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/

Lots of shouting and hitting for no reason, I switch off from it now, each to his own and you can't argue with stupid

But these animals are dependent on their owners, and don't need to be abused.
Should we say this is an OK way to treat children, or domestic abuse victims?
We have to find a way to call out this behaviour.

I wouldn’t want her anywhere near my children! What an awful human being.

Apparently she’s been suspended from school and lost her pony club role.

Reminds me of the person who beat Anne the Elephant. That ended well for Anne, not so for the beater or circuses with animals in (thankfully)

@SW1amp

How does it affect her ability to teach children?

What a totally and utterly arsehole comment..

I have had horses all my life. I have been stressed with them in scary situations more than once or twice. I can imagine with the sabs circling and goading (which they inevitably would have done) it being a very highly charged situation. However. In ANY situation like that my first thought would be to protect my animals rather than beat them. My worry with the sabs would have been stressing my horse out and I would have tried to have got all I love (horses and children) on board the lorry safely and calmly. The venom and anger in her face is totally abhorrent. I have never (NEVER) felt the need to treat an animal in that way.

So yes, it does rightly stack up that her ability to do her job is affected. If she gets stressed and chooses to treat a live animal like that what is she going to do to a child in a stressful situation.

Also, I will clarify, the pony did not add to the stressful situation, it just slightly wandered off as the children were not in control of it. It is fairly obvious here that it was just a compliant pony not being directed properly and it got thrashed round the face. I am appalled and I would never want that woman near me or my children.

I've said before I've had horses all my life and I'm not woo about them either, quite a traditionalist really, I've hunted when young and competed to a high level, all my dcs ride to a high level. I've been lucky enough to have my horses at home so I've never been on a livery yard. But I've never seen anyone treat their horse as badly as she did. I've seen spoilt brats whack their horse too much when it won't do what they want and I've always said something and take their whip off them. Respect is a two way street with horses.

did the horse bite her or barge her

No it did not, I saw the full video yesterday, I think he got loose, walks towards her with his ears forwards, lets her catch him and then she rewards him by kicking him and then starts battering him around the muzzle with a headcollar, then drags him into the lorry. Absolutely no excuses for her behaviour whatsoever

Hugoslavia
Have you actually watched the film? The pony was merely ambling, she was nowhere near it initially.

@TashieWoo

I completely agree. I used to keep horses and I have definitely witnessed similar behaviour, particularly when someone is afraid of their horse or been injured. I don't see what it achieves though - a bit like smacking children. It's counterproductive and breaks down the horses trust. Sadly though there are far worse cases of animal cruelty out there.

I didn't see the full video. I only saw the extract/photos in the press where she kicked it in the chest and whacked it around the nose, hence me saying that I didn't know the background. I will look for the full video thanks.

@Hugoslavia

Whilst not condoning her behaviour, there may have been some background which made her temporarily see red. I.e. did the horse bite her or barge her? Sometimes people lash out if they get hurt. Either way she fully deserves to lose her pony club position and be investigated by the RSPCA. But does she deserve to be on the front page of the papers and hounded out of her home and job? Unfortunately there is far worse animal cruelty in the farming industry and many condemning her may well be eating cheap intensively farmed meat and inadvertently be responsible for far greater suffering.

No it didn't do any of those things. If you watch the video it's just a bumbling sweet pony that just kind of wandered off because the kids dropped the lead rein. No way on Gods own earth did that pony deserve what it got, and even if it was a mature stallion of 17hh who was trying to hump you do you do that to a horse. There are other ways and the stupid bitch should have known much better. Sorry, but I am enraged at her behaviour.

I had a snappy gelding who used to bite me, in fact he bit me so hard he tore the flesh and I ended up in hospital for 4 days. I dealt with it by sticking my elbow out. He learnt when he lunged to bite me he whacked himself on the hard part of my elbow, but I never ever hit him or got angry or shouted. I just changed my stance and body angles a bit. He soon learn't..

Just because there are worse cases of animal abuse out there doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to this. Abuse is abuse.

I’d pull my children out of school if she was their teacher.

There’s clear links between animal abuse and abuse against people.

I know this is mob mentality, but that video is shocking.

The sabs would have been awful and goading, that's what they do. We were hacking past the hunt meet and they filmed me and my dcs - even though we weren't going hunting (quite obviously from the amount of hi viz...) and ran alongside my 9 year olds pony asking her why she liked being a murderer and why did she enjoy killing animals. They filmed the whole time, even after I told them we were not with the hunt.

I don't have an issue with the 'hunt monitors' who video the actual hunt in case they hunt a fox, but I really hate the goady sabs.

What are some of these comments...

It's ok that she kicked, slapped and frightened an animal because other people hurt animals worse and eat eggs? GTFO.

I think she'll resign

@BadNomad

What are some of these comments...

It's ok that she kicked, slapped and frightened an animal because other people hurt animals worse and eat eggs? GTFO.

That's your Mumsnet brain thinking that anyone has actually said that.

Stupid bitch.

She wouldn't do that to someone who could fight back. COWARD

The sabs would have been awful and goading, that's what they do

You absolutely can’t know that.

I’ve had a run in with the Cottesmore hunt before because their dogs ran straight across the main road in front of our car. They didn’t give two hoots that two hounds had just gone under our wheels or that another two had bounced off the driver’s door. They just screamed and swore at DH and the dog warden who was, coincidentally, travelling behind us.

Leicestershire and Rutland police couldn’t have been less interested either when we reported it because there’s different rules for hunting hounds on the road apparently.

My heart sinks if I go out and see the hunt. They’re bloody awful people.

@SW1amp

How does it affect her ability to teach children?

FFS, put the cart before the horse eh?

I'm sure beating up a horse doesn't invalidate her teaching credentials.
But it sure as hell demonstrates that she is not a fit person to be in charge of dependent mammals.

I wish this would stop.

No she shouldn't lose her job. She will absolutely vilified for what she did - face splashed all over the media, hordes of people attacking her on line.

What she did wasn't good. But neither is this incessant need to publicly destroy people. Its hideous

It's wrong that she's had to go into hiding because of death threats.

Threads like these don't help. Another form of trial by mob. I can't understand why it's still standing.

@TheFairyCaravan

I used to work at the preschool she’s a director of. (When it was run by a lovely lady in the village hall, many years ago). 90% of the children came from families who had horses or who rode out with the hunt.

I do think she might lose her job, not because the school will want to, but because they can’t keep the lid on this now the story has got so big. Had it have been a story in the local paper it might have been a different kettle of fish.

People in the county are quite angry about it. There’s been a lot of posts in Facebook groups about it. I was gobsmacked to see some huntsmen getting arsey about the people who took the video, today. They knew they couldn’t defend her, outright, so this was their way of trying to detract from the issue.

I absolutely don’t condone the fact that she’s had to move out of her home, with her children, because she’s getting death threats. That’s gone far too far. She’s done wrong but her family haven’t.

Was the video taken by hunt sabs, @TheFairyCaravan?

There have been several incidents of hunt members and supporters assaulting sabs for videoing hunt activities.

And of course, as sabs collect more and more evidence showing that trail hunting is often a sham and that there are plenty of hunts still hunting foxes, the angrier hunts more there will be with them.