An Irish woman who says her Wyoming vacation went wrong when a lead wrangler on a Dubois dude ranch blasted her borrowed horse with bear spray, causing it to rear and crush her foot, is now suing the ranch.
Lorraine Learmont filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court through her attorney Rachel Berkness, of Freeburg Law, accusing Triangle C Ranch of violating the Wyoming Recreation Safety Act, committing negligence and asserting vicarious liability on behalf of the alleged error by the ranch’s lead wrangler.
On July 16, 2024, Learmont joined a guided horseback riding excursion with Triangle C Ranch near Dubois, says her lawsuit complaint.
She was an intermediate rider; her husband was a beginner horseback rider, the document says.
The lead wrangler kept bear spray unholstered on her horse, next to her water bottle, from which she drank throughout the trip, says the complaint.
The document says the lead wrangler warned that the horses, walking close together, might grow agitated with one another.
Learmont’s horse spoked after two horses behind her had an altercation, but Learmont “was able to quickly bring her horse back under control using her seat and hand aids,” says the complaint.
The group stalled in a clearing to take photographs and relax. But as they were leaving the clearing, the lead wrangler reached into her saddlebag to retrieve her water bottle while the horses walked, with Learmont’s horse right behind her, the document adds.
“Rather than grab her water bottle, the lead wrangler engaged the bear spray into the eyes of Ms. Learmont’s horse,” wrote Berkness. The lead wrangler’s horse’s eyes also were stung, and all the horses spooked and ran, says the complaint.
Learmont’s horse bucked wildly, shook its head and fell backward with Learmont still on it, crushing her foot and injuring her ankle, the document says.
The lead wrangler approached Learmont, “tears streaming from her face” from the bear spray as Learmont lay on the ground. The wranglers poured water into the lead wrangler’s eyes, and the eyes of the horses, says the complaint.
Someone tied Learmont’s horse to the limb of a tree, but the horse was still agitated and bucked, hard, Berkness wrote.
The complaint says the lead wrangler drove Learmont down the mountain and back to the ranch on an ATV.
Later at the hospital, wrote Berkness, Learmont learned her ankle was broken. She flew home to Ireland and visited another hospital.
But before she left, the Triangle C Ranch owner told her he’d never believed in bear spray prior and had now made a rule of not allowing it on the rides going forward, says the complaint.
At the Beaumont Hospital in Ireland, Learmont was admitted for surgery. Medical professionals found she’d sustained a blunt force crushing injury to her ankle that had destroyed her cartilage and rendered it “unrecoverable,” says the complaint.
She spent 28 days at a rehabilitation facility, the document says, adding that she still suffers from limited mobility and has suffered well over $75,000 in damages.
The Triangle C Ranch did not immediately respond to a Monday voicemail request for comment.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
