How many of you would be able to do this with your horse?

[Lottie007]

My mare would use it as an excuse to leap around and be silly! Your boy is very good!

 

[Fairynuff]

No big deal! Never had a horse freak out due to sheep. My neds were country bred, not city wimps( as is to be found today). What is happening to todays horse and rider? FFS, sheep are a normal part of any horses life, tyhey are not ALIENS

. Mairi.........cringe

 

[soph21]

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Mine would be fine, then then she is also O.K. with pigs.................can be funny with shetland ponies though!!!

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LMAO! Bears the same!
I think he thinks they are killer ankle biters

 

[RachelB]

Hmm. I saw this thread and thought "yeah whatever it is my horse would be fine..." but actually, she really doesn't like sheep! You could shoot a gun from on top of her etc. etc. but sheep... not good!

 

[TBracer7]

you can never tell with mine, lorries and tractors he is fine, bin bags and he is fine but the other day a leaf blew across the road and you would think i was asking him to walk over hot coals!!

 

[Sprout]

Living on the Forest, my ponies are used to wild ponies, donkeys, cattle, deer and pigs all wandering around.

We also have to ride past geese, pot bellied pigs and Alpacas!

When we hire the local XC schooling field, there are often sheep in there, and my daughter sometimes has to jump fences with sheep lying infront!

 

[random_rider]

Polly wouldnt be very good at all bless her

 

[Eaglestone]

My old boy Motor would be fine and look after me, however on the other hand my TB would not be amused

 

[Tia]

Mine don't bat an eyelid at anything to be honest. Certainly a few woolly sheep are no threat to them one iota. Mind you mine are all cattle horses so are very used to dealing with bigger beggars than tiddly little sheep

. Having said that, I haven't ever had a horse (not even those skitty British ones) who has been bothered in the slightest by sheep.

 

[Shannagolden]

Oh the fool who put a pen of geese at the start of a XC! (Think he did it on purpouse!) ponies n riders in all directions!

 

[T_K]

Mine live with sheep so have no problems, well other than getting annoyed with them....so they'd be more likely to give them a kick!!

 

[RLF]

mine have to tolerate sheep, geese, ducks, peacocks, bulls, guinie fowl, turkey and pheasants on our yard, Gamekeeper breeds everything for yard owner!

 

[hedge1]

not fussed at all by sheep, cows, dartmoor ponies, barking dogs or llamas. mountain bikes, on the other hand, are apparently terrifying!

 

[rara007]

We like sheep- At one marathon I was first to go and had to cut through a flock of sheep and we thought they'd jump on the carriage they were so random!

 

[wizzi901]

Mine all fine with:-

Sheep
Deer
Goats
Steam engines...(locality based!)
Cows
Pheasants
Cats
Fat Sloppy Labradors
Children


BUT PIGS!!!! NO NO NO!

 

[Puppy]

Yup. Both of mine (although Be wasn't when she came to me, being a little town mouse

) are used to sheep, goats, cows, etc and pass them on a regular basis

I make sure they are. I have been the same with all my old horses; I make sure they are desensitized to such things and shall hack past anything

 

[DiablosGold]

On the XC course I go schooling on there are regularly hundreds of sheep around the jumps

My horse loves them and tries to go up to them to sniff them.

 

[brighteyes]

Who knows what terrible things might have been inflicted on your horse and by what in a previous ownership? Pretty definitely, mine was mauled by a black shetland at some point and the experience has left him irreparably damaged. Sheep don't bother him because (almost as certainly) his mother was one.

He is very wary (bolt first, ask questions later) of 'things with longer ears than him' and has the expected inborn terror of tigers and elephants - and yes, he has seen both. I cannot imagine what he would do if we encountered an ostrich, but it would probably be the end. I am very happy with all the above and can pass any of them without batting an eyelid - but he is a world-class hero compared to me if a spider is anywhere I can see it. So, who is braver?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Sunny can cope with sheep as long as they do sheepy things like run away from him and stay the proper side of the fence. Goats, though, are a whole different ball game. Goats are NOT sheep with funny spiky things sticking out of their heads. Goats are very dangerous and could clearly gore a horse to death very quickly. Unfortunately, there are 4 goats in a field I ride past on hacks. When I say "in a field" sometimes they ARE in the field, sometimes they stick their heads through the hedge just as we ride past and sometimes they are wandering about the road having squeezed THROUGH the hedge! Always makes for an exciting ride! Anyone got any tips for peacocks???

 

[ann-jen]

Jenny is not bothered by sheep as she is sometimes grazing with them. Although she sometimes is naughty when she is turned out and gallops straight at them to get them to scatter - as she seems to think this is fun (prob not so fun for the sheep I suspect

) She even jumped over one of them that didn't get out the way quickly enough on one ocassion!
She's still a bit iffy with cows - if they are just standing in the field/pen she isn't bothered but if they canter up to the fence then she would maybe have a bit of a look at them but considering in her sheltered little life she hadn't met any farm animals at all until 3 year ago I think she is very good indeed.

 

[louisevictoria]

my girl used to be in a field with sheep - and used to go sheep bowling !!!!! And scatter them in all directions.
If I was riding she doesn't mind sheep, but black and white cows on the other hand are another story (they would send her over the hedge !!!!!!)