Connecticut court weighs if horses are innately vicious

HARTFORD, Conn. — After a horse named Skippy bit a boy in the face, a Connecticut court came to a conclusion that threw animal lovers: Horses are a naturally vicious species.

Farmers and horse owners say that classification would make insuring the animals too expensive and would threaten the state’s horse industry. They are mobilizing as the state Supreme Court hears the case Tuesday.

The boy had tried to pet the horse at Glendale Farms in Milford in 2006, according to court papers. When he did, the animal bit him on the right cheek.

In February 2012, the mid-level Appellate Court said testimony demonstrated that horses are “a species naturally inclined to do mischief or be vicious.”

An attorney says that if the ruling stands, Connecticut would be the first state to consider horses inherently dangerous.