Horse petrified of cows someone help me who's been in my shoes!?

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delbino7

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So, my new boy arrived at the yard a few weeks ago! He's fabulous a little nervy in new places but nothing to write home about. HOWEVER, next to our outdoor arena there is the most scary, horse eating, horrifying sight in the next field- COWS.
Now then, he's 6. Still a baby in the head in some ways but show him a tractor, quad, car, sheep, dog jumping up at his face, even a scary carrier bag he doesn't bat an eye lid but he glimpses at a cow and that's him- he's off!
He won't concentrate in the outdoor because they're around he will have his giraffe neck up in the air and will be looking continuously for them. Snorts at them, grows to 20hh, stops each leg individually in a strop and will happily spin and take off leaving me for dust.
I'm currently trying to walk him around the arena lots and lots but each day he seems to stay exactly the same. He's galloped off from me numerous times when trying to keep him calm and still. I've tried the calm and gentle manor and it doesn't seem to be helping because he's not concentrating on me, just the cows!
Has anyone got any helpful hints and tips. I'm familiar with desensitising horses with objects you can control however the cows have a mind of their own?
 
Ask farmer of you can chick him and a cow friendly field mate in with them. Or if you can borrow three or four to put in your field for a week or so. I prefer my horses to at some point be cross grazed with cows and sheep. Proofs them and allows them to get used to their presence. :)
 
We have fields but the main ones we use have cattle grids (not risking it) and the ones in front of the house are only half an acre to an acre in size and I'm scared he might jump the fence/gate he's so scared 😞
 
Black Beastie said:
Ask farmer of you can chick him and a cow friendly field mate in with them. Or if you can borrow three or four to put in your field for a week or so. I prefer my horses to at some point be cross grazed with cows and sheep. Proofs them and allows them to get used to their presence. :)
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When I first saw my old event horse he was turned out in a huge field with 100,s of sheep yet when he later had to go though fields of sheep he was still terrified, he was scared of cows also and the first time he saw a donkey he though he might die yet he was not fearful of much else in life, turning them out together is not a guarantee they will get over their fear.

For the OP I think you need to take this in baby steps, turning him out with them may work but may not be an option and may make matters worse if the cows prove too much for him and he gets panicked by being with them, I would get him turned out nearby, I would work on his manners on the ground, this may be best helped by positive reinforcement such as clicker training so he learns to cope and gets rewarded rather than forcing the issue which can make them worse.
 
How is he if he is hacked past a field of cows? Will he go past with a cow proof buddy?

I would try riding him past the fields with a cow proof buddy on the near side of the cows and maybe one in front of him. The trouble with going round in the arena is that he never actually gets past them. If he is walking past the field he will be worried for a few minutes, but with his brave buddy, and then gets past and can relax. Rather than just being on high alert the whole time.

I think you really need a super calm escort horse to help him.
 
Tried that the other day and ended up with a lovely half pass the whole way up the road. He even sent our super calm old cob into a tizz! :(
 
Can you turn him out in the outdoor? If not I would long rein him daily in there. Two reins will give you the required control without having to sit on him and just keep going.

I agree turning out with the cows won't likely help. I work cattle from mine regularly and she has been in a field with cattle but they are still potentially dangerous when there is a fence between us. So are sheep which she's also lived with. Horses. Who would have them!
 
They do get better but it is always in there but as they get to trust you more they become less of an idiot. My WBxID had a real fear of black cows (brown ones were def less scary) which I though something must have happened to him for it to be colour specific and that he was bred on a cattle farm.

Initially hacking out could take me awhile if passing the local farmers cows. He went from trying to spin and running away when I first got him as a green five year old, to walking past with an eye on them but if they dared to put their heads over the dyke or but if they were bullocks that ran about and chased us along the fence line then we did a lovely passage with high tail and head with impressive dragon snorts until past the field.

The local farmer also brought the cows in over the winter and kept them next to their indoor school which meant for the first winter, it took about 50 mins of my hire to get anything reasonable from him - so much so that my regular trainer wondered why on earth I bought him for the first year - but even that regular exposure to them helped.

I had my lad 9 years before I lost him suddenly in January so it is not a quick process with a genuine cow phobic horse.
 
Another who wonders if you can turnout next to them. My horses were horrified when Llamas turned up next door, however they are now used to them and they don't cause a problem. However if a horse is really worried about something sometimes you an improve them but not change it. One of mine will not tolerate motorbikes or tractors towing machinery behind. Never has, never got him used to them despite helpful and considerate farmers.
 
Ideally, if the school is safe enough and high enough, I'd turn him out in there to get used to them in his own time so he can run and hide at the other end if he needs to without your restriction.
Other than that, lunge or long rein in the school by the cows. Don't bother asking for correctness as he'll shoot off and snort etc., just be ready for him, start at the end away from the cows and slowly move closer, eventually ask for calmness and stay there however long it takes before he's happy to work in there. He'll soon get used to them.
He might still be on stalks and hot pins if he meets any outside but that's just something you'll have to ride through. I used to have one that couldn't accept white (Limousin) cows when they were first imported; he never did, they freaked him out but he grazed with dairy cows. Another who was rock steady to anything, had a real fear of donkeys. He'd happily stand in the middle of the M6 or on a railway bridge while trains went over but he was scared of a grey fluffball. For a racehorse he had a fabulous passage then coupled with snorts like a train to scare the fluffballs away and at fifteen, you weren't going to change him.
 
Just beware though... I was reminded of this story at the weekend!! Someone had a horse that was terrified of pigs and so decided to pig proof it by putting pigs in the stable next-door to it. The next morning the horse had apparently died of a heart attack.

So clearly you can die from fright - when horses are adamant that if you make them go past the scary thing, they might die - they are not joking!!
 
carolineb said:
Just beware though... I was reminded of this story at the weekend!! Someone had a horse that was terrified of pigs and so decided to pig proof it by putting pigs in the stable next-door to it. The next morning the horse had apparently died of a heart attack.

So clearly you can die from fright - when horses are adamant that if you make them go past the scary thing, they might die - they are not joking!!
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That does not entirely surprise me and why I believe flooding to be risky with a flight animal, you never expect them to die of fright literally but being overwhelmed by something they perceive as terrifying must make the heart rate go sky high and the potential is there for it to go bang, horrid for the owners to find, any form of flooding can easily make matter worse as it then becomes even more stressful as they cannot get away so either remain in fear or shut down completely which is not what you want.
 
turn him out next tocows - works a treat. needs to be somewhere big enough they can hide in the corner until they grow a pair :D
 
Turnout as close to the cows as possible but with enough room for him to keep his distance, with a totally cow-proof companion.
 
I had the same issue with deer. You have to ride your horse past it and simply ignore it and that goes for any panicky behavior or spooks. Lead your horse past it confidently and if he tries to turn away or does manage to, just turn him straight back to it and ride him forwards past it. I can bet now every time you see the cow you start to freak out and get nervous because you know how he will react, this doesn't help. The key is to go forward and lead him past it. Don't pat his neck and say 'good boy' etc. as you're just fueling it, ignore it and ride past it. Even let him stand and snort and look if he has to, let him see it's not a threat and it's not going to kill him. Repeat repeat repeat until you're able to ride him past the cows with his head long and low and on a loose rein. Maybe even try with another horse leading that isn't afraid.
 
I'm confident with him, he's too big to carry on to a dangerous extent so normally just stick both legs on and walk him forwards confidently past them, but he will then side step up the road? What would you suggest? Just to let him to get him past Or turn him to face them etc? I'm not sure what to do for the best?
I can't turn him out with them as the only field suitable has our elderly mare in who's not supposed to be doing anything strenuous anymore including galloping round the field if we can help it .....
 
No help but I feel your pain. We had a horse on loan some years back that we learnt was petrified of cows. Didn't help when the field we hack around had a lot of young bullocks in that were super excited to see the big horse! He would refuse to go near them and would spin and bolt and/or rear up.

We did try and desensitise him by going out with a cow loving horse plus friends hubby to lead and just walking up and down constantly past them. Eventually he did walk past them on his own (after a lot of struggle and tears on my part) but you could tell he wasn't happy with them. Unfortunately he seemed to completely forget his training the next day.
 
delbino7 said:
I'm confident with him, he's too big to carry on to a dangerous extent so normally just stick both legs on and walk him forwards confidently past them, but he will then side step up the road? What would you suggest? Just to let him to get him past Or turn him to face them etc? I'm not sure what to do for the best?
I can't turn him out with them as the only field suitable has our elderly mare in who's not supposed to be doing anything strenuous anymore including galloping round the field if we can help it .....
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I would be happy that he's listened to you above his fear even if he did skedaddle past.
Build on that, maybe teach quarters in so his head is away when you come to any. Anything to take his mind off them but always with that forward movement. If in doubt, wait until road is clear before you goose step past!
 
We had a mare who was terrified of cattle until we moved here, with cattle grazing next door. She soon realised that cows have calves and if she wanted to talk to the babies, she would have to put up with their mothers!
If he goes past in a fashion, I would turn his head away from them, until you are past. Keep him concentrating on you.
 
My horse is still scared of cows and he's 11! He's great with sheep, goats and even donkeys but cows (I think because they are bigger) still make him turn and run.
What about turning him out next to them first of all, what about turning him out in the arena?
Is there a farmer in the area who would let you keep your horse in a field near some cows?
Luckily I don't really come across cows so I just dealt with it as and when we came across them out hacking. Now we live in America we are in cow country! There aren't any at my yard luckily but I still think that one day I might send him to a cowboy to train him out of it. Apparently quarter horses bred to be cow horses can be scared of cows at first. It's not an unusual fear and it is one they can overcome once desensitized. I think my horse would think they are fun once he knows they are more scared of him but he still doesn't know that he could chase them, he thinks they are big scary monsters still!
My late horse was raised on a dairy farm and lived with cows. She was hilarious and would boss them around!
 
We had a horse that was dangerously scared of cows, to the point where he would jump off the road on top of our stone walls, and many of them are top wired. We were lucky that it is our own place and indoor stabling with room, so we built a pen in front of his stable and put some borrowed calves in. Initially he sweated in the stable and then calmed down. We then built another pen at the side of the calves with a ring feeder in between, and put him in it. If he wanted to eat hay he had to share with the calves. When he had got over that, we put his feed on top of the hay in the feeder, so he either had to push the calves away and eat, or miss out on it. That worked too. When we were sure that he was confident, he and another horse herded the calves cowboy style back down the road to the farm from whence they came.
 
To answer your question about going past cows, as long as he keeps going, even sideways I would give him a pat and continue. If you turn him to face them you are making a big deal of it.
We live on a dairy farm. Every new horse that comes here HAS to learn to live with cows and they do surprisingly quickly even if they appear to have heart attack at first.
Our latest boy who arrived in April, is fairly nervous of life in general although good in traffic and didn't mind the tractors. The cows come in for milking past the arena and not far from the stables. He fled at first but then would just stare. Now he ignores.
You can sort this.
 
My mare is nervous of cows. I've owned her all her life and she had never seen a cow until she was about 5 when I moved to a new area with less arable land and more livestock. The first summer, she was petrified of cows and I wouldn't be able to hack past without a bombproof escort. She slightly improved by the end of the summer but then the cows get out away over the winter and she promptly forgot all about them - back to being terrified the following spring!

She is now 8 and this year she has been much much better. She will have a look at them and maybe scuttle past if they are close to the fence/hedge but she is vastly improved. I think basically it takes time, the cogs in a horse brain turn slowly!

I think you just have to keep repeating the experience, but I would prob lunge in the school to get him working as it will distract him and he will realise that life goes on even if there are monsters in the next field.
 
I think you need to see rushing past them as a good thing. I ride a horse who is scared of cows. He gets very tense, jogs past or goes past sideways but he goes past and he gets praised each time and each time it gets a teensy weensy but less terrifying!
 
I have 2 that don't like cows. The first I managed to persuade that cows wouldn't eat him by talking to the calves over the fence while he stood at a safe distance and stared at me. He still doesn't like cows but he isn't as bad as he was. The other is new to me and the yard and is absolutely terrified. He passed the ones stood at a distance with not much more than a watchful eye but then as we got near to the gate there were 2 leaning against the hedge sheltering from the rain. He tried to bolt off and then when he realised i wasn't letting go proceeded to spin round me and into me. Needless to say this isn't safe but he will have to get used to the cows in time. I eventually got him past by allowing him to walk backwards so he could keep an eye on them. He then walked into the yard albeit still leaping and continued to shake for a good 5 minutes.
 
Yeah I've had an incident tonight where he's took off from me on a lead rope and galloped down the road! 😡👊🏻 because he seen one in a field about half a mile up! We thought we were making progress the big ****** got one over on me. Lesson learned- always be on your guard!
 
delbino7 said:
So, my new boy arrived at the yard a few weeks ago! He's fabulous a little nervy in new places but nothing to write home about. HOWEVER, next to our outdoor arena there is the most scary, horse eating, horrifying sight in the next field- COWS.
Now then, he's 6. Still a baby in the head in some ways but show him a tractor, quad, car, sheep, dog jumping up at his face, even a scary carrier bag he doesn't bat an eye lid but he glimpses at a cow and that's him- he's off!
He won't concentrate in the outdoor because they're around he will have his giraffe neck up in the air and will be looking continuously for them. Snorts at them, grows to 20hh, stops each leg individually in a strop and will happily spin and take off leaving me for dust.
I'm currently trying to walk him around the arena lots and lots but each day he seems to stay exactly the same. He's galloped off from me numerous times when trying to keep him calm and still. I've tried the calm and gentle manor and it doesn't seem to be helping because he's not concentrating on me, just the cows!
Has anyone got any helpful hints and tips. I'm familiar with desensitising horses with objects you can control however the cows have a mind of their own?
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Could you not buy an inflatable cow or perhaps one of those panto cow outfits? You can buy most things on Amazon. Place in the school perhaps? Get a helpful friend to "moo". Or TWO friends in case you opted for the panto-cow. I hope you have at least one who can at least be half-realistic. The last thing you want is to confuse your lily-livered horse. It has to be as near to real thing as possible.

Now, once you're all set up, you need to convince pansy-face that cows are lovely. So maybe cover the panto/inflatable cow in carrots or parsley (whatever veg you have) and convince him cows are indeed lovely!

If that fails you could just turn them out together so they make friends organically.
 
Do you have any safe places you could hack him near them? Ie, bridleways or fields next to the cow fields. So you can hack him past and if he canters sideways and is a plonker it doesn't really matter (road wise). I would find somewhere like this and just make it part of your hacking everyday. Hack him past, let him jog or whatever he needs to get past, then carry on like nothing happened. Then do it again and again and again.
 
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