I got bitten real bad. Very ouch indeed. After deliberating the advice received from family, friends and forumers, I decided to go to the New Paper and close this thread.
The article was published on 4 Oct 2006 (Weds). However, there were numerous inaccuracies in it and I am beginning to understand how
Reporters without Borders came to their conclusion. Note that this is a non-political issue with no verbal abuse/slurs involved, and it still got censored.
As such, I have decided to re-post the articles here so that readers can arrive at their own eduated decisions.
Here are the newspaper reports compared with the actual letter I wrote detailing my original concerns (with original picture) :
The New Paper Article 
Original Letter / Interview Material
18th Sept 2006
Blue Dolphin Gallery (S) Pte Ltd
No 6 Tagore Drive #01-05
Tagore Ind. Building Singapore 787623
[email protected]cc:
[email protected]To Whom It May Concern,
I visited Gallop Stables @ Pasir Ris with my fiancé on Sunday, 17th Sept 2006 at around 5 pm, and came away with a very bad experience.
I was feeding and admiring a foal kept in a paddock near the stables. About 20 minutes later, a horse handler released the foalÂ’s painfully undernourished looking mother, Peanut, to join the foal. Peanut began grazing in an area away from the crowd, but when there was nothing to graze on, she wandered over and ate from my hand. When I ran out of food, Peanut moved her head too close to my face for comfort. I noticed her ears were folded back, so I moved back slowly to avoid provoking her with sudden movements, but she tried to bite my right arm. When she bit air, she suddenly lunged forward and bit my right breast. I was still moving away, but Peanut did not release her bite. In doing so, she tore my bra off. The crowd around me gasped loudly and looked shocked. The children beside me ran to their parents. I was in shock, but warned the crowd that the mother bites.
The few staff in the area were busy handling horses, or standing too far away. None of them saw this incident, or even if they did, they did not act. My fiancé then brought me to the Horseshop to seek first aid. There were 5 ladies altogether standing at the cash register. I told them exactly what had happened. When they did not seem concerned, I pulled down my blouse slightly to show them the bruised, bleeding wound and said that the horse bit so hard that my bra got torn off. They made faces and nodded, but offered no further assistance! I told them to get a handler to lead the mother away from the crowd before someone else got hurt, but my request fell on deaf ears!
The Indian lady who was seated began explaining that Peanut “can be quite protective of the foal”. When my fiancé pointed out again that I had been bitten badly and needed first aid, she went on to explain lamely “that’s why we warn people not to feed the mother”, “but usually we let the mother graze away from the crowd”. My fiancé then asked why Peanut was allowed to roam freely in the same paddock if they knew she might behave in this way, and why no one was informed not to feed the mother for the entire duration we were feeding the ponies, but the 5 ladies were at a loss for words. Throughout this conversation, I repeated my request to have the pony led away a total of FOUR times, but no one acted! Finally, one of them gave us antiseptic cream, and a round-sized plaster small enough to cover a tiny cut. Immediately after that, Peanut she bit another young girl (about 5 yrs old) on the upper chest. Only then did a handler lead Peanut away.
1)
This was an accident waiting to happen. There were many other women and children feeding the foal when Peanut was released into the enclosure. Peanut ate out of several childrens’ hands as well. The staff were obviously well aware of Peanut’s behaviour, but still no safety precautions were taken – It would have been as simple as leading the mother and foal away to a more private area, or tethering the mother loosely away from the crowd but within the same enclosure. There was certainly no way of normal members of the public knowing that they should not feed
the mother. There was no staff member nor sign present to warn us of such a thing. Why?
2)
Your staff handled the situation VERY poorly. They did not offer immediate or adequate assistance even after I showed them my bleeding, bruised wound, nor did they offer any apology. Even if the ladies were not the people to speak to, we were not referred to anyone else. There was no proper first aid available at your facility. To top it off, I requested to have Peanut led away a total of FOUR times, but no one acted until another little girl got bitten minutes later! My fiancé rushed me to a doctor, who bandaged my wound with an 11cm by 11cm dressing. In contrast, the size of the round plaster offered to me was of 2.5cm diameter, even though the 5 ladies had seen how bad my wound was! I was offered a piece of tissue paper and four small plasters only after my fiancé asked for better dressing. Tissue! One would think that a riding facility like yours would at least have proper dressing for wounds! And I did not even ride that day!
Because of this incident, I was forced to take a day of unpaid leave from work because of the nature of my wound, and foot a $66 medical bill.[b] That doesnÂ’t include the cost of my expensive, ruined bra. I also have to take 4 types of antibiotics, painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine. [b] IÂ’ve had to pay for your managementÂ’s neglect! Is that fair?3)
I am concerned that PeanutÂ’s poor health might have played a part in the degree of her aggression. Her ribs were very prominent and her pelvic bones were jutting out! I donÂ’t know if this is from malnourishment, neglect/abuse, or both, but Peanut really ought to be nursed back to an acceptable level of health before being released near people other than her handlers. In light of this,
I hope any disciplinary measures taken will be against the horse handlers/trainers, and not the horse.It’s just a shame that the “first ever public pony riding by the park” would have such glaringly poor standards. If this is what I got from just feeding a pony, I’d loathe to think what could happen had I opted for a pony ride that day.
I have attached some documents as proof. I trust that the management will take appropriate action immediately, and also re-imburse at least my medical expenses. You may contact me at for any further clarification on this matter.
Regards,
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I got thru to the gallop stables one though. Hur.. will call them later