apparently cows eat horses

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blood_magik

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other than chuck jerry out in a field of them, is there anything I can do to get him used to them?

he was a bit footy on our hack so I turned him back to go home, and could I get him past the cows? could I *******
I spent ten minutes pleading, shouting a pony-club-kicking trying to get him to move forwards towards home.

in the end I got off and dragged him through the farm with him shaking and snorting even they were in a pen. :rolleyes:

sooo.. any tips to stop my 16.2 becoming 18h and turning into a jelly?
 
Beau always thinks they are a new breed of horse and gets all excited. Mind you, he thinks the same about sheep. :rolleyes:

Do you know any farmers that will let you turn himout in a field next door to some cows?
 
I was thinking about asking the farmer (whose farm we go through to get to the bridle path) if jerry could 'meet' some of his cows.
silly horse - he's fine if they're in the field (they usually follow us along the path) and he's met them when they were loose too.

anyone want to buy a horse? I'll sell him for what I paid :o
 
Been there !! Bought my current horse 7 years ago from a dealer in Surrey whose yard was on Heathrow flight path. Horse 100% traffic proof, pass anything. Brought him back to a very rural, cow rearing, area in the Midlands. First hack out we had a chinnook helicopter skim our ears, I xxx myself, new horse said "yeah, whatever".

What a horse I thought, hacking on up the lane a dairy cow stuck her head through the hedge and the horse freaked out, very nearly dumped me and went in the wrong direction for quite a way.

My new horse was a total townie. It took a good year to get him to pass, pheasants, chickens, cows and sheep. I turned him out next to 2 cows and their calves that certainly helped.

We had to laugh a few years later when, having taken the hunter class, he had to join the grand parade at Monmouth show, he stood within touching distance of huge bulls. I had no idea a horse could hold it's breath for so long !

For your horse it's just a case of keep exposing him to as many cows as you can find.
 
If the farmer os friendly then see if you can play cowboy and do some herding of the cattle.
Getting the cattle moving away from the horse makes them very brave thinking that they are in charge and they soon take no notice of them.

If the farmer agrees then get someone on a cow proof horse to be with you.
 
our usual hacking buddy is cow proof - we had to leave him to go home due to sore feet.

I'll ask around and see if the farmer is friendly - im sure he is because we all say hello when we see him :)
 
Markie is cow phobic, depending on his mood! He can do beautiful airs above the ground coming across cows when he's not keen on a particular area/piece of work. Out hunting, he couldn't care less about them, he has a load of bullocks in the field next door (they sometimes break in) and he doesn't give a hoot about them either. Going through a local farm, going away from home, he is in real danger of being torn limb from limb by the herd of dairy cows!
 
I am having the exact same issue with my mare. I moved her to a working farm yestyrday as she had no horsey friends in the last place and was not a happy pony :0( so, move her to get her near other horses. She seemed to settle very very quickly, whinnying to the other etc took her for a little walk today throught one of the farmers fields. She was perfect wit sheep,...they were about 6ft away and only got one glance. But,....we got NEAR a cow field - nostrils were the size of a sky dish snorting away! I had no idea wht she was being fretful about as I couldnt see them! Then, we came across 3 black cows in a field.....the OTHER side of the field! She was eye balling them, planting herself, snorting......oh dear! No idea what she is going to make of the farmer bringing them into the yard :-S
I like te idea of exposure,....but not sure I can hold onto her if she hates them :-S I am sure the famrer would let me walk her to their barn,...but again,....scared she will bolt.
 
babymare said:
Find a nice farmer and throw him out with cows - trust me it will cure him :)
Click to expand...

Would not advise this...for a start if horse went loopy and freaked out cows and drove cows through fence you have loose cows,loose horse, mayhem and injury risk. Given that cows can usually be on a grazing rotation if you can turn horse out in a paddock behind or in front (behind if he is type to gallop and pace fence stressing as he's damage grass) with good strong electric fence and let him get used to them. My mare lives on a dairy farm and adores the calves but goes through phases where she loves the cows or is petrified of them!
 
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