How extreme are reactions to pigs?

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dozzie

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During the last year i have had increasing difficulties getting my horses out of their field. It is 12 acres. The field is about 400 yds from home and I have to lead them down a road. Opposite is a field with pigs. The pigs have been there for about a year About half way across the field to the gate they go ballistic. It really is dangerous for me and today was the last straw tbh as my youngster got away from me and took off. I need to be able to ride her but can't get her out of the field. . This seems to have started since pigs were installed in the field opposite my field gate. The pigs are also behind the hedge so lots of squealing and nothing to be seen! It is a nightmare getting them down the road back to the yard. I can't keep them at the yard all year as only 1 and 1/2 acres. I have had horses up on the field for 30 years and never had this problem. I have heard that horses can have an aversion to pigs so just wondering if this is the issue.


I am racking my brain as to how to overcome this. I have a small gate i can reopen which will avoid the pigs which I will try first. It will just just require a bit of time and effort. I am just not convinced it is just the pigs. I think it may just be nappiness. But it has been since the pigs arrived so can't dismiss it as an issue and it really is dangerous. I really thought today my youngster was going to fall on me. She got totally hyped up. Cantering on the end of lead rope. I stepped back, slipped, fell and let go. Youngster took off across the field, jumped the fence and was gone. No harm done to me but not a good lesson for the youngster to have learned. I managed to catch her again but called it a day. It really wasn't worth the risk. It is making having horses not fun anymore.

Could it be the pigs? How extreme are the reactions to pigs?
 
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From my experience I would say yes, it certainly could be -

As a teen I had to ride past a pig farm on one of my hack routes - everyone I knew including myself had issues in that area

When I move to Cornwall years later and got my mare - a friend and I both had great difficulty at the end of a specific bridleway - turns out pigs were there

A local riding club had a ring that backed onto a field with a pot bellied pig in it... many horses would give that stretch of the ring a wide birth, spook... veer inwards (not ideal for a show ring) - this happened every show, every year.

My family and I had a smallholding and decided to raise some pigs for roast dinners - I made the error of schooling my mare in the same field once - never again!!

I don't think it is necessarily the pigs, but the unfamiliarity - most horses come into contact with sheep and cows more regularly, but pigs - not so much, can you speak to the farmer/owner? Explain what is happening and ask if you can do some desensitisation with your horses?
 
Pigs are extremely extremely scarey to horses - best option would be to make a hole in the hedge so they can see or get used to the pigs orborrow some and get them electric taped into a paddock where the horses can see them from a distance and get used to them.
 
In all my years of having horses (40+ years) the two biggest freak outs were from pigs and camels. On both occasions my usually sensible horses nearly lost their minds. They were one off encounters so I never needed to desensitize, but I'm sure it can be done gradually over time. My horses coped with llamas and other unusual animals far better than pigs and camels. I think the smell and sound as well as the sight of pigs would be frightening for your horses. Good luck, I feel for you.
 
Mine is very sensible but completely took me by surprise one day on a long hack when we passed a cabin with pigs kept on the front lawn. Managed to ride her past but it was clear that it wasn't just the kind of silly messing around spooky behaviour you get when cows or sheep are peering over the fence. One got close and it felt like she was thinking about striking at them through the fence! I had no idea why she would react like that and rode home and our farmer promptly explained to me that wild pigs will happily eat a young foal if they can get one :O
 
My cob was petrified of pigs. It was about the only thing he was really scared of.

Our local bridleway goes through a pig farm - complete nightmare taking kids on Ponies through that so we can't use it :(
 
Get the second gate open as a priority, your horses have rehearsed an unwanted behaviours for a year now.
Desensitisation will be long winded and difficult due to how long it has been going on, I would just fence them onto the half near the pigs and see if you can do something so they can see the pigs. Doing it that way means you won't be involved in the desensitisation it will happen if it's going to and won't if it won't, you could hay nearer and nearer to the pigs- feed too if they get feed and just reduce field size without freaking the horses out.
 
While I agree pigs can make even the sanest horse go bananas, it's very odd they have not got used to them after all this time so I'd get someone well able to work with them in to help you work out the best course of action as this sounds highly unpleasant for all concerned!
 
Agree with FW - it does seem odd that they're still being silly about the pigs.

We've got a field of pigs next to one of our bridleways. New horses always have an absolute fit when they smell/see the pigs but within weeks, they're walking past without even looking - except when there are piglets, who like to gallop up to the fence squealing, to say Hello. That does tend to result in horsey high jinks!
 
Oh gosh yes!! 100% the pigs!!
There was one on a fun ride recently and it was murder trying to get the horses past....
However - a few years ago we had 3 pigs and kept them in the same field (behind a fence) to the horses. After a week or so they got used to them! the pigs escaped once and it was raining and where found standing under my mare sheltering from the rain!! After the pigs went, about 4 years later we come across some pigs on a new hacking route - she never bothered with them.
So i would say that they can get used to them!
 
The noise pigs make is by far the scariest bit about them if you are a horse. The fact that they can hear them but not see them is probably making things worse.
 
Agree with the above comment. The fact that they know they are in there, but cant see them will be making the issue much worse. We had a pig at our yard for 2 weeks (dont ask) and my TB was in the field next to it. I have a photo of him touching noses through the fence and indeed, whilst he was turned out next to it he very quickly accepted it. The minute I tried to do anything with him he became dangerous, seriously lost the plot and any ability to think about anything other than where the pig might be. Im convinced it was because whilst he was in his field and loose, he knew he could get away and keep his eye on it, the minute I caught him, he was no longer safe from the clutches of the piggy, which might creep up on him unawares. The day the pig went home he calmed down and was back to his super chilled self. Im not sure what the answer is in your situation, if there is any way you can work around things so that the pigs remain in sight it might make a difference, although tbh in my case Im sure it was the fact that he was no longer free to run if he needed to that caused the meltdown. To answer you original question, reactions can be extreme, bordering on dangerous, it goes back to the days of wild boar I believe!
 
Definitely the pigs, I expect. Horses have an instinctive fear of pigs, as wild boar are natural predators of native pony foals. I have had 2 of the most "bombproof" horses you could wish to meet react to pigs. On one, we had a regular hack past a pig farm, he was never comfortable going past. The other was my Draft mare and a neighbour's weaners, which she could hear and smell from her field. She showed no sign of concern until we actually rode past their field and they came rushing up to the gate, squealing. She grew to at least 18hh!
I agree with Twiggy's advice, get your gate open asap, before someone gets seriously injured. I guess that your horses don't choose to graze in the part of your field near the pigs, so are not getting used to them. I would use food to help to desensitize them but expect it to take a long time and it probably won't lead to the horses ignoring the pigs, just being a bit less worried.
 
twiggy2 said:
Get the second gate open as a priority, your horses have rehearsed an unwanted behaviours for a year now.
Desensitisation will be long winded and difficult due to how long it has been going on, I would just fence them onto the half near the pigs and see if you can do something so they can see the pigs. Doing it that way means you won't be involved in the desensitisation it will happen if it's going to and won't if it won't, you could hay nearer and nearer to the pigs- feed too if they get feed and just reduce field size without freaking the horses out.
Click to expand...

I think the gate is the best plan for now. It is difficult to desensitise as the pigs are the other side of the road which separates the two fields. Hedges on both sides of the road. I also think the behaviour has become learnt behaviour in the older horse, possibly linked to separation anxiety too, although I had a fiend come o help me and we lead both out together as I thought separation was the issue. Horse did the same thing as always. Absolutely dope on a rope until the middle of the field, then went ballistic, pulled away and kicked my friend (accidentally) This was the first time the youngster got away from me.

Thanks everyone. I am going to work on leading around the field away from the pigs to see what reaction I get. I can speak to the farmer to see if we can work together too.
 
We had pig for years, and whilst of course there was an initial reaction, they quickly accepted them, and in fact became friends, touching noses over fences etc.

So yes, potentially startling, but not worse than anything else, unless the handler makes a a big deal of it and reinforces the behaviour... which happens a lot. Humans anticipate and tense up, horse senses tension and reacts, repeat. :(
 
I found they don't always desensitise. Mine lived with our pig from the age of 2 - 5. He was terrified even though he could see the pig all day and had to walk past it in his field. Our other half dozen horses loved it and sought it out for company.

He is now 19 and still terrified. He doesn't even have to see them it is the smell. If the wind is in the wrong direction there is one road I have to get off and lead him down he is still so bad. No wind and he goes down it happily ridden.
 
At the bottom of our drive there is a little field with two pigs and some chickens in it. Both my horses are fine with the pigs, however..... if the (killer) chickens run towards the gate it usually results in a little prance, short and a sideways glance!

Funnily enough on the way home neither pig nor chickens get a second glance lol.

My friend has her horse on a yard right next to a pig farm, they have to ride past to leave the yard, and I think the horses were freaked at first they are now all fine and don't even bother.
 
We have pigs& my 2 gelding who both arrived as yearlings grew up with them & they were never a problem. I now have a loan cob here, he is very unsure. I have ridden him passed a few times & he's had a jolly good snort and skirted round as far as he can. My next thoughts are to take him near to the pigs in hand and allow him to graze nearby, is this something you could arrange with your farmer? Obviously you & horse also need to be in a safe environment.
 
Horrific.

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I know all horses are different, but Skye was lobbed into a massive box next door to the yard pig, who is always either sleeping or shouting his head off for no reason - may just be her temperament but she wasn't overly fussed. Gave him the once over and a good sniff but she's been fine - all our horses are well conditioned to pigs / sheep / goats / cows / trains / helicopters due to the yard they are on.
 
Hahah pigs!

One of the very first hacks on my then 4yo we came across pigs. A friend was following in her car so she jumped out. I jumped off and we felt it would be safer to lead him past......or not! He took off and jumped a fence into a hotel car park!!!

He was stabled in a yard a few years later. The yard owner brought some pigs and they were turned out in a pen behind the stables. He jumped out of his stable. The yard owner sold the pigs!

He was very frightened. He has however adapted somewhat now. He is still frightened however we can hack past providing he is given chance to have a good look first. He is normally the type that can be bossed past something he is frightened off. You cant boss him past pigs. He has to be given a minute to figure it out and come to terms with it!
 
Ive never understood why horses are so weird about pigs, is it their smell? Ive only had one incident with pigs - pigs were in a field about 3 fields away when I went XC scholing (could only just see them at one point on the course), usually very well behaved horse acted very oddly the entire time, very upset to the point I believe I gave up after a while. I can only assume he could smell them somehow as 99% of the time on the course he couldnt see them at all. I think if I had your issue OP, Id seriously consider asking the farmer (or a small holder friend?) if you could literally borrow a pig for a couple of weeks or so! Id electric tape off a little part of your field (think they trash grass...) and just leave them to it. Surely thatd get them over it?
 
Yes, horses do seem to be very reactive to pigs naturally, but most yet used to them pretty quickly.....so I wouldn't expect such silliness for so long a period. Where I bought my little mare from had a pig and a large sheep, to whom the fencing system didn't seem to apply and they merrily wondered around with the horse herd (of about 10), none of whom seemed remotely bothered.
About 5 years ago the yard where I was liverying acquired a small pig and all the horses dealt with it pretty quickly, except for one who's owner left the yard as a result (but this was a perfectly sweet little horse who never got ridden as she was 'just too highly strung')
 
My horse currently has a pig in the same field as her and because she doesn't tend to fit in well with most horses (she's a bit of a soft touch), she's always with the pig. Her biggest fear I've discovered, over the several years I've now had her, is her extreme fear of alpacas.

Is there no way you could possibly try introducing your horse to a pig? Desensitization might be the only way around it.
 
I think few horses have seen pigs, nowadays few cottages have their own pig/pigs in the back yard. I'm sure our NF was OK with pigs (brought up on the forest, and they let pigs out for the acorns), he was fine with sheep but long necked sheep as I tried to convince him aka alpacas were another matter!
 
I had a pig at the bottom of my field called Butter and she was a big old Gloucester, very friendly and one of my horses used to groom her over the fence. Then one day I came back from shopping and found stella cans all over my drive and there was Butter flat out DRUNK. She had got through the fence at the bottom of my field and managed to get up to my garage which had a box of Stella beer cans (24 I might add) and she had ripped them open and drunk about 18 of the cans. She was just laying there asleep (or could of been comatoesed) and snoring. Phoned the neighbour and they had to bring a trailer round and it took three men to pull her on the trailer and take her home. She slept for the whole day sleeping it off and then the neighbour came round and apologised and gave me replacement beer. It was extremely funny and we all had a good laugh about it and thankfully she went on to live another 5 years.
 
I'd likely tack up and get on at the field and ride past but then I hate being on the ground with a horse pratting about and feel much safer in the saddle! Good luck though, sounds horrific so maybe the second gate is the best option.
 
they can get used to them. 3 of my 4 are fine with the pigs. one still hates them however, even though there are non on site atm, she still looks out for them in their pen!
 
My old boy never reconciled himself to pigs; he would still spook at the field they were him five years after they went. I had a pony who spent the first half of his life on a piggery and he didn't like them either. I've come to the conclusion that pigs a pretty much insurmountable problem for some horse.
 
It's fun in the forest when pannage starts! My old boy turned himself inside out one day when all the piglets were trotting down the road back home!!! It was not entertaining for the next few weeks when anything rustled in that area. He's got semi settled with them over the years but would still get a bit upset if he sees them now.
 
Can you ask if you can turn your horses out with the pigs or borrow the pigs into your field with your horses, exposure is the fastest way to desensitise them and if they are in the field and you are outside, you can't get hurt trying to hold them. Mine have lived out with varying pigs of varying colours, sizes and breeds all together and sharing the same barn for shelter. My friend's youngster used to lay down to sleep with the pigs! Whatever method you employ, this is something you need to deal with for your safety and that of the horses. Don't however take any unnecessary risks that could result in you or horses getting hurt, that's why I like the turnout route, they quickly work it out for themselves and no people on ropes to get dragged about. I've done it with cows and sheep too, if the horses are scared turn them out together in a suitably large space and they get over it in their own time. I was out riding my coloured once and met another horse coming from the other direction who had a melt down because he saw the colour of my boy and promptly decided he was a cow!
 
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