Is Whisky to blame for turning people into “one-armed paper hangers”?

Whisky, the horse, I mean.

Back in the spring of 2008, a paint horse named Whisky broke loose after being tied outside a bar near Lake Desolation in Saratoga County, N.Y.. Concerned citizen Robert Carey saw Whisky and his “wingman” cowboy galloping off down the street and attempted to corral the wayward wards. After grabbing Whisky, Carey was allegedly knocked unconscious by Whisky, badly injuring his shoulder. Two surgeries to repair the damage to Carey’s shoulder were apparently unsuccessful, and Carey remains unable to work five years later, prompting his lawyer to say Carey is “Éthe proverbial one-armed paper hanger.”

In the classic, “he said, he neighed” style representative of this sort of legal case, Whisky’s side of the court room claims Whisky is “calm, docile, well-trained, and sociable.” Further, Whisky’s owner, Burton Schwab, claims that he’s never received complaints about Whisky’s behavior in the past “had no knowledge of Whisky ever moving or jerking his head violently or quickly, knocking anyone to the ground, or stomping on anyone