Horse terrified of cows

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clovergrover

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Any tips to help get over this issue? My girl is ok hacking past the cows on the farm where she lives but when we come across any other cows even if they're at a distance she panics and spooks even when hacking out with others and tucking her in behind it makes no difference. Shes pretty much ok with everything else just cows. Any suggestions on getting over this or is it just a case of time and repetition going past them?
 
I used to have this problem - only with donkeys. My boy used to just plant his feet, rooted to the spot in fear, and his ears used to be about two inches from my face! A few times he spun round on the spot and tried to bolt for home. I got over this with positive riding, vocal encouragement, and plenty of repetition. On one ride, the donkeys were right by the bridle path, so I made him stand there for quite a while, just looking at them. He did eventually calm down, and after that whenever we rode past, he just looked - then carried on walking.

Time, patience and perseverance should do the trick.
 
My horse tolerates construction, barking dogs, all manner of vehicles, but if she sees a cow, she loses her sh * t. I've never been able to fully resolve this issue because she spins, bucks, plunges, and 99% of our hacking is on roads and it's really not safe to have shenanigans on roads. And forcing her to stay close to the cows would probably get you bucked off, so you have to find the distance at which you can sort of control her. I even did a cow clinic once back in Colorado and learned she can half-pass at speed, while bucking. An impressive feat of equine athleticism, but not what I wanted. I've got her to a point where she'll walk past cows that are far away from the fence and quietly grazing and ignoring us, but God help you if the cows come to the fence to check you out.

I've been advised to turn her out with cows or next to cows. There is an anecdote in one of Mark Rashid's books where he put a cow-phobic horse in a round pen, and a docile cow outside the round pen, and then let the horse work it out herself. His view was that the horse, in order to mentally process this scary animal, needs to be able to move towards it, then run away from it, then look at it, then run away etc. When we're on their back, we prevent the horse from going through that process because we try to stop the horse from spinning and running. That all said, it's completely useless advice if you, like me, are on a livery yard and don't have access to cows.
 
are the cows you meet out hacking a different colour/pattern than the ones she knows at the farm?

while I think turning out next to them is good, I'd not do that to a truly cow-phobic horse, or if I did it would be something bigger than a round pen at least to begin with. They have to be good with cows (and sheep) with me as am surrounded by them in every direction.

You could look at advance and retreat training to see if its something you could perhaps set up for you and your horse.
 
If I turned it out next to cows, I'd want a really big field. I can only assume Rashid knew what he was doing with the horse in question, but my point was that none of these are viable methods if you're on a livery yard with no access to cows.

I just avoid the rides where I know the cows are turned out. Perhaps a braver rider could ride through it, or end up in the dirt. She's a smart horse who knows she's stronger than you are, but 99% of the time, cooperates with humans out of the goodness of her heart. But in a face-off over something terrifying like cows, you will lose.
 
Caol Ila said:
If I turned it out next to cows, I'd want a really big field. I can only assume Rashid knew what he was doing with the horse in question, but my point was that none of these are viable methods if you're on a livery yard with no access to cows.
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no, I got that-just saying, I dont know alot about Rashid but I'd not risk flooding a horse myself. It also doesnt always work-one pony I had who was poor in traffic was completely fine behind a fence/hedge with the biggest, fastest of trucks but knew the difference of being on the road or not. But for the OP, if advance/retreat training was something she could sort out on the ground then I'd do it-worked well for one of mine and motorbikes/quads (which granted, are easier to put where you want them!)
 
I don't think there is a quick solution or possibly not any unless you have unlimited access to them on every ride. I found that my youngster was terrified of them when I first led him around the roads. Truly scared. He just went, couldn't hold him. That was one old cow lying by the side of the road doing nothing. He was terrified even walking past any in a field. As our roads have lots of loose cows that was difficult. It has taken a couple of years until he is 4 now to even consider the idea of cows. I have been giving them a very wide berth so he has become comfortable with them at a distance and can now walk past a few loose cows in the road being led as long as they are quiet. I spent hours with him yarding him with hay next to the road so he may see some walk past, everytime I say a herd come down I caught him and we stood behind the gate and watched them and I herded them at a distance to try and encourage him that he was in charge and could move them. He has now got braver and wants to go up and sniff them.
The thing that worked for him was to keep his confidence, I never made him and never let him get into difficulty. I made sure he was at a good distance and always put myself between him and the cows. I took nuts so he had to breathe (whilst eating) as we walked past.
Now on the long reins I take them off and walk beside him past a cow and when riding I shall get off and lead past for quite a while.

I tried moving him to another field when neighbour put his cows in the next field in the hope he would go and explore but he wouldn't. He lives with the most experienced cow horse ever. That horse wants to bring back cows on every ride, he really wants a highland cow as his pet. So the youngster should be getting loads of confidence from his friend when out but he doesn't. I think cows are just way too fearful.
I don't think it would do any good a brave rider sitting it out. If it was mine he would simply bolt out of fear. Mine has to get used to them as we ride through lots on a normal ride, we can go through half a dozen just to get 100 yards up the road. If I didn't have to I may consider avoiding them as the time mine has taken has been considerable and I have access to lots of cows to practise on.
This is the first horse I have ever had that was scared of cows, not just surprised and needed a bit of encouragement but terrified. He was also terrified of sheep but we slowly worked that one through as eventually we will with cows but there is absolutely no quick fix the fear is far too deeply ingrained.
 
I had one horse that panicked when hacking down the lane because a herd of cows came up to the fence next to him. He panicked so much he jumped off the lane and into the field on the other side of the road, losing his rider in the process. The rider broke her arm. Unfortunately that field also had cows in it! He caused such mayhem that those cows ran straight through the fence and ran all across the farm. It took us hours to catch the horse and even longer to get him home as he had rather a lot of adrenalin flowing through his body!! Once I had calmed him down and organised someone to take rider to hospital I had to go around my neighbouring farmers dropping off bottles of whisky apologising. I then needed a bottle of wine myself. We did not hack him out again in the summer when the cows were in the fields!!
 
wait until you find a double gated field..............cows in front required a 180 u-turn, cows then appeared behind us in the gate we had just gone past...........stop and then another 180.............still cows in front.............180 cows now there behind........180 cows no there in front etc etc

it was on a green road and we did go past in the end ;)
 
Sorry to say. I live on a farm and we have cows and I have to go through a field to reach the drive gate, so cows every day of the week. I had a horse who was quite OK if there was a fence separating her from the cows but if they were in the same field as her she was frightened. If the cows were in a different part of the field taking no notice of her and I was trying to school her on the only flat place in the field she would have half an eye on where they were. If they were at the gate when we got back from our ride even if I shooed them away and led her and kept them away she was dancing on the end of the reins and breathing in a panicy sort of way. I couldn't ride through a field with cows with giving them a massive detour or hiding behind another horse. Four years of living next to cows did not cure her. It wasn't the only reason, but it was a contributing reason for why I sold her. I think she must have had an accident, been knocked over or had a real fright at one time.

Current horse that I have had since he was 2 regards them as lesser beings and will pull faces at them and be a cow pony really. He lifted his hind leg but didn't kick when one was rubbing its face on his hindquarters.
 
My first Clydesdale hated cows, she even hated the smell of them and was reluctant to stand at the crossroads where there was a smelly farmyard directly across from us. While we were at livery, she almost walked over a small car which was coming towards us because she spotted the single grazing bull at the far side of a field with a drystone wall between us.
Then we came here where there are cows in the neighbouring fields. She soon realised that the cows had calves at foot, she loved any species of baby, so she had to learn to tolerate the cows, so that she could 'talk' to their babies over the boundary walls
 
Just time and patience and plenty of positive riding.
My mare isn't keen on cows we see out and about (they're in pretty much every field round here at this time of year) - doesn't do much, just goes short striding and a bit looky, and yet she lives next door to a herd of lively young beef cattle and loves them (even flirts with them when she's in season). On the other hand my gelding couldn't care less about cows when out hacking but engages in amateur dramatics with the ones next door, generally behaving like they're a pack of tigers when the mood takes him.

Sometimes trying to outsmart the weirdness of a horse's brain just doesn't work :rolleyes:
 
I took my cow-phobic horse out with someone else riding my old girl, who liked cows. We just stood there for ages, the cows came over and my old girl was resting a foot & then when they got close enough (there was a fence between us & them), tried to nibble their noses. She loved a nice cow nose. To start with, my horse was terrified, then because we were just standing there & my old girl was doing her thing with their noses, he eventually decided that they weren't that bad after all.
 
My mare is terrified of them! She’s ok if we’re going past a field and they are grazing but if they come towards the fence she loses it! I have come off her twice out hacking - both times due to cows!!
 
All this is very, very interesting...

Equirando this year was supposed to have a space for getting your horse to work with cattle, but it didn't happen...

When I mentioned to our group leader that this was a big disappointment, she told me she has a friend with cattle who can organise a weekend of doing that. I'm all for having a go.

I've never seen a horse that was bothered by cows. I've ridden a horse past a field where some sheep appeared out of nowhere, and the horse was a bit surprised by the sudden movement, but that's about it. Even when I got a whiff of the distinctive sweetish smell of a pig farm, the horse I was riding didn't miss a beat... I suppose it must be that the horses I've ridden have been so used to livestock that they don't find it anything to be scared of.
 
I had a horse that lived with cattle. They were yarded next to her stable and grazed her fields. However she was scared stiff of any cattle that were not Her cattle.
 
Mine was worried about cows when she came, and I could not allow that as I knew that in spring the cows are driven down the village high street, and the first time out they don't walk, they gallop.

I took her to a cow working clinic, in Yorkshire, near the M18 and M62 (so easy access). You can camp, have B&B, a caravan or glamping. The horses can have a stable or a pen.

Mine was worried, but we did also have a 'cow phobic' horse there just for the cows. It only took one session before they were all working the cows.

Initially the nervous ones watched whilst more confident horses drove the (quiet) cows around, then they followed, then they took the lead and shoved the cows around.

After 3 days mine was cutting one cow out from the group and preventing it from returning. She was getting in there and if they didn't move she was biting their bottoms to shift them. At one point she was surrounded, my stirrup was knocked off my foot by an errant cow as we pushed, and still she stayed firm and got the one we wanted.

It was all very safe and controlled.

By day 5 we could puck the cows up from the grass field, where they seemed a bit more frisky) and bring them into the arena, even alone.

When we next met them out hacking they still startled her, but I think it then helped that I was able to laugh and tell her to come on you old baggage, you know how to handle cows, and ride towards them. She remembered her training (and felt my confidence) and we were soon on the same page.

Funnily enough, we met some very scary pigs at the roadside soon after, screaming and oinking, and she was again startled. They stank! I pictured cows instead of pigs and told her to get on with it. She walked by with stiff legs and her belly near the floor, but walk by she did. I think the cow course taught us about trust and boundaries too.

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Red-1 said:
Initially the nervous ones watched whilst more confident horses drove the (quiet) cows around, then they followed, then they took the lead and shoved the cows around.
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I'd wondered if such a technique would work (allowing a nervous horse to see another horse being confident), but then thought I was perhaps anthropomorphising a bit (expecting a horse to have an idea of "other" and "self").

Driving along the road a couple of days ago, we saw a cow eating from a big round feeder in a field, with some other animals also eating... getting closer we saw that the others were two horses and a lama, and laying down in another bit of the same field, no more than fifteen metres away, were some goats.
 
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