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

My cob is 20 and hack have to be carefully planned owing to cows. He's ok to pass fields of grazing, black and white dairy cows as they tend to ignore you. However, young cattle, in particular Dexters, seem to have a habit of wanting to come up and say hello. To Markie, they're not saying hello, they're coming over to rip his throat out!
His field is next to a field of Dexter bullocks and he'll happily graze next to them on the fence line, he'll also stand happily in a field of cattle whilst hunting. However, if the Dexters from the field next door are grazing alongside the fence that borders the road, it's time to do airs above the ground and get home asap.
I'm dreading the alapacas being out for the tourist season!
 
Eaglestone said:
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. :rolleyes:
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My horse fell over on the road the first time she clapped eyes on donkeys. We were merrily tootling along on a new route when we rounded a bend and there they were. She took that much of a fright that she fell over. We spent about 30 minutes then 'talking' to them and for the whole time, her eyeballs were popping out of her head!
 
PoppyAnderson said:
My horse fell over on the road the first time she clapped eyes on donkeys. We were merrily tootling along on a new route when we rounded a bend and there they were. She took that much of a fright that she fell over. We spent about 30 minutes then 'talking' to them and for the whole time, her eyeballs were popping out of her head!
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Oh dear :( .... hope she is ok with them now then :)
 
superted1989 said:
My cob is 20 and hack have to be carefully planned owing to cows. He's ok to pass fields of grazing, black and white dairy cows as they tend to ignore you. However, young cattle, in particular Dexters, seem to have a habit of wanting to come up and say hello. To Markie, they're not saying hello, they're coming over to rip his throat out!
His field is next to a field of Dexter bullocks and he'll happily graze next to them on the fence line, he'll also stand happily in a field of cattle whilst hunting. However, if the Dexters from the field next door are grazing alongside the fence that borders the road, it's time to do airs above the ground and get home asap.
I'm dreading the alapacas being out for the tourist season!
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I ride my friend's horse (who is now 34 ! :0) ... she says he used to live with Cows, but that he is still frightened of them, if they are in the same field as him :rolleyes:

Now he is not impressed with Alpacas either. I was hoping and praying that when I tacked him up today, at a different venue than normal, that the Alpacas from next door would not 'amble' across to say hello :eek: ... thankfully they did not!

At this moment in time I am beginning to hate Cows ;):p
 
My Appy is fine with cattle, but has a bit of a thing about sheep. This would not be too surprising except that she lives with three of them :D She is fine with 'her' sheep, and those which are a normal whitish colour, however if she sees herdwicks or the three soays that live nea by, she goes into mental mode, cue sideways walking and a bit of piaffe for good measure!
 
YorksG said:
My Appy is fine with cattle, but has a bit of a thing about sheep. This would not be too surprising except that she lives with three of them :D She is fine with 'her' sheep, and those which are a normal whitish colour, however if she sees herdwicks or the three soays that live nea by, she goes into mental mode, cue sideways walking and a bit of piaffe for good measure!
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Very strange YorskG :confused:

I am beginning to also think that I may never be able to get him used to Cows :mad: ... he is such a very good boy with most other things and seems to 'accept' everything, once he has seen it once .... however with the Cows he is now getting worse!
 
Caol Ila said:
I empathise!

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."
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Caol Ila .... this just about sums me up to now ^^^

I have tried to let him meet and greet everything that I think he had not seen in his sheltered life, but I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that Cows would have been an issue :confused:
 
xxMozlarxx said:
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.
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Thanks xxMozlarxx very good advice, especially with the praising and rewarding for spooking, I have taken that on board.

I agree with you on the leading him past in hand ..... one small issue here though .... he has not been backed and I am leading him anyway ;)
 
Is he quite food motivated? if so I would take him to within sight of the cows to feed him at least once a day, gradually getting closer and closer over the course of a few weeks. Make the cows the best thing ever by teaching him to assoociae them with nice things. If he doesn't need hard feed maybe just use a handful of chaff and some grated carrot in a bucket? I got my old pony past a fear of homicidal chickens (?!?) this way. Took a few weeks but it did work.
 
My mare used to be scared of cows too - then we moved to a yard where cows were kept in the stable next to hers.
I don't think she slept for a few nights at first but now she is over her fear! :D
 
My horse is terrified of Black Shetlands, donkeys, alpacas and anything unusual he has never met before. If he can be persuaded not to bolt to a place of safety and introduced properly, he overcomes this fear. But while he is debating 'safe or deadly?' he is not funny to be on. He needs close encounters.
 
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