Safety tips - things you've learned

Wagtail

Wagtail

Horse servant
Joined
2 December 2010
Messages
14,815
Location
Lincs
Visit site
This is a thread to help people be safe around horses. Please post anything you have learned regarding safety. Mistakes made, tips etc.

I have a lot! First and foremost is if a horse has done something dangerous (rearing, bucking, bolting, kicking etc) do not get back on it until you know WHY it did it, and that it is something you have addressed and solved. And certainly don't get on a third time.
 
Safety lead rope for horse that's nuts to turn out. Thread the lead rope through head collar and hold both ends. When horse runs off in field hold on the metal end. Worked well for me for around eight years. Same horse now turns herself out ( now retired at home) so no bother.
Always hold metal end though, forgot to do this once and it went flying in the air and cracked me in the face!
 
Evie91 said:
Safety lead rope for horse that's nuts to turn out. Thread the lead rope through head collar and hold both ends. When horse runs off in field hold on the metal end. Worked well for me for around eight years. Same horse now turns herself out ( now retired at home) so no bother.
Always hold metal end though, forgot to do this once and it went flying in the air and cracked me in the face!
Click to expand...

Good tip. I know what you mean, when they are so excited you can't even unclip it and they risk tripping over the rope. I used to have one I would have to leave the HC on and then go and remove it later when he'd calmed down a bit!
 
Oh also, a tag on your saddle with your number, emergency number and postcode. If you are out hacking,fall off and horse leaves you, gives whoever finds the horse a clue as to where to return it. Emergency number incase you are injured and can't answer the phone, so horse could still be rescued! I used YO - with her consent!
Fortunately never fell off my mare but still thought it a good idea.
 
If you're a solo sort of person it's worth investigating a remote dog tracker (for your horse) and a service like alert5 (for yourself) which will provide a map of your location to your emergency contacts.

Also my saddle tag has a quite sappy "I will be very scared and my owner may be injured. Please be gentle with me." because if it's a car crash or something he could potentially be a bit sharp or evasive, even though he's very soft most of the time. I don't want a member of the public thinking he's vicious or worrying him further.
 
Last edited:
Also it's not really safety but: have your missing posters for your horse/s with accurate photos ready to go in your car/ tack room/ first aid box with tape/ staples and clear pockets. Hope you never need them.
Don't be stuck trying to print them off when the printer isn't working and it's going dark.
Get them to your local police station and all the vets.

Events:
The rider doing xc should not be the only legal driver of the wagon unless your breakdown recovery etc covers this.
 
Last edited:
Evie91 said:
Oh also, a tag on your saddle with your number, emergency number and postcode. If you are out hacking,fall off and horse leaves you, gives whoever finds the horse a clue as to where to return it. Emergency number incase you are injured and can't answer the phone, so horse could still be rescued! I used YO - with her consent!
Fortunately never fell off my mare but still thought it a good idea.
Click to expand...

Second that definitely nessecary if your a solo rider!
 
If a horse you are leading tries to ****** off and there is no risk to people / traffic (ie you're on a yard / in a field) let go!
 
I thought this was just standard practise but it happened to me the other day.

When turning out horses together and with somebody else, take them both in, turn them around to face you and the gate, then unclip and stand back immediately. Give you chance to get out of the way as they spin around and kick their heels up.

I was turning out with somebody the other day and they had already let theirs off the lead rope before I even got through the gate really, so I was holding on for dear life.

A SJ I know is also blind in one eye as she didn't turn the horse around when turning out and he just immediately kicked out and went galloping off.
 
never put your hands on the floor/ or pick something up anywhere near your horses hooves! Probably just me being a donut but if I can save anyone getting broken fingers, then good.. because seriously...ow!!!
 
huskydamage said:
never put your hands on the floor/ or pick something up anywhere near your horses hooves! Probably just me being a donut but if I can save anyone getting broken fingers, then good.. because seriously...ow!!!
Click to expand...

If you drop your phone and look down to see if it's broken he will do a lateral dance over it, as per your instructions!
 
Evie91 said:
Oh also, a tag on your saddle with your number, emergency number and postcode. If you are out hacking,fall off and horse leaves you, gives whoever finds the horse a clue as to where to return it. Emergency number incase you are injured and can't answer the phone, so horse could still be rescued! I used YO - with her consent!
Fortunately never fell off my mare but still thought it a good idea.
Click to expand...

Good one.

bakewell said:
If you're a solo sort of person it's worth investigating a remote dog tracker (for your horse) and a service like alert5 (for yourself) which will provide a map of your location to your emergency contacts.

Also my saddle tag has a quite sappy "I will be very scared and my owner may be injured. Please be gentle with me." because if it's a car crash or something he could potentially be a bit sharp or evasive, even though he's very soft most of the time. I don't want a member of the public thinking he's vicious or worrying him further.
Click to expand...

That is really good thinking.

bakewell said:
Also it's not really safety but: have your missing posters for your horse/s with accurate photos ready to go in your car/ tack room/ first aid box with tape/ staples and clear pockets. Hope you never need them.
Don't be stuck trying to print them off when the printer isn't working and it's going dark.
Get them to your local police station and all the vets.

Events:
The rider doing xc should not be the only legal driver of the wagon unless your breakdown recovery etc covers this.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true. I wonder how often it happens that people get stranded because of this.

Lintel said:
Don't stand between a highland pony and his dinner.

:)
Click to expand...

:D

maxapple said:
If a horse you are leading tries to ****** off and there is no risk to people / traffic (ie you're on a yard / in a field) let go!
Click to expand...

Definitely. I should have done this when a horse at my yard launched herself from the top of the lorry ramp sending me head first onto the concrete. Which leads me to another safety point. Always wear a hard hat for loading/unloading horses.

joulsey said:
I thought this was just standard practise but it happened to me the other day.

When turning out horses together and with somebody else, take them both in, turn them around to face you and the gate, then unclip and stand back immediately. Give you chance to get out of the way as they spin around and kick their heels up.

I was turning out with somebody the other day and they had already let theirs off the lead rope before I even got through the gate really, so I was holding on for dear life.

A SJ I know is also blind in one eye as she didn't turn the horse around when turning out and he just immediately kicked out and went galloping off.
Click to expand...

That's a very good one. I've seen plenty of accidents caused by horses being let off in ill-thought out ways.
 
Never stand directly behind the ramp when closing it up after loading - I noticed someone doing this in an advert recently and shivered :(
 
HaffyChristmas! said:
Always wear a hat and gloves when lungeing. Specially if you are lungeing my Haffy!
Click to expand...
Definitely. All too tempting not to bother sometimes!

lazysunday said:
Riding safety

ALWAYS keep shoulders behind knees no matter what length you ride at.
Doing this prevents you being tipped off if horse misbehaves (in theory anyway!)

x
Click to expand...

That's a very good way of looking at it.

huskydamage said:
never put your hands on the floor/ or pick something up anywhere near your horses hooves! Probably just me being a donut but if I can save anyone getting broken fingers, then good.. because seriously...ow!!!
Click to expand...

Oooh I winced at that one!

Tiddlypom said:
Wear toetector boots when clipping, plus a crash hat during the fiddly bits if not the whole session.

Be extra careful round even the quietest horse if the flies are bad.
Click to expand...

Very true.

bakewell said:
If you drop your phone and look down to see if it's broken he will do a lateral dance over it, as per your instructions!
Click to expand...

:D _ shouldn't be so well schooled!

huskydamage said:
lightening fast reflexes needed to save any 'items overboard' lol I do have the figity-est pony though
Click to expand...

:D
 
Wagtail said:
This is a thread to help people be safe around horses. Please post anything you have learned regarding safety. Mistakes made, tips etc.

I have a lot! First and foremost is if a horse has done something dangerous (rearing, bucking, bolting, kicking etc) do not get back on it until you know WHY it did it, and that it is something you have addressed and solved. And certainly don't get on a third time.
Click to expand...

dont dress your 4 year old in antlers and bells and hack out in an open field when you haven’t sat on it for a fortnight?

*sheepish*
 
Never hold two horses/leadropes in one hand. I ended up with a snapped finger after it got stuck between the two when my horse ran back and reared.
 
seriously my biggest bugbear is people wearing chunky boots and narrow stirrups. As well as always wearing appropriate boots I have barnes buckles on my stirrups and would get swiss clips if anything happened to them.
 
NeverSeenSanta said:
seriously my biggest bugbear is people wearing chunky boots and narrow stirrups. As well as always wearing appropriate boots I have barnes buckles on my stirrups and would get swiss clips if anything happened to them.
Click to expand...

Oh yes that gets me too. Also when people put bent irons on the wrong way around.
 
Inspired by other thread (fortunately never happened to me)
If you get knocked out it is very serious and you should be seen by a medical professional. Symptoms may not develop until later and brains and necks are very precious.
 
Evie91 said:
Safety lead rope for horse that's nuts to turn out. Thread the lead rope through head collar and hold both ends. When horse runs off in field hold on the metal end. Worked well for me for around eight years. Same horse now turns herself out ( now retired at home) so no bother.
Always hold metal end though, forgot to do this once and it went flying in the air and cracked me in the face!
Click to expand...

When I worked with TB youngstock, we always used just a plain piece of rope looped through like this. That way there was nothing to spring back and hit either you or the horse if they got free and if they stood on the rope, it would just slide out of the headcollar. We were also instructed to let go if there was any danger of being damaged!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top