Stupidity At Its Worst

Frightened horse on Briarwood Road bridge in Bonita

Heading north on Briarwood yesterday to get on State Route 54, we come upon the worst act of stupidity I've seen in decades.

A man is trying to control a terrified horse in the middle of the Briarwood Road bridge between the entrance and exit ramps of SR-54. This is probably one of the most dangerous places in Bonita for a driver and absolutely no place for a horse.

Click on images to enlarge

It appeared that one of the horse's reins had snapped and the man slid off to attend to it.

I could be totally wrong about that analysis but I cannot figure what other reason would prompt a man to get off a perfectly good horse in the craziest transportation corridor in Bonita.

I've experienced a broken rein many times in my life of riding horses. You just slide the loose end through the bit and ride like that until you can get to a quieter location. I would never dismount in that situation. But then, I would never take my horse into that area.

But that's the first stupidity error. Why was the man even riding the horse on the road? Not any road but Briarwood Road at the SR-54 intersection with cars passing all around him.

We have hundreds of miles of trails in Bonita. That's a big draw for equestrians. This man couldn't find a trail to ride?

This horse was not a quiet nag that you could ride through a hurricane. This horse was a young, spirited and extremely frightened steed.

I never saw the man take any action to calm the horse.

Click on images to enlarge

I did see him try to drag the horse up on the sidewalk of the bridge and the horse was having nothing to do with it.

I see it all the time. People buy wildly spirited horses that they don't have the experience to own. And then they get into a bad situation by doing something foolish.

This one's going into the Hall of Shame. I'm just thankful that the horse was not hit by a vehicle. That horse deserves a better owner.

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