not to kick or punch my dog if he got in her way.

@mbosnz

And I don't have a 'burn the witch' mentality, I have a 'actions have consequences' mentality, and in the days of social media etc, and a fairly high profile in her community, these are fairly foreseeable consequences of her actions.

This.

No way would you want someone like that around your children!!

I think in her eyes she was disciplining. Do I agree with the way she handled it? No! I can see your point though she should know better especially with sabs around who will do anything literally to paint the hunt in a bad light but does that warrant all this? Do you really think death threats and having to sell her house due to worrying about her children’s safety or people saying they don’t care if she kills herself are fair consequences? At the end of the day we’re all entitled to our opinions and that is mine. I’m not back tracking on my opinion nor am I by any stretch an animal hater but I have some empathy for this woman, and yes I do think it was a mistake a big one which now she has to live with. I don’t think she spends her days abusing animals i think it was a reaction to a stressful situation which I’m sure she very much regrets.

No, sorry, I've been there, and even twenty years ago, this was not acceptable as 'disciplining'. She lost her temper.

If she were smart, she'd be finding a way to social media her regrets about her loss of self discipline, her temper tantrum, and finding a way to indicate that this is not how she normally behaves.

Again, her actions, her consequences, whether you, me, or she, thinks they are proportionate. Her actions caused these consequences, and it's on her to find a way to mitigate them. And if I were a member of her family, I'd be well pissed about how her actions had impacted on our lives.

You're putting words in her mouth. How can you be sure that she now very much regrets her actions? Do you think she regrets her actions, or the consequences of her actions?

I think in her eyes she was disciplining. Do I agree with the way she handled it? No!

I'm going to assume you know nothing about horses but I'm also going to assume she does so your opinion is probably misguided where as there's no way she 'thought' that was what she was doing. No one who actually knows anything about horses thinks that's the way to go about things unless they also have severe anger issues

I don’t think the sabs need to paint hunters in a bad light, they’re perfectly capable of doing that for themselves. It doesn’t really matter whether she considers it discipline or not, no more than if a parent thinks hitting and kicking a child is fair punishment either. That constitutes abuse, no matter how you try to wave it away. It’s not a mistake either, that was a deliberate action that she felt comfortable enough carrying out in front of an audience. God knows what she’s like in private.

I’m one that says she doesn’t care if this woman kills herself, and I maintain that. I’m not particularly invested either way tbh, but the threat of someone committing suicide shouldn’t prevent people from making negative judgment on abhorrent behaviour. Nice little get out of jail free card, that. If it worked, anyway.

What she is seeing is a consequence of her own actions, and she has to live with that whether it’s ‘fair or not’.

“I’m one that says she doesn’t care if this woman kills herself”. Has she said that? I suppose it’s one less scum bag.

She's probably too young to be the lady who smashed my friend across the face with a riding crop , breaking his nose. Although that was in Hertfordshire, home of her hunt. Same mentality though. She wasn't charged despite the presence of police officers . No phone cameras back in the 80s. I don't believe in sacking ppl for extra curricular offences. She needs to sort her head out though.

While i don't believe in sacking people for extra curricular offences (unless they pertain to their job role), I do believe in people being aware that their extra curricular behaviour can impact on their professional life, particularly if it impacts on their place of work. Particularly in the highly surveilled world of the 2020's.

Appalling! If found guilty should probably lose her job after the conviction.

DixonD No. Its far worse for the animals people pay to be kept in misery, abused and slaughtered than it is for the poor horse. If someone eats animal products, yet criticises this (abusive woman) then its a hypocritical act. If watching the film of her hitting the horse was upsetting, then watching Earthlings or any other films showing animal welfare in the UK should be devastating for anyone buying meat and paying for these animals to suffer horribly. It's pure hypocrisy to be outraged about the horse while paying for other creatures to have far worse treatment.

She reacted to a potential dangerous situation the horse came lose and could of caused harm to traffic /people she was disciplining it. I do think it was possibly over the top, but can you all honestly tell me you have never told a dog off for misbehaving?

She had hold of the leadrope after the horse had been caught, she then set about it a) making it more likely to become loose again as it tries to avoid being hit! And b) in the eyes of the horse she was 'disciplining' the horse for being caught and standing at the end of the leadrope, it's like horses 101 that you don't lay into a horse you've just caught because it makes them less likely to be caught in future!
She was punishing the horse for presumably not loading, pulling away and getting loose, through frustration and as horses live in the moment it won't have connected her little outburst with the fact it didn't load/pulled away and buggered off.

It's utterly shit horsemanship, but the kind of horsemanship I've seen plenty of over the years, these people may ride and keep horses, but they don't understand them and get compliance through fear rather than cooperation, because it's faster, although there'll always be something the horse fears more than you eventually.

I don't really care if she was part of a hunt or not, she was totally out of order and needs to answer for that, however I'm also no fan of Sabs, who I've seen deliberately spook horses, cause fear and hang off bits which cause pain and discomfort - while claiming to be animal lovers. Doesn't wash.

Because if sue can be cruel to animals she could be to children. Her temper is not under control.

@Abhannmor

She's probably too young to be the lady who smashed my friend across the face with a riding crop , breaking his nose. Although that was in Hertfordshire, home of her hunt. Same mentality though. She wasn't charged despite the presence of police officers . No phone cameras back in the 80s. I don't believe in sacking ppl for extra curricular offences. She needs to sort her head out though.

The Cottesmore is not Hertfordshire! It’s Rutland.

I think the way a person treats animals says a lot about them. I certainly wouldn’t want someone with so little (if any) empathy teaching my kids. Surely teachers should be encouraging kindness??? No brainer really

I obviously don’t know whether she regrets it. I don’t think she deserves the consequences and that's my entire point. You can be as unbiased as you like. I also don’t know much about horses I’ll admit so my opinion is quite possibly misguided on that point. Anyway you all make valid points but I’ve spent far to long this evening arguing my case. I think it’s a sad world where people lack so much empathy they wouldn’t care if someone hurt themselves due to their thoughtless comments but that’s social media for you. There are also two sides to every story we don’t fully know the circumstances and we’re basing judgment of a very short possibly edited video clip it was the sabs who filmed it and you don’t know for sure they haven’t done anything to provoke the situation as they are not innocent and you should bare that in mind. It should investigated properly and I’m sure it will be.

Anyone who attacks an animal is not sound of mind and should not be around young children. Their mental state should be assessed. I hope the horse has been removed from her ownership and now with a loving owner.

It is well documented that people who are cruel to animals have a propensity to be cruel to people. Also if she can't control her temper then she is a risk to children

To do this in a public place, whilst being filmed......... sends a chill down my spine to imagine what could go on behind closed doors with nobody watching

I don’t think she should automatically lose her job however I’d very much much hope that she gets convicted for animal cruelty and her employer should decide if they want to continue to employing her.

If she is a director of a preschool she could be her own boss so I doubt that she will sack herself.