ok here goes ..... how do you conquer a fear of Cows

[Eaglestone]

I have kind of taken on, a now rising 9 Irish Cob pony, who was gelded a year ago and have been taking him out and about, in hand, to see the big wild world, since October last year. He has been lightly backed, but my task is to acclimatise him to everything.

He lived in the same home for nearly 8 years and never left the yard, so is very unitiated to the world.

Things went really well, until we met a Cows . The mere sniff of a Cow is enough to set him prancing and he is a very strong, but well mannered lad.

My questions are:-

a) any suggests/advice/hints/ideas/your experience of the best way of getting him used to Cows, without borrowing one and putting him in with it?

b) am I on a lost cause?

c) what may be a better bit to use to ensure he does not get away from us? He is currently in a Full Cheek Jointed Snaffle with a Newmarket Couple attached, together with a lunge line.

Many thanks and looking forward to peoples 'personal' trials and tribulations and support here.

Many thanks.

 

[milliepops]

Sorry, but my first reaction on reading your post was to snort into my tea! I've had my mare for 8 years - she is now 15 and is only NOW starting to get over her cow phobia. I tried everything and every approach I could possibly think of - confidence building, hiding behind a lead horse, approaching more strongly, trying to sniff them... nothing worked I can at least dash past them at speed now, rather than grow 5 hands and spin round!

(ETA, she is a very self confident horse in every other respect - she's the sort that will stick her head into plastic bags in the hedge to see if they contain carrots for her)

I'd seriously try to turn out near them if you expect to be coming across them regularly - it's the only way my girl got over sheep and pigs.

 

[Orangehorse]

Unless he has had a real fright from cows in the past, he should just get used to them.
The best thing would be go for rides with a horse that isn't worried about them, and best of all to have them in the next field. If you are by yourself then find a field of cows and let him stop and graze nearby until they loose interest in him and he looses interest in them.

However, if he has had a real fright, e.g. been knocked over as a foal, or some other maybe irrational fear, then I don't think they do get over it. I live on a farm, we have cattle. I once had a horse that was terrified of cattle. She was fine if there was a fence between and she saw them every day of her life, but if she was in the same field even if they were a long way away, she became tense and worried and if we crossed a field with cattle she had to shelter behind another horse.

 

[Eaglestone]

Sorry, but my first reaction on reading your post was to snort into my tea! I've had my mare for 8 years - she is now 15 and is only NOW starting to get over her cow phobia. I tried everything and every approach I could possibly think of - confidence building, hiding behind a lead horse, approaching more strongly, trying to sniff them... nothing worked I can at least dash past them at speed now, rather than grow 5 hands and spin round!

(ETA, she is a very self confident horse in every other respect - she's the sort that will stick her head into plastic bags in the hedge to see if they contain carrots for her)

I'd seriously try to turn out near them if you expect to be coming across them regularly - it's the only way my girl got over sheep and pigs.

I have now just snorted in my B&C ...... loved your reply

I did think about, going off to find a Cow Pat and putting it in his stable!!

I cannot believe how many Cows are out and about this year .... 3 of the 4 exits from the yard have fields with Cows in them .... on Friday 50 of the little bu**ers charged round the field next to him and he was convinced they were after him.

He is fine with Sheep and Pigs, at the moment, thank goodness.

But all joking apart, it is becoming a major issue now, sadly

Thank you for your reply

 

[Jnhuk]

Unless he has had a real fright from cows in the past, he should just get used to them.
The best thing would be go for rides with a horse that isn't worried about them, and best of all to have them in the next field. If you are by yourself then find a field of cows and let him stop and graze nearby until they loose interest in him and he looses interest in them.

However, if he has had a real fright, e.g. been knocked over as a foal, or some other maybe irrational fear, then I don't think they do get over it. I live on a farm, we have cattle. I once had a horse that was terrified of cattle. She was fine if there was a fence between and she saw them every day of her life, but if she was in the same field even if they were a long way away, she became tense and worried and if we crossed a field with cattle she had to shelter behind another horse.

Ditto this. Pretty sure one of my geldings had a incident with cows in the past as he was bred on a cattle farm. Apparently black ones are the worst sort! We have graduated from planting and violently shaking at first sight of cows until getting nearer then leaping and try to spin round to now going forwards rapidly very worriedly if the cows are near the dyke/fenceline. Repeated hacking past cows has helped him but he still reacts when hacking out alone and we meet cows. Also the fact that our nearest indoor school has cows next byred adjoining to the school all winter has helped him get used to them!

I ride positively and keep him going forwards but don't make it in to a battle as it is a genuine phobia. However, I don't think he will ever get over it.

 

[Eaglestone]

Unless he has had a real fright from cows in the past, he should just get used to them.
The best thing would be go for rides with a horse that isn't worried about them, and best of all to have them in the next field. If you are by yourself then find a field of cows and let him stop and graze nearby until they loose interest in him and he looses interest in them.

However, if he has had a real fright, e.g. been knocked over as a foal, or some other maybe irrational fear, then I don't think they do get over it. I live on a farm, we have cattle. I once had a horse that was terrified of cattle. She was fine if there was a fence between and she saw them every day of her life, but if she was in the same field even if they were a long way away, she became tense and worried and if we crossed a field with cattle she had to shelter behind another horse.

Thank you for your advice.

I do not think he has been frightened by them, as he did lead a sheltered quiet life, but just did not encounter Cows.

I do not have the opportunity of taking another horse out with him really. I can get help to lead and hold him though, but I think I need something better in his mouth and that is why I asked the question on bitting.

 

[Eaglestone]

Ditto this. Pretty sure one of my geldings had a incident with cows in the past as he was bred on a cattle farm. Apparently black ones are the worst sort! We have graduated from planting and violently shaking at first sight of cows until getting nearer then leaping and try to spin round to now going forwards rapidly very worriedly if the cows are near the dyke/fenceline. Repeated hacking past cows has helped him but he still reacts when hacking out alone and we meet cows. Also the fact that our nearest indoor school has cows next byred adjoining to the school all winter has helped him get used to them!

I ride positively and keep him going forwards but don't make it in to a battle as it is a genuine phobia. However, I don't think he will ever get over it.

Oh dear, I think I may be on a lost cause then

We keep him going and he is very good, but very very very strong and nearly gets away from two of us holding him. We initially tried stopping and letting him have a look, but he would just spin round and try and tank off. He is just getting worse and, as I said, every field has Cows in them now and I think I may have to give up, until Winter

Thank you for your reply.

 

[goldypops]

You have my sympathy! There are some cows in the field down the road from us that we have to hack past and my boy used to be fine with them. However, they were replaced with donkeys a month or so ago and that was a huge OH MY GOD WHAT ARE THOSE.....snort snort spin round take off. To my relief the donkeys were moved last week to a field further away from the road and the cows put back in. Phew I thought.......no! he is now convinced the cows are donkeys and either refuses to go past them, spins around in the middle of the road in front of cars or we hurtle past at a very nice extended elevated trot! I know I need to take him down there very early one morning when there are few cars around and get him up to the hedge so he can have a good luck but I keep wimping out at the moment

 

[ladyt25]

I think (as hard as it may seem) your best plan of attack is to just not react yourself to them. we have to ride through various fields that often have cattle in and our neighbouring farmer also turns his small beef herd out in the field that surround ours. I don't think any of our horses had necessarily seen cows before and I seem to recall my sister's horse freaked out a bit the first time we rode through a field full. However, our attitude is to just get on with it! Just ignore the behaviour as much as is possible - that seems to work in the main.

 

[milliepops]

With the bitting, have you thought about trying something that uses a bit of nose pressure instead of upping the metalwork in his mouth? I know I have more control of my mare when things are going awry if I can get something across her nose Pressure halter or similar with the bridle on top?

 

[Eaglestone]

You have my sympathy! There are some cows in the field down the road from us that we have to hack past and my boy used to be fine with them. However, they were replaced with donkeys a month or so ago and that was a huge OH MY GOD WHAT ARE THOSE.....snort snort spin round take off. To my relief the donkeys were moved last week to a field further away from the road and the cows put back in. Phew I thought.......no! he is now convinced the cows are donkeys and either refuses to go past them, spins around in the middle of the road in front of cars or we hurtle past at a very nice extended elevated trot! I know I need to take him down there very early one morning when there are few cars around and get him up to the hedge so he can have a good luck but I keep wimping out at the moment

My sympathy back goldypops

My old boy Motor, is brilliant with everything, apart from Umbrellas, Kids on Dad's shoulders and anything up high in the wrong place. But he would always go passed in a big hurry. I loved his forward going attitude, it was never dangerous and I appreciate him so much more now and that is hard to do! We met some Donkeys in a field once, where I wanted him to wait, whilst we had a drink a a Pub ..... OMG he hated them and snorted and was quite distressed. But luckily they are few and far between ...... but we have herds of Cows now ... there must be a subsidy being offered to the farmers ATM .............

 

[coss]

another person who can empathise - i ride a mare that has a severe disliking to cows, grows and wants to spin take off but she is also well mannered so tries to be brave but usually fails things were getting better towards the end of last year after passing several fields of calm cows in a calm manner - main problem arises when they charge at the fence and after i saw a cow literally hop over a standard height fence sideways from walk i too am none to happy about charging cows and thus i am tense so she's bound to be
I would definitely try the option of finding some quiet cows - find some cows that have just had their calves and are out in the field with them - they are generally worldly enough not to bother about coming over to the fence. I'd also try to hack with a horse that doesn't bother about them. Build on good experiences as much as you can before tackling the running and noisy cows (the mare i ride was improving til a line of cows strolling across a field towards her started mooing and she fell to pieces again)

 

[Eaglestone]

I think (as hard as it may seem) your best plan of attack is to just not react yourself to them. we have to ride through various fields that often have cattle in and our neighbouring farmer also turns his small beef herd out in the field that surround ours. I don't think any of our horses had necessarily seen cows before and I seem to recall my sister's horse freaked out a bit the first time we rode through a field full. However, our attitude is to just get on with it! Just ignore the behaviour as much as is possible - that seems to work in the main.

You are quite right and I agree with you 100%

But unfortunately he is very strong and I am frightened I will lose him . My attitude has always been just to get on with it, but now it is getting a bit risky, with so many Cows around this year

Motor was always brilliant with Cows and I even had to help a lady in distress and move them on, on one hack. The lady was stuck the other side of the herd, unable to disperse the, as they were in a long race - I herd her shouting at them from the distance. Motor just walked through them, without batting an eyelid, like parting the sea!

My other TB does not like them, but in comparison with the little Cob, is brilliant

 

[Eaglestone]

With the bitting, have you thought about trying something that uses a bit of nose pressure instead of upping the metalwork in his mouth? I know I have more control of my mare when things are going awry if I can get something across her nose Pressure halter or similar with the bridle on top?

Ok thanks for that advice, will look out for a cavesson then? I have a head collar over his bridle at the moment, but no nose band

 

[Eaglestone]

another person who can empathise - i ride a mare that has a severe disliking to cows, grows and wants to spin take off but she is also well mannered so tries to be brave but usually fails things were getting better towards the end of last year after passing several fields of calm cows in a calm manner - main problem arises when they charge at the fence and after i saw a cow literally hop over a standard height fence sideways from walk i too am none to happy about charging cows and thus i am tense so she's bound to be
I would definitely try the option of finding some quiet cows - find some cows that have just had their calves and are out in the field with them - they are generally worldly enough not to bother about coming over to the fence. I'd also try to hack with a horse that doesn't bother about them. Build on good experiences as much as you can before tackling the running and noisy cows (the mare i ride was improving til a line of cows strolling across a field towards her started mooing and she fell to pieces again)

You know, before these episodes, I knew some horses disliked Cows, but I did not realise how bad they can be and how absolutely terrified they become. I have so much more sympathy now.

I just hope he gets used to them, he is so good with everything else, he is an absolute poppet.

 

[Grumpy Jewel]

You don't! Cows are evil and nasty and should never be trusted, that's what my mare thinks anyway I tend to flex away from them if they are not circling us ready to pounce, otherwise wedge right up behind the horse I'n front and hope they don't start running or mooing as we are then I'n real trouble. I am quite mean and make her face her fears head on and attempt to deal with them, but I tend to try survive bumping into cattle rather than make a learning experience of it, I don't bounce like I used to!

 

[quirky]

Does he long rein? My young mare was a devil with traffic, so I used to long rein her to the road and watch the traffic go by. Did the trick, she is excellent when ridden now. I just find you have that much more control in ling reins, somebody stood at his head for reassurance might not go amiss too.

 

[coss]

also meant to say - mare used to very spooky with odd silly things and on occasion still is. She used to rush past at high speed or start to then spin and bolt. Has taken probably about a year but she's much braver in general as simple things (like wheelie bins ) i refused to let her be scared of, spent time taking her up to them and letting her sniff and work out they weren't horse eating. just general fear turning into curiosity has helped with a lot of her spoooking and i hope it will help with cattle this year but have yet to find out!

 

[Eaglestone]

You don't! Cows are evil and nasty and should never be trusted, that's what my mare thinks anyway I tend to flex away from them if they are not circling us ready to pounce, otherwise wedge right up behind the horse I'n front and hope they don't start running or mooing as we are then I'n real trouble. I am quite mean and make her face her fears head on and attempt to deal with them, but I tend to try survive bumping into cattle rather than make a learning experience of it, I don't bounce like I used to!

Oh dear .... I definitely don't bounce either.

It is a shame that we had not got him backed and ridden out confidently, before we discovered this phobia .... I tend to think that would have been better, but hey ho .....

 

[milliepops]

Ok thanks for that advice, will look out for a cavesson then? I have a head collar over his bridle at the moment, but no nose band

Yeah - I was thinking more like a be nice/knotted rope halter or something similar to the dually headcollar, something you could use instead of a normal headcollar to give you a bit more influence without having to yank too much on the bit.

I 'knitted' my own knotted rope halter once with a bit of old rope, it wasn't that difficult and it was very effective. Cheapy one here

ETA or try one of these for his normal headcollar http://kempcontroller.com/kemp-controller.html Actually, now I've re-found the link I might get one for my mare

 

[Eaglestone]

also meant to say - mare used to very spooky with odd silly things and on occasion still is. She used to rush past at high speed or start to then spin and bolt. Has taken probably about a year but she's much braver in general as simple things (like wheelie bins ) i refused to let her be scared of, spent time taking her up to them and letting her sniff and work out they weren't horse eating. just general fear turning into curiosity has helped with a lot of her spoooking and i hope it will help with cattle this year but have yet to find out!

Good luck then I expect I am lucky it is mainly the Cow issue .... but, as mentioned before, he is a very strong lad ....

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We bought a very-set-in-her-ways bombproof mare and hacked her home through a cycle race, past an ambulance on an emergency call and a milk-tanker (twice), with absolutely no reaction from the mare. Until we past a field of cows, which she REALLY didn't like.
On our hacks we always had to persuade her past farm-yards or fields with cows, she hated the smell - she wasn't too keen on goats either!
Then we moved and she was in a field next to cows, on one side, and goats on the other. She just had to get used to them. When she realised that cows have calves, this made her much more kindly disposed to them - she always loved baby things.
If you can let him graze, with companions who aren't bothered by them, next to cows, I'll bet he'll soon get used to them.

 

[Eaglestone]

Does he long rein? My young mare was a devil with traffic, so I used to long rein her to the road and watch the traffic go by. Did the trick, she is excellent when ridden now. I just find you have that much more control in ling reins, somebody stood at his head for reassurance might not go amiss too.

Quirky he long reins beautifully, but I am not confident doing it and I also think he would get away from me.

I have someone who is supposed to be doing the long reining, as he is an experienced driver used to Shires, but sadly, said person, keeps letting me down. He always says he needs to have his mind 'focused' and I have seen exactly what he means.

 

[Eaglestone]

We bought a very-set-in-her-ways bombproof mare and hacked her home through a cycle race, past an ambulance on an emergency call and a milk-tanker (twice), with absolutely no reaction from the mare. Until we past a field of cows, which she REALLY didn't like.
On our hacks we always had to persuade her past farm-yards or fields with cows, she hated the smell - she wasn't too keen on goats either!
Then we moved and she was in a field next to cows, on one side, and goats on the other. She just had to get used to them. When she realised that cows have calves, this made her much more kindly disposed to them - she always loved baby things.
If you can let him graze, with companions who aren't bothered by them, next to cows, I'll bet he'll soon get used to them.

I know I could ask the lovely farmer to let me take him to the yard, but I think that would blow his brain .... not sure he would let me borrow just one though lol

 

[Parker79]

Love cows- but they are a nightmare! we have them loose on the forest and have to get past herds of them, its a nightmare!

With one of the youngsters we have one person on board and one on the ground to get her past, its just took an amazing amount of patience. She is strong too, it was easier with someone on board too.

I agree about rope halter, is he good when distracted? can you distract him with anything? I know this will sound ridiculous but my instructor swears by using a feather duster! do clicker training with it first and get him to follow it.

If nothing else at least you can keep laughing!

 

[Eaglestone]

Love cows- but they are a nightmare! we have them loose on the forest and have to get past herds of them, its a nightmare!

With one of the youngsters we have one person on board and one on the ground to get her past, its just took an amazing amount of patience. She is strong too, it was easier with someone on board too.

I agree about rope halter, is he good when distracted? can you distract him with anything? I know this will sound ridiculous but my instructor swears by using a feather duster! do clicker training with it first and get him to follow it.

If nothing else at least you can keep laughing!

LOL ... I try and talk to him, tell him he's good boy and he does react to the praise.

Today he walked passed them along the road and was praised all they way. Then we went down a bridleway with some more next to it and he was ok, but starting to get upset. Then we asked him to wait, once he had relaxed and he was standing happily, being praised, when in the distance he clocked the next lot .... these were the ones that ran round the field, to greet the farmer, on Friday and he virtually lost the plot then. I got very distressed then, I am sorry to say . Once we had got passed them and nearly back home, he settled and was back to being his normal self ....

 

[Littlelegs]

I'd agree with pearlsasinger. If turning him out near some isn't an option I'd ask the farmer if you can take him up there everyday to feed him. Another thought is general bombproofing with something you do have access to so when he's scared he learns to look to you for guidance.

 

[Caol Ila]

I empathise!

My horse did not encounter cows until she was about 14 or 15 years old (people tend to not keep them in the Colorado mountains). As you can imagine, this was very exciting. She also didn't encounter sheep until then, either, but quickly accepted them since they run away. When she was younger, she learned to not spook at deer pretty quickly because they also run away. Cows, on the other hand, frequently run TOWARDS you and this had her convinced they were horse-eating monsters. What's worse is that when you get a herd of young cows running up to the fence to check you out, and the horse goes nuts, all the cows get excited and start running. Disaster!

Now she's gotten much better with cows but I've now gotten this on-horseback cow phobia thing and start feeling a bit scared when we have to pass them. I'm not happy about this, as it could easily undo my cow-desensitization training. "Why is mom freaking out? I should freak out too."

 

[Pearlsasinger]

LOL ... I try and talk to him, tell him he's good boy and he does react to the praise.

Today he walked passed them along the road and was praised all they way. Then we went down a bridleway with some more next to it and he was ok, but starting to get upset. Then we asked him to wait, once he had relaxed and he was standing happily, being praised, when in the distance he clocked the next lot .... these were the ones that ran round the field, to greet the farmer, on Friday and he virtually lost the plot then. I got very distressed then, I am sorry to say . Once we had got passed them and nearly back home, he settled and was back to being his normal self ....

I would make sure that whenever you take him out, you have someone with you. This will help you to stay calm and so help the horse to stay calm. As someone else said, if you can't graze him next to cows, ask the farmer if you can feed him in the farm-yard, getting nearer and nearer over time to the cows. I always find that food helps horse to ignore things they would otherwise get upset about.

 

[xxMozlarxx]

Hiya...sympathies, I have a bombproof horse who is petrified of pigs, it can be a nightmare once they catch a whiff I know! Like you I used to think praising a horse past a scary object was the thing to do, actually if you think about it your horse is being rewarded for spooking or being scared, difficult though it is I would suggest you remain as quiet as possible, try to slump like a sack of potatoes and give strong forward aids looking straight past the scary things and saying and doing nothing. Only praise once you are past and he is completely calm otherwise you are reinforcing the issue. There is also no shame in getting off and leading past with the same calm attitude, getting back on once past and all is calm. Difficult I know with a big horse where you would never get back up again!! Good luck I hope it improves for you.