Horse gets tangled with Balloon

badrew

Active Member
The balloons have weights to avoid them from being let go and flying off. That becomes a hazard when they eventually land elsewhere and deflate, potentially in waterways, like other plastics.

The horses are rotated through and have appropriate resting days. These horses are shoed for the work they are doing and some of the best cared for animals. These aren’t circus animals - lets cut the bull on “we need to end using the horses in shows”. Horses have been used as work animals for centuries, they are beautiful animals, and some people never get a chance to even see one. To come to Walt Disney Workd as a child and see Merida riding a real horse must be an amazing experience for a child. Clearly this was a freak, sad situation, and as others have said, kudos to all of the cast involved in the situation!
 

deathcab718

New Member
The main thing I want to emphasize is it wasn’t the parents saying “Go on Junior, pet the horse”. The father reacted in moments.

I was one of 4 boys. We were hyper. It can take mere seconds as it did for my brother to go running off in a huge mall here while tending to the others and almost run out onto an interstate. We got a swift talking to and possible punishment after depending on the situation and age. Never violent and in an manner that was appropriate. Far too much these days you see parents encouraging bad behavior. Freak accidents happen.

If the CM or horse slipped on a spilled Dole Whip per extreme example... should those be banned? No. I’m just waiting for the day WDW mandates leashes for children under 4...
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
This is a perfect example of proper training. There was an incident with the headless horseman horse a few years ago and again, the horse was trained and it was a non-issue.

This is news for two reasons:
1. It's Disney
2. It's the first day the parks are open

The reality is this was about as much of a non-issue as it could have been considering that something went wrong. Nobody was hurt, the horse wasn't hurt, heck the internal balloon was still in tact.
 

PurpleMan

Active Member
In the Parks
No
People are now calling for the ending of using horses in live entertainment in the parks like this, others are saying that Disney should stop selling balloons, or even both.
I honestly don't know how they would be able to pull this off but could they use a fake horse?
 

No Name

Well-Known Member
The balloons have weights to avoid them from being let go and flying off. That becomes a hazard when they eventually land elsewhere and deflate, potentially in waterways, like other plastics.

The horses are rotated through and have appropriate resting days. These horses are shoed for the work they are doing and some of the best cared for animals. These aren’t circus animals - lets cut the bull on “we need to end using the horses in shows”. Horses have been used as work animals for centuries, they are beautiful animals, and some people never get a chance to even see one. To come to Walt Disney Workd as a child and see Merida riding a real horse must be an amazing experience for a child. Clearly this was a freak, sad situation, and as others have said, kudos to all of the cast involved in the situation!
Just because something has been the norm for a long time, and just because it isn’t as horrible as possible, does not necessarily mean it should continue.
I honestly don't know how they would be able to pull this off but could they use a fake horse?
Yes that would be very possible. In fact it would be easiest with a float on wheels that’s disguised to resemble a horse, with long drapes on the horse to cover the structural components, and animatronic legs for show.
 

WannaBWendy

Well-Known Member
I am curious about what kind/how much training the CM's have. They definitely kept cool and hung on. I am sure the horse was adequately trained. Just couldn't get the balloon off his foot. I would have like to see how the rest played out. Kudos to CM's
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
I am curious about what kind/how much training the CM's have. They definitely kept cool and hung on. I am sure the horse was adequately trained. Just couldn't get the balloon off his foot. I would have like to see how the rest played out. Kudos to CM's
I imagine the ones walking the horse are the ones who work with the horses everyday at the stable. I could be wrong.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
*only joking since nobody was actually hurt*

This is a castle park opening tradition! On the opening of Disneyland Marty Sklar was approached by Fess Parker - “Marty, help me get out of here before this horse kills somebody!” (Quote from Dream It Do It)
 

YankeeMouse

Well-Known Member
I am curious about what kind/how much training the CM's have. They definitely kept cool and hung on. I am sure the horse was adequately trained. Just couldn't get the balloon off his foot. I would have like to see how the rest played out. Kudos to CM's
Those cast members are from Tri-Circle-D ranch and pros. That's why things didn't escalate. Good job.
 

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Because I don't watch the parades usually I'm not sure if Merida usually rides the horse or not but from the multiple videos I watched yesterday she seemed very uncomfortable on the horse and the horse also seemed uncomfortable so when you add the balloon to the mix just not good.
And the way she scrambled away also makes me feel like she was kinda pushed to get on the horse when maybe she did not feel comfortable. Horses can tell these things.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
Because I don't watch the parades usually I'm not sure if Merida usually rides the horse or not but from the multiple videos I watched yesterday she seemed very uncomfortable on the horse and the horse also seemed uncomfortable so when you add the balloon to the mix just not good.
And the way she scrambled away also makes me feel like she was kinda pushed to get on the horse when maybe she did not feel comfortable. Horses can tell these things.
They looked just the same when Merida was inducted into the princess hall of fame or whatever it was called. I was there and it was awkward. Overall I give her props for being horse savvy
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Well that's the end of that then lol

Merida was out riding a horse today. So, I guess that wasn't the end of that. lololol


LOL. what an embarrassment.

Between the abandoned look of the park, the horse getting tangled up, the character panicking and running away in horror....not a good look for Disney. #shouldhavestayedclosed.

She didn't panic. There was no screaming or yelling. The horse was panicked and getting off a panicked horse is what you're supposed to do as soon as you can.

But nice spin! 🙄


Because I don't watch the parades usually I'm not sure if Merida usually rides the horse or not but from the multiple videos I watched yesterday she seemed very uncomfortable on the horse and the horse also seemed uncomfortable so when you add the balloon to the mix just not good.
And the way she scrambled away also makes me feel like she was kinda pushed to get on the horse when maybe she did not feel comfortable. Horses can tell these things.

She seemed comfortable to me. She was smiling and waving to people. She road the nearly-bucking horse like a champ. She dismounted quickly without a huge dress tripping her up. Total professional.

The horse was fine until it sensed something entangling its legs. So, yeah, horses can sense those kind of things. 🙄
 

Bleed0range

Well-Known Member
disciplining a child does not mean “hey imma go and slap my kid around for messing up!” - no. Also, I am in no way implicating to discipline any child for letting go a balloon, I was merely making a joke. Apologies for not inserting the laughing up in tears emoji to state that as the obvious. Perhaps that would’ve saved you from acting out in this fake outrage you just demonstrated.

Do I think the child should be disciplined over this particular incident? Yes. People including other children could have been hurt. Luckily, that’s not how it went down. It’s up to the parent to teach their kids these little valuable lessons that ultimately go a long way in their further growth and upbringing into adulthood.

That’s ridiculous. It was a little kid who accidentally let go of a balloon. Why would you discipline them? I wouldn’t have ever thought, oh this ballon could be dangerous. It’s a ballon.
 

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