Severely cow-phobic horse (unfortunately even past the point of being funny any more.....) - help please!!

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I've had Jensen on full loan for 1/2 years now, and throughout that time he has been terrified of cows. I had 3 or 4 incidents at my last yard where he was frightened by cows when we were out hacking, and he bolted - I mean a full-on, blind panic, don't-know-where-I'm going bolt down the road - but I could avoid those hacking routes and it was manageable. A couple of months ago I moved yards, and there are a LOT more cows around us now, and it is getting to the stage where I cannot safely hack him out any more.

Today we were going for a lovely amble in the sunshine, along a route we have done many times before, but unknown to me a farmer had moved some cows into a field on our left. As soon as Jensen realised they were there, he bolted - flat out down down the lane towards a T junction, where he skidded and slid his way round to the right and took off down the lane again. It was incredibly difficult to stop him as we were on slippery tarmac with deep drainage ditches either side, and he was already slipping and sliding all over the place. Eventually I managed to pull him up. The ONLY way to get home was past the field of cows again.....so he bolted again.

I ride him in a snaffle but to be honest I don't think a stronger bit would help. Yes of course it would give me more brakes, but from the way he was rearing and plunging today when I just about managed to anchor him before he bolted the seocnd time he would still be dangerous if we met cows. He is turned out 24/7 and has no hard feed, just 2 slices of hay a night; he has the physio and saddle fitter regularly etc etc.

Has anyone had a horse which reacted so strongly to cows? And if so have you managed to cure it? A friend has suggested I find a dairy farm where I can turn him out with another horse in a field next to cows..... then in a field with the cows.... until he realises that they aren't scary. I will try and find such a farm, but I can't think of one off hand. The other alternative is that I send him back from permanent loan to his owner :( Unfortunately my riding is my fun relaxing time, and I am well aware I could meet cows hacking, on a fun ride, out competing.... I'm at my wits end now I must be honest
 
I think the only possible "cure" may well be to turn out with cows. I'd definitely give it a go. He will find it very stressful to start obviously, but if you can give it as long as possible - even a few months - he should realise they're not the devil incarnate. I'd then keep re exposing him as often as possible.

Admittedly I had one who lived with sheep, but would react when he saw a different, horned breed...who knows!
 
Frustratingly there are some (very cute!) Dexter cattle that live on the farm where I keep him! He does give them the odd sideways look and snort but generally they are fine. There were some Friesan (sp?) and Hereford cross youngsters in a paddock at the end of the farm drive for a period of time and it really was 'take your life into your hands' getting past them....
 
We had a Clydie mare who was frightened of cows, not to the point that your lad is, but was not happy passing cows, or even farms where she could smell them. She stopped being frightened of them when we moved her to field where there were cows with calves at foot next to her field. She loved all babies regardless of species and decided that she would get on with the mums to look at the calves. We did similar with one who was scared of sheep, she was grazed with them, with the sheep being able to get out of the way and she got to the point where she ignored sheep when out and about. If you can't get grazing with cattle, is it worth going out in hand with a bucket and feeding him at just the point where his anxiety starts, but not takes over and moving that point very slowly forward?
 
I used to have a mare who was frightened of cows, although not to the point of bolting, thank goodness. She did once decide though that a car coming towards us would do her less damage than the bull who was looking at her from the other side of the field that we were passing! When we came here there were beef cattle living in the next field, with their calves, she loved babies of any kind and soon realised that calves come with their mums and Dad. Her field companions were never bothered about cattle, so that helped.
We have sheep at home but the Appaloosa mare always took exception to the Herdwicks that we passed out hacking because they don't look like our sheep, so I understand how your horse can be ok with the Dexters but not with Friesians. I would try turning him out with as many different animals as possible to try to build his confidence with them. Can you hack with a steady cow-proof companion? Would that help?
 
I don't think you necessarily have to turn out *with * cattle but over the fence can be really useful.

Millie was a bolting cow-phobe til I moved to a yard with lots of cows all over the place. I thought she would be really difficult esp as I'd had to leave another place when she couldn't cope with the pet pig next door. But she realised the other horses weren't fussed and started getting over it. She was still a bit of a handful passing unfamiliar ones hacking but I never had another life-flashing-before-eyes moment again.
 
milliepops said:
I don't think you necessarily have to turn out *with * cattle but over the fence can be really useful.

Millie was a bolting cow-phobe til I moved to a yard with lots of cows all over the place. I thought she would be really difficult esp as I'd had to leave another place when she couldn't cope with the pet pig next door. But she realised the other horses weren't fussed and started getting over it. She was still a bit of a handful passing unfamiliar ones hacking but I never had another life-flashing-before-eyes moment again.
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How did you get there MP? None of the other horses at the yard give a damn but Jensen is still absolutely psycho about any cow! Except the cute little Dexters of course...

I'm inclined to chuck him out in a field with a herd of bullocks, but bearing in mind he jumped a 3'6" gate and buggered off a mile down the lane last time he encountered bullocks I wonder whether that is really an option.....
 
I would try to find somehere you can turn him out next to cows not with them, he will be stressed fir quite a while but eventually he should realise they are no threat. My lad is not enamoured with cows I can slow him down but dare not try to stop him, just the smell of them sets him off and mother nature help us if we meet a tractor and loaded muck spreader...same reaction. He was a lot better when there were cows in the field next door but now we are surrounded by sheep he has reverted to hysterics. Good luck.
 
My new one was not 100% comfortable with cows, managed with them in a field with a bit of snorting but sadly they are driven up and down the road in the village and I dreaded meeting them head on one day.

I took her to a cow clinic so we could firstly see them, then be close to them then drive them round in company, then on our own and finally cut one out of the heard and keep it there.

There was a supposedly cow phobic horse there (mine was not that bad) but after 2 days that one was driving them round like an old hand. Amber's Echo went to the same place.

I would still prefer not to meet 20 cows cantering towards us, but at least we now have best chance of dealing with it!
 
Levrier said:
How did you get there MP? None of the other horses at the yard give a damn but Jensen is still absolutely psycho about any cow! Except the cute little Dexters of course...

I'm inclined to chuck him out in a field with a herd of bullocks, but bearing in mind he jumped a 3'6" gate and buggered off a mile down the lane last time he encountered bullocks I wonder whether that is really an option.....
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Well I'm on a farm so she had cows over the fence every time she was turned out :) I wouldn't have ever put her in the same field, she needed to know she could get away if she chose to but considering she thinks nothing of popping the 4 foot fences, I was surprised just how quickly she accepted her field neighbours.
 
Hmmmm OK - I am going to ask tomorrow if he can go out with the Dexters, which are relatively 'safe' and are also in a field near the Scary Bullocks! If they say no to that I am a bit stuck - I might ask around on Gloucestershire Horse Riders for possible livery yards with resident cows :D
 
Do not turn him out with cows, turn him out next to cows. if he can retreat as far as he needs to and take his time a bit-well its way more powerful and kinder than flooding him and giving him no means of escape-or causing him to run through a fence/over a gate.
 
Haha, oh dear. You can send him to mine for a holiday if you like - I have a field of bullocks next door who are super friendly. Dabs let's them lick his face 😆
 
After a week in the field with Dabs and Arty he'll probably be jumping into the field with the cows just for a bit of peace and quiet!
 
DabDab said:
Haha, oh dear. You can send him to mine for a holiday if you like - I have a field of bullocks next door who are super friendly. Dabs let's them lick his face 😆
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I was going to say you need friendly cows. If he can see you interacting with them perfectly normally it may well help. When I got pigs one of mine (the biggest!) was petrified. I sat with them fussing them so he could see and his face was a picture “You’re insane woman, you are going to die”😱 slowly but surely he realised that I hadn’t died so they might be ok. He’s not bothered in the slightest by pigs now.
 
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I'd say the ideal would be to have him turned out next to and then with cows who are used to horses with horses who are used to cows that can "protect" him from the monsters somewhere with good fencing that he can't go through or over easily in an area big enough that he can put distance between him and them if needed. If he already thinks the Dexters are not the devil that may be a good place to start. Sadly is is possible to get them used to one type of cow but not others though! Mine will now accept that solid coloured cows are not going to eat him (doesn't mean he's not suspicious but he doesn't feel like he's about to take off down the road which he has done in a similar fashion to your boy) after having lived with them on a few occasions (the second set he watched grow up and although he was suspicious of at first and used to run away from them he eventually learned that he could chase them too!). Black & white dairy cows are still the devil though. He can cope with one or 2 over the fence and at a distance but large numbers at close proximity are still terrifying.

This horse has lived happily with sheep, a donkey and some pigs that occasionally escaped and ran riot (he chased one out of his stable once when it tried to steal his dinner) so I conclude that the black & white cow thing is a genuine phobia and I don't know that I'll ever fully get him to accept that they're totally ok.
 
Could you get a life sized model to start with? Agree with others that he needs to be near them for desensitization. We have allsorts of "scarey" livestock here. Free ranging ponies, donkeys, pigs and sheep. One lady hsd a NH practionner out to help sort her horse's donkey phobia.
 
The problem I've found with our little cob is that he eventually decided that the cows in the next field were ok but cows in any other field were still demons from hell!

We live in the countryside surrounded by them and I'm finding teaching him a bit of self control through groundwork/spook busting helps so that you can kind of say 'I know you're scared and that's fine and I understand but you still need to control your emotions and let me look after you'. It's a long slow road but we are getting there. Although he still thinks that the old bull is plotting his death!

ETA: we've also done quite a bit of me leading him down the lane and just letting him stand and stare at the cows for as long as he wants. However, he is 13.2 and less likely to flatten me if he panics.
 
Hi. I posted on here a few months ago because I was having a bad problem with my boy and a cow phobia. I didn't realise he had one until a farmer put a herd of cows and calfs in a field close by that we had to hack past. It wasn't good! He was on alert the whole time and couldn't settle in his field at all, and it was 'interesting' to hack past them... Like others have said, what worked wonders was when the cattle were moved into the adjoining field. We had a few weeks of it being really really hard and then something clicked and he's no longer bothered. He can hack straight past them - though if they start messing about he still jumps a mile, bit then so do I! I thought for a while he'd never get over it, but there is hope! Fingers crossed that you get there in the end too x
 
Agree, turning out next to cattle would be best. One of mine is scared of sheep, I didnt know this when I agreed to have sheep in a couple of my fields for my local farmer! All my other horses couldnt care less, but my mare stood rigid staring and huffing and puffing, and then turned tail and ran. So I have her turned out next to the them, she has space to run, and they cant touch her (and they have zero interest in her) and whilst she still has to inspect them every time shes turned out, she is pretty settled now in the field, and I'm able to hack past them without any drama.
 
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