Advice needed. Youngster terrified of cows :(

Girlychu

Girlychu

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I have a 18 m/o piebald cob, who as a rule is very laid back. In the past couple of days I have decided to walk him about in-hand around the farm. On the whole he has been very good except when we have to pass the store cattle. He freaks - I have tried bribery and corruption nothing is working. He is led in a be-nice and lunge line and usually never puts a foot wrong. Most days Im on my own so I cant get anyone to lead a sane pony in front of him. I have to get him over this as the school is across from the cattle and I need to use it when Im working with him in the spring. Any ideas?

P.s cows dont bother him in the field, either do tractors, HGV etc :(

Hot chocolate wiv marshmallows all round nom nom nom .....
 
I have a 18 m/o piebald cob, who as a rule is very laid back. In the past couple of days I have decided to walk him about in-hand around the farm. On the whole he has been very good except when we have to pass the store cattle. He freaks - I have tried bribery and corruption nothing is working. He is led in a be-nice and lunge line and usually never puts a foot wrong. Most days Im on my own so I cant get anyone to lead a sane pony in front of him. I have to get him over this as the school is across from the cattle and I need to use it when Im working with him in the spring. Any ideas?

P.s cows dont bother him in the field, either do tractors, HGV etc

If he's fine with the cows in the field then may I suggest looking into the actual cattle store to see if there is anything in there or take him passed it when it's empty to show him there is nothing in there to be scared off. There could be a smell of a shadow/shape that's upsetting him or if you do have someone with you at any point get them to hold him and you walk into it or around it to show him there is nothing there to frighten him he obviously trusts you so this may help let me know how you get on.
 
i have a serious cow phobic horse! esp black and white ones! as yours is young and the cows are on the farm i would feed him next to the store cattle! every day! Good luck
 
i dont think he is terrified of cows if he has had them in the field with him! mine can smell them 500 yards away, and will and has bolted on many occaisions!
 
Goodness, didnt realise how many horses were scared of cows! My old horse came from a rather central location before i bought him - ie, never had any hacking and minimal turnout. I live in the middle of the sticks and he was terrified whenever he saw a cow.. Im talking about rearing, spinning and taking off in the other direction at full speed! I did a lot of in hand work with him, we used to walk to the field with cows and stand as close as i could get with him for a short while, whilst talking softly to him.. I had been known to sing to him! He got used to them after a while, i think it was just the initial shock of seeing/smelling one!!

I'd maybe investigate as to what was in the shed that he could see? I agree with TopClass, maybe theres a shadow he can see which he isnt a fan of? Alternativaly, could you try and get a steady horse leading the way, so yours can see there is nothing to be scared of?

Good luck!
 
My horse was in a cow field for 4 years -- but is still scared of new ones!!!!
i know most days you cant get a lead - but on the days you can DO - a good lead 3 or 4 times might take the 'edge off' - allowing you to progress on your own later.

its not like the horse HAS to walk out right now - I would just pick the days with the lead for a while to build confidence. :)
 
Thanks for all the advice and info. Today the farmer moved some store cattle away so one of the courts is empty. Think I will try feeding him in it - see how I get on :)
 
Mine used to be terrified of cows she would turn and bolt off if she saw them :(. I moved to a yard that happened to have cows in the field next door that seemed to have cured her phobia lol :D. She's fine with them now we even had to go through a field of cows on a sponsored ride once :eek: I was worried what she would be like but she didn't bat an eyelid :D.
 
I am also amazed at how many horses are scared of cows but aren't scared of them when they are in a field together! I've witnessed a bad accident including a horse being scared of cows!

My mum hasn't been on a horse for years so we all thought it would be nice to go out on a hack, my friend from the yard agreed to let my mum ride their gelding, i think he was a thoroughbred (can't remember!) He was around 16hh+. Anyway so off we set walking past cows on the other side of the road no problem and tractors driving by us no problem what so ever.

Next we started heading back. Just as we were 2mins away from the yard Quinn (horse my mum was on) started walking backwards when he spotted these cows in the field (these were the ones we passed on the way there with no problem) me and my friend's horse both walked past the cows fine it's not until my mum shouted we realized there was a problem. Thee cows saw that Quinn was scared and started running up and down the fence line, they were horrible looking cows they were a grey colour with blue eyes! Me and my friend went back to where my mum was and went either side of Quinn and tried to bring him past these cows!

My horse then took a quick turn to the right resulting in me going round this camper van that was parked in the lay by and hitting my knee on the wind mirror! My friend then got off of her horse and I got off of mine, I held the 2 horses whilst my friend tried to walk Quinn past the cows. You could see my mum sat firmly in her seat trying to hold Quinn and and then pushing him onwards to go forwards.

However the next thing we know Quinn got half way past the cows and then just bolted whilst bucking! The 2 horses that I was holding were happily eating the grass until Quinn bolted! This then resulted in my mum being spun up into the air in a circle and landing in a ditch! By the time Quinn had ran off the other 2 horses that I was holding bolted back too right back to the yard! My mum was then left unconscious for around 5minutes and was severely winded!
It was a good job the horses didn't meet any cars whilst bolting back to the yard!

So hmm I see why Quinn was scared as the cows did sense that he was scared and then took advantage of this! But then what I can't get my head around is how they don't mind the cows being in the field with them! Makes no sense! :confused:
 
I have the exact opposite problem, my youngster tries to break through the fence to go visit the cows....!

I would continue as you are, insisting on one little bit of good behaviour each time. Find a distance where he feels safe. Feed. Next day, step futher forward. Feed. Next day....

And so on and so forth. xxx
 
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