Cows, calves and a huge bull in a field with a bridleway........

MyBoyChe said:
To be honest Id take another route if possible. Technically if a beef bull is running with cows and calves you wouldnt expect them to give you much trouble, but to me its not a risk worth taking. They are more likely to be curious than dangerous but I know if my pony were surrounded by cattle he'd panic and that is more likely to cause an accident in itself. The farmer is within his rights to graze them in the field, assuming its not a dairy breed bull. One of my favourite routes has young bullocks in it all summer and they are a complete pain, they always come running up to investigate any horse/dog so I just avoid it from April/October when the cattle go back in the barn. Im not worried about the cattle as such but dont want to risk getting pinned up against a gateway by 30 of them!!
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This ^^^

Avoid them at this time of year
 
I don't find cows themselves a problem, riding on the New Forest we have to ride through and past herds of them all the time. However I won't ride through fields with them in simply because it can be a total nuisance at the gates. Cows seemed to be very curious and attempting to open and shut a gate from horseback with the help of a few cows is a complete pain!
 
If I was on a horse who wasn't bothered by them then I wouldn't give riding past/through them a second thought, but my horse is terrified of them, and as much as I have the confidence in myself to try and get him over this fear, the thought of coming off him and then a potentially injured me being stampeded by them is what puts me off!
 
My horses are kept on a beef farm and are very used to cattle but still find it very intimidating when they crowd round as they do like to do so I dont ride through them unless I can help it. The farmer works the cows off his two ex-racehorses- it's lovely to watch! my lot get turned out with a bull sometimes and thats fine, they just stay well away from each other!
 
even though i used to livery on a beef farm and rode through the cows there regularly i wouldn't necessarily feel safe riding through an unknown herd in a field! my mare would walk very calmly past 'our' cows but a group of youngsters in a field by the bridle path sent her into zebedee mode because they all charged over to the fence. if you are unsure of the herd or what your horse will do i think it's safer to turn around and avoid that route.
 
My horse sees cattle every day and will pull faces at them and herd them out of the way. But I am wary of unknowns too. I don't like it if a herd of 30 heifers come galloping across the field to watch me schooling, but it is true that they calm down as the season goes on and they get more used to seeing horse and people going across the field.

I was in a similar position to OP. The farmer had a new bull, and he was turned out with several cows and calves of various sizes. They all seemed a bit too interested in me, so I waited by the gate and let my horse graze, until they got bored with me and wandered off. I very speedily went through the gate and got out of their sight, but even though my horse is very quiet I wouldn't like to have to push through a large number of cattle. If there is a herd lying down I would give them a wide berth and walk past and they probably wouldn't take any notice.

The reason that a dairy breed shouldn't be turned out on a public right of way is that they are notorious for having a bad temper. Beef breeds are supposed to be quieter. Really, the legistlation is completely out of date, with so many different breeds now being used.
 
I had a terrifying experience riding through a field of cows today! Feel very lucky that neither I or my horse ended up hurt. Bridleway goes along edge of a short and then a very long field. I often avoid it as I am rather wary of riding through cows but they aren't always in there and I decided I was being a wimp and that if the cows were in there I would either be brave (they are supposed to be horse-friendly cows after all) or turn around. Cows in first field were at far end and happily grazing so we walked calmly along hedge and through gate into big field. I decided that if cows in that one I was turning around but no cows to be seen so we set off down the edge of long field towards gate at bottom. From the top gate you can only see top of field and not bottom corner where exit gate is so of course we only realized there was a herd in there when we were about 100m from the gate and could see down into dip.
To cut a long story short they ran directly in front of the gate as soon as they they saw us, then changed direction and headed straight for us, at speed! I had dismounted when they were grazing in order to get through gate quickly (impossible to open from on board unless horse calm and with a lot of time consuming fiddling about) and to avoid falling off if my horse panicked as I am recovering from a broken arm. She stood stock still until t became obvious they weren't going to stop and eventually she panicked and I couldn't hold her anymore, she got away as cattle got really close and then they chased her around and around huge field for a good ten minutes. When she ran to top gate they ran after her and she then ran back to me, they came too...fears of being trampled only allayed when my horse took off again just before I grabbed her because herd had caught up and were nearly on us. Missed me by a few metres. eventually I got to top gate and she got back again, I grabbed her and got both of us out just before the herd reached the gate. Terrifying and I doubt many horses would stand still if a herd of 25 young cattle stampeded towards them.I told farmer and he said they had never done that before. I will never ride through a field of cattle again. and consider myself very lucky today that neither I nor my horse were injured. I am concerned about how she will react next time we come across cattle. as I said she has been fine before. Discussed with the farmer after incident and we wondered about him putting a sign on bridleway gate to inform riders whether cattle in field or not so they can make informed choice about riding through. BHS seemed to think this was a good idea. I have sympathy for farmers with public routes through their fields but today illustrated for me how dangerous cattle can be. If I had stayed on board rather than dismounted I am not sure that I would have managed to stay on board, and could have potentially fallen off into the path of the following herd. I have never seen cattle chase like that, they just didn't stop. terrifying.
 
Every situation is different. But in the circumstances you describe I would just ride quietly through. The bull won't bother you unless you bother him. The calves won't either. The cows with calves at foot will - if you ride between them and their calves. Therefore just skirt around them. The only time I would (have) backed off is when the cows have got onto a bridleway with close fencing, so you literally have to ride through their midst, splitting them as you do.
 
I appreciate you must have been terrified, but this situation does not at all illustrate how 'dangerous' cattle are - it illustrates that you and your horse got scared and did the thing you shouldnt do - run. If they'd been out to get you, you'd be a goner now. Why would they want to get you though? Would humans really have domesticated a large animal intent on killing them, long before we domesticated horses? Not really. They just thought the running was a fabulous game - cattle rule 1 - don't run, face them down. Yes, scary for you probably, but if you don't want chasing it's what you'd have to do if there's a next time.
 
Gluttonforpunishment said:
Please excuse my ignorance but why is it illegal for dairy breed bulls? I'm afraid we're mainly arable here in south lincs, so never come across this. Cows scare the life out of me!
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A lot of dairy bulls kept in a herd will be entire which makes them dangerous in themselves anyway. Dairy bulls aren't usually socialised properly with other bulls - when they reach maturity at two years old they have seldom been kept in large herds like beef. Bulls will naturally challenge each other to establish an order within the herd and if a dairy bull has not been allowed to do this, they will challenge those around it - usually human. They're just naturally more agressive and need a level of understanding from their handler so are better kept as far away from PROWs as possible.
 
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