I'm gutted........ (turned into major long one sorry!)

[alison_oliver]

Went for a hack earlier on own, as lad has been doing so well recently. Felt a bit fresh but thought he'd settle.
Got to top of bridlepath which is about 2mtrs wide, fencing on one side barbed wire. Cows in field decided to come over, my lad hates cows, cut it short they chased us & all i could see was us going thru barbed wire or down the steep hill

In a split second decision i decided to dismount to put myself between him and cows and lead him down hill, dismount was terrible, i got trodden on - lots, by a very sweaty, very shaky horse

Rang OH who bless him had to walk 2 miles across country to get to us, now stuck and having to go back passed cows.
As u can imagine more horific than first time, i now have more bruises and ankle doesn't feel good.
I feel like i've gone right bk to when i first got him

Horse was fine when we got bk i cold hosed him off and he went bk to eating like nothing had happened!!

OH now says he's dangerous and i should sell him

I feel sick at that thought! God knows where he'd end up!
Big Big glass of Vino for anyone that made it to the end, sorry for going on

 

[I love my Spanish horse]

Ouchies!!! Is your ankle ok now, you should get it checked out if you cant walk on it. Gem did this to me a few weeks ago, horses do seem to hate cows for some reason, nothing you could have done to prevent it, and i think your OH is being a bit harsh in saying that

. Is there someone you can hack out with until you both get your confidence back?

 

[alison_oliver]

I can walk on it now, its a bit puffy, going to see how it is in morning.

I can see where he is coming from - he did have to run 2miles to get to us to find a wide eyed sweat monster who wasn't going to go bk up path without hurting himself or me. He has since said maybe i need to retrain him lol! Maybe i need to retrain OH the horse is not a motorbike, it has a brain!! (all be it slightly retarded at times

!!)
Friend i normally hack out with is pregnant and the other horse on my yard bullies mine, so not really unless i can find a competant rider for friends mare....

 

[kendra2705]

I have this problem my mare doesnt turn a hair when riding through the new forest and the cows are roaming free but now we are near a field with cows and bridleway through middle she does the same but i never get off i push her on and carry my crop near the cows and bang the fence as we go , we tend to go past 100 miles an hour but at least we are still together at the end and she has learnt that its not a problem , this may not work with your horse but it does with mine cause of her nature its a pain but better to get past than get off .

 

[cokelly]

Is there anyway you can advoid the cows? I know it sounds obvious but if the cows were the problem then steer clear! But I know this may not be practical if you're in country with cows galore!

What's he like with bikes? How does your other half fancy getting some training in?

 

[alison_oliver]

I pushed him nearly all the way past then got to the top of the steep hill and just didn't want him bombing down it, so got off, in a way i wish i stayed on. Horrified walkers looking on didn't help matters, we'd have prob ran them over going down the hill!

 

[alison_oliver]

Nope farmer has them on all 3 sides of our land. We have to go past them at least 3-6 times (only one stretch is barbed wire and narrow tho) when hacking out. This is the first time they have ever shown an interest, or been that close to the fence. I should have just turned round and gone home when i saw them there, but with a napping horse he'd think this was the done thing again, its taken me over a year to stop him spinning round when he gets scared.
God i've prob just fluffed up a years hard work in 2hours

He'd prob get used to a bike, but at the mo he's not a fan if we bump into any out.. OH has done his yearly duty today by "rescuing" us lol! Not sure i'll be getting any offers like this from him

 

[Rollin]

I have a Shagya Arab mare from Hungary. Great driving horse good as gold in traffic even HGV's and tractors. She is terrified of cows. I take her out on the leading rein with my 30 yr old who loves anything on four legs and she is getting better.

Find your horse a cow-proof friend.

 

[Pinkpeeper]

You wont have undone all your hard work, a minor setback maybe, but thats horses for you.

 

[alison_oliver]

I think it was the fact they gave chase that did it!! he too is an arab, maybe cows just aren't their thing!!
I am considering walking him out past them with someone else, but we only have 3 on yard, big mare hates cows, cob would b fine but he bullies my lad, and a youngster who is currently not keen on sheep let alone cows!!

 

[Patches]

Ask the farmer if you can put your horse in the field with the cows!!!!

Actually, on a serious note, my horse was really spooked the first time she met our cows when we bought her. She broke free from me and jumped a five bar gate to escape them.....not bad for a 15.1 cob blob!

She's absolutely fine with them now. I assume living in close proximity to them, where she can touch them over the fence, they walk past the stables, she walks along the track they do through them etc etc has helped.

She's learned they won't kill her. She'll occasionally jump if we meet different coloured cows out hacking (ours all being dairy), but she doesn't run when hacking.

I did try to push the boundaries too far once and fetch the cows in for milking on her. Several got a little too close for comfort and she got in a tizz as she couldn't decide whether to run or stand and kick them! I, not fancying a go at rodeo, turned here away from them and cantered off up the hill to a safe distance. You don't hear the phrase "lazy cow" for nothing......the didn't give chase!

She didn't like sheep either....would turn on the road and canter off if I wasn't quick enough to react. I solved this by purposely hacking her past fields of sheep. You never know what you might come across out hacking.....so I voted to tackle her issues head on. It worked for her. I kept reminding myself that I knew the sheep/cows wouldn't hurt us (well I like to think they wouldn't) so I had to convey that feeling of calmness to her. If I was scared, I was bound to transfer that nervousness to her and instil the fear into her.

Hope your ankle isn't too sore in the morning.

 

[alison_oliver]

Thanks patches, as time goes on its feeling less sore, just stiff, its my stupid pride hurting more now tho, and the fear of not being able to hack out alone again

Stupid thing is at the old livery yard he was turned out in the summer with cows with just a piece of single strand electric fence seperating them....

I did think about asking farmer to turn out with them or right next to them, see if this helped.
Lol! I wish these had been lazy cows! i think they are the young 'uns in his herd tho as were all very playful!

 

[suzysparkle]

You could try long-reining him past them. I used to help a lady with her Welsh ponies and did lots of groundwork with the youngsters....including long-reining past fields of cattle. Otherwise, putting your Horse in the field next to them can really help. Loads of cows running up to the fence is enough to scare a lot of Horses so don't feel down about it. Once they get used to them the vast majority of horses are fine with them.

 

[catembi]

I had a 4 yo bucking bronco HannxTB called MacDuff & had to ride him past cows with barbed wire on one side & trees on the other, with low branches etc. I had a similar experience to you, & then rode out with o/h on my old mare Jenny. Jen doesn't care about cows, so when they came over, she just stood there resting her back foot & when they got close enough, tried to bite their noses.

Mac was trembling, but he took courage from seeing that Jenny wasn't at all bothered. Took them out together another few times & then he was fine by himself.

 

[Festive_Felicitations]

I once had the joy of breaking in a QH bred to rope/work cattle. Excellent bloodlines, easy to train etc but some how missed out on the 'cow sense' gene...he was terrified of them!!

We got over it by turning him out near them, riding him through large fields with some in the distance and a sensible friend. Then when he was semi-rational finding a bunch of laid back old hefiers and chasing them. Once he realised they would run he gradually became more confident, and eventually (ok over a year later) would go into a corall of pushy young steers cut one out and hold it.

So if you can find a farmer willing to let you harass his cattle a bit (I don't mean send them stampeding just so your boy gets the idea that they will run from him) it will hopefully give him confidence.
Avoid young steers they are bolshy little buggers and always up for trouble, and grumpy preggers hefiers. A herd of dry hefiers is often quite laid back...=)

Another thing I have always been told that you are safer on top if something goes wrong as there is less chance of being flattend or losing your horse, and I would only bail out as the last option. On a bolt down hill as long as your horse stays upright at the bottom you are still together and in a better position to control him. Just my opinion.

Good luck!
Let us know how you get on...!

 

[Grey_Eventer]

well done for trying to get past, and getting past!
one of my horses HATES cows always throws a strop, rears, hops, leaps off all feet, chucks her head up and down, tries to gallop off, sweats for england and gets all grumpy. shell then buck while galloping, i mean really out of control. BUT she is the best polo pony we have ever owned... so we just avoid cows! try and avoid cows at all costs. and if you cant, ride very determindly, dont think aobut what he could do, just get on with it.
i think that is a bit harsh f your OH to say sell, all horses have quirks like that. one of our other ones is scared of pigs, and can smell the a mile off!
and like some other people have said, you are safer on top imo, i feel that you have more control as yoiu cant be stood on etc. and if they decide to bolt then you are not going to be dragged. also if he does bolt, if you let go that might make things worse as he may feel he cant trust you as he associates you letting go with you leaving him, if that makes sense.
either take him past cows lots to get him used to them or avoid them completley, which ever you think will be easiest and help the most.
good luck
x

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Can you find a field for him with companions who don't care next to cattle?
We had a mare who was terrified of cows and sheep when we first got her but after spending some time grazing next to them she was later able to lead another horse past cattle. She eventually became quite fond of the 3 sheep we got to keep our own grass sweet.
It might be an idea to avoid paths that take you into cow fields until he's improved a bit.