^*&^& cows! WWYD?

[Caol Ila]

I leave town for three days, and some cows appear in a field beside the road that connects to the park. As some of you might be aware, my horse is not keen on cows and likes to try out for the Spanish Riding School should we get too close to them. She is 27, so it's not like this is a young horse thing. The road in question is reasonably busy and goes down a steepish hill for 20m. So not the ideal place for a horse to lose its sh*t.

The alternative is a longer, narrower road that takes about 5-10 minutes longer to get you to the park and requires dodging cyclists screaming down the hill at 100mph. Horse not bothered by bikes, but they careen down this hill like it's the Tour de France, and I think it's terrifying when they nearly collide with my horse's rear end. But no cows (yet).

Would you (a) try to convince the horse that the furry Highland cows in question are in fact funny looking sheep?

Or (b), not do that and resign yourself to the long route of cyclist death hordes until the cows are moved.

 

[Mule]

I don't know. Can you find out how long the cows will be there for? Do you know the owner or someone who could ask them? It just occured to me that it's the start of september. They will likely be brought in for winter in a couple of months.
Has she ever spent a long enough time around cattle for her to realise they aren't scary?

 

[ycbm]

Tough one. She's not going to change at that age, it's she? Is there an option to lead her past?

 

[doodle]

Minto was terrified of cows when I got him having lived a very sheltered life and never having seen them. Unfortunately he was kept on a farm. With a pen of cows About 20 meters from his stable. He spent a lot of the first winter hyperventilating and staring. He graduated to being ok with HIS cows but not others. Then he was ok with others if they were not in a new place. After he did tendons he was allowed a slightly bigger pen beside the cow pen for the days. He used to lick the cows by that point!

I know she is much older but I would probably try for going passed every single day.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Since it is only you that is terrified by the aspiring Tour de France cyclist, my first thought is to vote B.

However, you said they're Highland cattle, so I would not count on them being brought in for Winter. If you want to give it a try with getting her used to walk past them, it seems better to try and do it now before the roads might become slippery during Winter. So maybe give A a try?

 

[Mule]

Since it is only you that is terrified by the aspiring Tour de France cyclist, my first thought is to vote B.

However, you said they're Highland cattle, so I would not count on them being brought in for Winter. If you want to give it a try with getting her used to walk past them, it seems better to try and do it now before the roads might become slippery during Winter. So maybe give A a try?

I'd run from them!

 

[Merry neddy man]

Enlarge FL picture and pin it on the stable wall

 

[Lois Lame]

I leave town for three days, and some cows appear in a field beside the road that connects to the park. As some of you might be aware, my horse is not keen on cows and likes to try out for the Spanish Riding School should we get too close to them. She is 27, so it's not like this is a young horse thing. The road in question is reasonably busy and goes down a steepish hill for 20m. So not the ideal place for a horse to lose its sh*t.

The alternative is a longer, narrower road that takes about 5-10 minutes longer to get you to the park and requires dodging cyclists screaming down the hill at 100mph. Horse not bothered by bikes, but they careen down this hill like it's the Tour de France, and I think it's terrifying when they nearly collide with my horse's rear end. But no cows (yet).

Would you (a) try to convince the horse that the furry Highland cows in question are in fact funny looking sheep?

Or (b), not do that and resign yourself to the long route of cyclist death hordes until the cows are moved.

I'd go the cow route. The cyclists sound far too scary for me.

It's not much of a choice though : terrified horse or terrified rider. I'd probably get off and walk past the cows so that the horse knows that if the cows decide to eat someone, it's going to the the rider.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Path B.

Borrow a chainsaw from somewhere. Drop a tree across the path every fifty metres or so. The cyclists will have to slow down to get over it, and your horse will be able to just step over it.

 

[Tally05]

Or stick your leg out and knock the first cyclist off and then all the others will crash into the first?

 

[MrsMozartleto]

Having nearly taken out a Tour de F'ing Irriate when in my car the other day and he came round the blind bend obviously believing he was leading the peloton, and obviously totally oblivious to the mere thought that there might actually be other road users and some might actually be going the opposite way to him, then I understand your angst.

Have you tried taking him past cows on a daily basis? Will he lead past in slightly less bonkers fashion than when ridden?

 

[emilylou]

Is the road with the cows fairly straight with good visibility? Its amazing how many people have good brakes when a horse is moving sideways. Not a brilliant option but if you can temporarily halt the traffic then the cow route may be safer

 

[Nasicus]

I'd make sure horse and I are suitably hi-viz'd, hop off before the cows and frogmarch the horse past them with determination and direction, then hop back once past them. Life's too short to risk ending it over cattle

 

[Caol Ila]

I'm thinking it's better to brave the cyclists, though I might see how it goes with a cow-proof friend. The problem with getting off is that I tried that once when we were accosted by a herd of a dairy cows, and then I was flying a horse-shaped kite and felt like I had less control than if I'd stayed on her.

The biggest problem is that the field sits beside a short but steep hill. If the road were relatively flat in that section, I would feel like I could man up and frogmarch past, but metal horseshoes and steep asphalt aren't an ideal combination.

 

[Pedantic]

After my last cows encounter, I would go the cyclist option.

 

[criso]

Could you go to the park via the cyclists and come back via the cows so the first few times you are going uphill and towards home, see if she improves. If she doesn't then via cyclist there and back.

My tb insists on being spooky when the cows appear in a field.gets used to them but then spooks when they are gone.

 

[Caol Ila]

Yeah, my horse reacts like Pedantic's horse. Lots of spinning and jumping up and down. I enjoyed your cyclist audience.

Yes -- trying it by going up the hill could be worth it. If she's going launch herself along the road, I'd rather be going uphill than down!

 

[PapaverFollis]

I'd hi viz up and take the cyclist option if she's a proper cow phobic. Try the cows with a cow proof companion on the uphill direction to see how she reacts. But spinning and carrying on on steep tarmac on a fairly busy road is not a place I'd volunteer for.

 

[Caol Ila]

She's not wrong to be phobic of them! No one wants to be this poor chap: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-53984845

 

[FinnishLapphund]

She's not wrong to be phobic of them! No one wants to be this poor chap: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-53984845

As I remember it, _GG_ who used to be on here, was once saved by her OH when she was kicked, and pinned down on the ground by an angry cow.

 

[Caol Ila]

I like cows.... when they are in the form of a burger, or a steak.

 

[Caol Ila]

Yesterday, I was riding in a group for four riders, so it seemed like a good time to tackle the cows. At least Gypsum is not an explode-out-of-nowhere type of girl. If things are going wrong, I'll know about it before she completely loses her sh*t, so we could have bailed and gone the other way if need be. We buried her in the herd, with one horse beside us, one in front, and the other behind. And she walked quietly and calmly past those damned Highland cows. I was really proud of her. When out solo, I think will go the long way for now, but if she can pass them in a group, she can probably get by solo eventually. The cows themselves were incredibly placid and didn't pay any attention to us, which helped. Her most spectacular cow-related meltdowns have been when the cows got curious and ran up to the fence to stare at us.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Well done. ?

 

[Caol Ila]

Cow update:

After a successful week of passing the cows alongside other horses with no drama, I got ambitious and went for it without equine friends, but with OH as a foot soldier. Gypsum froze, with dragon snorts, which sent the cows cantering across their field, and she spun around and took off, but in passage. So that was kind of fine. I eventually stopped her, turned back towards the cows, and urged her forwards. She alternated shuffling forwards with planting and spinning and passage steps, but nothing horrendous, so I felt like it was the right time to face it and get her through it rather than getting out of dodge. Eventually, OH grabbed her rein near the bit, which unstuck her feet, and he dragged us past the cows and safely into the carpark. He then gave her a carrot. I'm stingy with treats, so a carrot means a lot.

A few days later, after a few more undramatic trips in company, I set off with one other rider and OH on foot. The cows were milling around the gate and being nosy because tourists were ogling them (Highland cows... it happens). Not ideal. Both horses hesitated and we asked them to keep going. And they did. Their eyes were on stalks but they moved together in a sensible walk. If they could speak English, they would have been saying, "If you go, I'll go. Uh, let's go together." We dove into the carpark and gave them cookies.

About a week after that (and a few more rides passing the cows in company), I set off on a hack, solo. I couldn't really be bothered with the long way, so I decided to give the cows a shot. I could always bail and go down Cyclist Hill if it looked like it was going sideways. But it didn't. Gypsum calmly strolled past those things. Then the next day, she did it again. Today, I hacked in a group of three. She was in the lead from the start (SOP... being 27 doesn't stop her from outwalking everything else), and I kept her there as we neared the cows. She cruised past without any hesitation or silliness.

I'm super proud of her. I never thought we'd resolve her bovine phobia. I still don't fancy my chances if a herd ran towards us, or in a free range situation, but walking calmly past a settled herd of cows is a huge achievement.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

And then they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, glad to hear that 27 isn't too old for a horse to learn new things.

 

[Lois Lame]

Bravo Gypsum. And well done you and OH and hangers on.

 

[atropa]

Amazing, well done!

 

[Dasher66]

It's amazing what they'll do for a carrot!

 

[PapaverFollis]

That's fantastic, well done!

 

[tatty_v]

Excellent work, well done!