Sometimes, karma is given instantly, and this woman certainly knows all about it.ADVERTISEMENT
It’s not always a good idea to approach wild animals, and it’s an even worse idea to suddenly start to touch them- especially when you do it in a violent manner.
Wild horses may look absolutely beautiful, but if they’re not trained with humans, there’s no telling how they’ll react to rather strange circumstances.
Every year, many people visit Assateague Island.
It’s a beautiful place that these Assateague horses call home. The island, about forty miles long, is situated on the coast of Virginia and Maryland and is known for its beautiful horses.
Tourists visit this special place for the majestic animals, but there are rules that everyone should follow to keep things safe and pleasant for everyone involved.
One woman decided to neglect the rules altogether.
She thought it’d be a good idea to smack one of the beautiful horses harshly with a shovel.
A bystander managed to capture a video of the whole thing, and it’s definitely shocking, to say the least. It was shared on the Facebook page People of the Ocean City Boardwalk, and has been seen and shared thousands of times.
We see how the woman, dressed in beach clothing, is slowly approaching one of the wild horses with a plastic shovel.
She thought it’d be funny to ‘smack’ one of the horses.
In reality, however, it was an act that she almost instantly regretted.
One of the bystanders even tried to warn the woman, but she apparently didn’t want to hear it:
“They’re going to kick you,” someone said.
The horse didn’t let them down.
Probably believing that he was attacked, he retaliated right away and kicked the woman away with both back feet.
ADVERTISEMENT
He knocked whatever sense she had right out of her.
The lady was flabbergasted by the horses’ reaction, and the impact of the kick made her fall into the sand. Even though she seemed disoriented, it doesn’t appear that she suffered any serious injuries.
The horse was still understandably upset about the whole thing, and it also attracted the attention of two other equines who showed up to protect her.
The rules are clear: touching is not allowed.
And you’re not allowed to feed or attract them either. There’s even a warning sign that says:
“Horses bite, kick, & charge. Keep at least 40 feet away.”
Because the video made rounds on social media, it has also garnered the attention of both The National Park Service as well as the Assateague Island National Seashore Law Enforcement Rangers.
“These horses have learned where to find food and how to get it. They can bite or stomp a food package open, they can kick open an unsecured cooler, they can eat right out of open beach bags. The horses will stage an all-out assault on the beach in the pursuit of food. This is so dangerous for visitors,” the NPS stated to the Miami Herald.
“Assateague’s horses are beautiful, tough, and wild. They have learned to survive in a harsh environment. Feeding and/or petting them is detrimental to both visitors and horses.”
“Visitors are kicked, bitten and knocked down every year as a direct result of getting too close to the wild horses. Treating wild horses like tame animals takes away the wildness that makes them special. Protect your family by respecting theirs. Give the horses the space they need to be wild.”
On social media, people were absolutely disgusted by the acts of the woman.
You should never simply smack a wild animal just for your own pleasure.
These majestic and beautiful animals should be respected and left alone. It’s unclear if the woman received a fine for her actions, but the horse certainly left his mark on her.
