Any Horse whisperers around?

[DaBeEm]

There has probably already been a thread about horses (same as there has been about cows, dogs etc), but i thought it quicker to ask again!

 

Anyway - i'm not normally fazed by anything, no problems with cows (even those with horns), sheep, dogs, i've done loads of night caching mostly by myself, all without problems, so i know i'm not a wimp! - but tonight i've been seriously harassed by 2 horses and i've never been so frightened in all my life!

 

The public footpath i followed went up a steep hill (which caused me a few problems as i'm now asthmatic, so i was breathing heavily and noisily wheezing as i neared the top) through a field containing these 2 horses which i was conscious of trying to avoid. Now they may have just been friendly, but i got the impression one of them was approaching in a less than friendly manner by running towards me as if to knock me over, but then pulling out of it. The other horse did approach as if to protect me and shield me putting the other off. I tried to speak calmly (as well as wheeze!) to both but particularly the more friendly one and also to stroke it. I carried on walking - didnt try to run as i didnt think i could outrun them, particularly as i had my laptop in my rucksac (I was on my way home from work and didnt want to leave it in the car as it is my livelihood!) . The first horse tried to approach again a couple more times before i made it over a stile and to safety.

 

I definately felt that the first horse wasnt being friendly - but had i done something to upset it, was i breathing too noisily for it? (i know that sounds silly, but i cant think of anything else that i could have been doing to antagonise it!)

 

What is the best way to difuse a situation like this? - stand still, carry on walking, run? is stroking a good idea?

 

Luckily nothing came of this (even though they seemed to be waiting by the stile for my return journey!) as i did manage to avoid them and find a different way back - but if they had attacked me what would have been the best way to deal with it?

 

So if anyone who knows about horses can give me some helpful advice i'd be grateful.

 

oh and by the way - i carried on and found the cache of course! (log was a bit short though!)

[+Spnoo]

I work on a polo ground, but unfortunately this doesn't particularly help me because the horses I encounter generally have riders, and all we have to do is 'get out of the way as quickly as possible'.

I was once in a situation that sounds identical to yours in which I had to enter a field containing two horses, and had one of them run towards me. What made things worse was that I didn't know where the exit stile was, so ended up walking around three sides of the field when I could have been in and out very quickly.

 

So to sum up I'd also love some advice on what to do!

[+Simply Paul]

My experiences with pushy horses aren't that different from your own. On several occasions I've been harried by one or more. I just plodded along, talking calmly to it/them - I think it's more of an attention thing than territorial. I only raised my voice when one took a bit more of a bite than a nibble at my shoulder and at that it danced away and looked a bit sorry for itself. Generally it's kicking that'll do you damage, so watch for legs coming up or getting behind them. Whenever I've been 'rushed' it seems clear they don't intend to barge me over. If they wanted to do that, they could. A pat on the neck, sticking to the path and some soft, low words seemed to be all they were after.

 

That said, I know other people who've been properly terrorised by horses, but I can't think of a situation where running, or waving a big stick, would be the smart thing to do.

[+Haggis Hunter]

I've had a bit of experience with horses, but not enough for you take take my words as gospel.

 

What I found was that they all have their own individual identity. I found that when you want to handle a horse that you didn't know, you would ask someone what it's temperament was like. I found this saved a lot of injuries as we were dealing with 25 different horses, that not many of us knew.

 

A couple of the horses where police horses, and to my knowledge these are the only horses that are likely to have the courage to barge into you (they are trained for such things). Apparently a horse will jump over an obstacle before hitting it. I was once told, and I don't know if it is true, so don't try this at home. That if a horse runs towards you, lie down and it will jump straight over, as they are afraid of getting hurt.

 

I don't think this has actually been much help to you has it? It may also have something to do with how you react, just like when a person deals with any other animal such as dogs or cattle?

[+yonorri]

I work part time at a stud, that's AT not AS a stud!

 

One of the many things I have learned is that 'horses are stupid, throw rocks at them!'

 

Never stand behind a horse.

 

Some will try not to let you do this by continually turnig towards you others will just lash out with their rear paws. And others will just try and poo on you!

 

Horses are nosey.

 

Let them see you've noticed them, then ignore them, pretend you've got something better to do, it interests them and they'll come and see what you're doing.

 

You shouldn't really 'pet' any strange animal, especially hungry lions and tigers.

 

Most horses like to be scratched on the chest, it tends to pacify them and cause them to be still.

If scratching or patting a horses neck from the ground be wary of their heads, they tend to nod a bit and having a head butting session with a horse hurts, a lot.

 

Horses are sneaky!

Edited April 19, 2007 by yonorri

[+rasj & Stacey]

My girlfriend's parents have several horses, and I have learned the following during my visits to their farm:

 

1) If the horse lays it's ears back, it's not happy and you should stop trying to pet it/bother it.

2) Unhappy horses will bite you and /or kick you.

3) Horses will run your butt over if they are scared. Do not think that they will stop or run "around" you.

4) Horses have different personalities just like pretty much any animal. Some horses do not like dogs and will chase them and try to bite them.

5) My girlfriend's parents have such a horse, and it's funny to watch my 90Lb German Shepherd run for her life from a horse!

 

I am by no means a "horse person" and to be quite honest, they scare me. But from my experience, horses are just scared animals by nature. Being calm and non-aggressive when around them helps, but if they threaten you, just let them know that you are the boss. If you have to, make loud noises and wave your arms around at them. Just make sure you aren't between them and their escape route if you do that and try not to be directly behind them either unless you like to urinate in different colors.

[+maxkim]

We had s similar experience on a costal cache, a public footpath through a field with two dirty horses. (dirty with their own mess). They deliberately ran /rubbed into us then one of them bit Kim on the arm, breaking the skin. Big stick then reslolved this situation... and loads of savlon.

[+The Forester]

Yes, your heavy breathing might easily have been mistaken by the horse as a threat display against it. When threatening eachother, horses will exhale heavily through flared nostrils.

 

Staring directly into the eyes of a horse is interpreted by them as being a threat display too. The horse thinks you are telling it to go away. If you are in his/her home paddock and s/he thinks you are telling it to go away, s/he may be displeased.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, here's what you should have done in that situation. Stand quite still, with your arms at your side. Avert your gaze. Look down at the ground with your head tilted. Turn approximately 120° to the horse, but keep it just slightly in your peripheral vision. What will probably happen is that the horse will walk up to your side and will tilt its head downwards. You have just had a two way conversation with the horse in its own body language. You have told it that you are not a threat and that you are not afraid. By taking the initiative you have shown the horse that you are the leader and it is the follower. Now slowly and calmly walk out of the fiield. It will probably follow you very closely. Don't worry. You are now in charge. Once you are on the other side of the gate, pet the horse. You will feel safe having the fence between the animal and yourself. Give it a polo mint or something and say soothing things to it. That gives it warm and fuzzy feelings for the next geocacher to come its way.

 

As for whether a horse will trample a person, that's slightly complicated. When stallions are fighting eachother in a dominance fight, they will sometimes rear up and 'box' eachother with their forelegs, while trying bite the neck of the opponent. It is very rare for a domesticated horse to behave that way to a person. They just don't want to have something with as complicated shape as a human to get tangled in their legs or underbelly. As has been correctly said in an earlier post, war horses and police horses have to be pro-actively trained to trample people. It goes against their natural preferences.

 

In my gap year I spent six months working as an assistant to the animal trainer at a major European circus. Among the many performing animals we had six Lippizaner stallion liberty horses. The way we trained them to adopt the classic reared up pose of the Levade, with all their weight on their hindlegs and with their front hooves high in the air, was to walk towards the stallion as if trying to walk under its chest. By giving it a previously-trained verbal command to stand its ground, it feels that it has no option but to rear up. If it starts to relax its haunched stance, you just edge a little closer to the base of its chest, walking under its front hooves if necessary. It takes tremendous muscular effert for the horse to maintain that Levade stance, but you can get it to hold the pose for several seconds by that technique because it does not want to come down on top of you.

 

The reason why the horse(s) trotted/galloped across the field towards you was almost certainly in friendliness and perhaps in the hope of a wee morsel such a biccie. Although they are not particularly intelligent animals, they do get bored being left in a field all day and most of them actively seek out the company of people to interact with.

[Nediam]

.....Give it a polo mint or something.....

You shouldn't really feed anything to any animal that doesn't belong to you. Horses are quite often on special "diets"/feeding plans and feeding them may upset their digestive system etc.

 

Back to the O.P. - Were there any young horses or foals in the field? The one that ran at you may have been warning you off.

[LazyCrazy]

Give it a polo mint or something

You should NEVER feed horses that aren't yours. NEVER. You shouldn't feed ANY animals that aren't yours unless you have the express permission of the owner. It's in the country code, which I would hope all Geocachers follow when out and about!

 

Most of these stories of bolshy horses would be very well explained by a history of people walking through those same fields and giving the horses something to eat. Even just a handful of grass.

 

Why does feeding horses make them bolshy?

Because if people who walk through the field feed the horses, then after a few times the horses will expect to be fed. When people walk through the field and don't feed them, the horses get upset because they thought they were going to get food. After a few months of getting fed by the odd person who walks through the field, most horses will start getting a overly friendly with the people who don't feed them. After a year they will start getting pushy and after a few years they can get very bolshy, threatening, and yes some will actually bite if too many people have gone through the field without feeding them. This is absolutely NOT a reason to feed horses who are bolshy with you - it will only make the situation worse.

 

My mum has had ponies for as long as I can remember. I've grown up around them, as did a number of my childhood friends. I've seen several of their ponies turning like this, simply through being kept in a field to which the public has access. I've watched my mum's ponies turning like this because the only field she can rent has a footpath in it. One of the ponies we've had since I was five and he was three. We've grown up together and I knew him very well. I moved away a few years ago, just after the ponies moved into this field. I don't know him well at all now, even though I go home often. He's a very different character. Because we know walkers through the field feed the ponies - we've found the evidence.

 

I might add also that feeding horses you don't know can make them very very ill. There's an illness called Laminitus, which is caused by the horses eating too much rich food. They can get it on their own very easily if the owner just chucks them out into a field, because during spring and autumn, when the grass is richest, the ponies will eat too much and fall ill. The horses can get Laminitus even easier if people feed them outside of what the owner knows they are getting, because then the owner cannot adjust for it.

Laminitus causes a bone (the pedal bone) in their foot to rotate and move downwards. This is very painful in itself, but it's not all - in moving down the bone builds up a huge pressure on the bottom of the horse's foot, which means that they find it very very painful to stand up. However Laminitus also causes horrendous stomach ache, so it is very very painful for them to lie down as well. Not only that, but since horses cannot throw up, the stomach ache won't go away, and they can be suffering for days, weeks sometimes.

Once a horse has had Laminitus once, they can get it again even easier. The pedal bone may not return to it's original place, and may continue to cause the horse aches or pains.

Finally, Laminitus can be fatal.

 

Other reasons for bolshy horses, is some dog-walkers letting their dogs run around and worry the horses - the dog doesn't even need to be in the same enclosure as the horses for it to worry them. A few months of being worried by dogs, and horses will start getting very defensive. Some of the horses of a less mild temperament will be a little more assertive in their defensiveness.

 

As for what to do when encountering bolshy horses, well it's different with every horse, as many people have said. I'd say the best thing to do is, as everyone else has said, talk calmly and quietly to it, don't necessarily try to stroke it (agree wholeheartedly that a head-butting match with a horse will result in a collection of bruises), and exit the field calmly and without fuss. Running around panicking will cause the horse to run around panicking. If you feel nervous, don't talk to the horse - they can hear your nervousness and it will make them nervous. I've never once met a horse who will hurt someone when free in a field, and I've met a lot of horrible little pony club ponies, including some I've looked after. That's not to say they don't exist - I wouldn't know. But the chances of you meeting one are very very small. So you need to just keep calmly, quietly, moving towards the exit of the field.

[+Team Sieni]

Do as I do: If there are horses in a field, don't go into it. Even if it means making a detour through an alligator swamp with a hornets nest balanced on your head - don't go near the horses. They have long faces, yellow teeth and big snorty nostrils and will do something unspeakable to you given the chance, so don't give them a chance. Or a polo mint. They'll have your arm off.

 

Just my opinion. Not that I have any irrational anti-horse bias or anything.

[+jennie.m]

As an experienced rider, I can say I agree with pretty much all the advice given here. One thing to add, Ponies (small horses, less than 145cm at the shoulder) are more intelligent, and therefore more cheeky, than larger horses. They will try to rifle through your pockets, knock into you, nip at you etc.

The main thing to remember with horses is: the back end is the dangerous bit. the reach of a kick could be 5 feet or so. A bite from a horse will hurt, but they can't actually have your arm off or anything! The front legs are rarely used as weapons, these are "prey" animals, not huunting animals, and will want to run away from a threat, hence the back leg kick, then run! A front leg kick will rarely give more than a bruise.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Have to say

 

Don't. Feed. The. Horse.

 

A geocacher comes along, feeds the horse, finds the cache and goes away.

Another geocacher comes along, feeds the horse, finds the cache, goes away.

Another geocacher comes along, feeds the horse, finds the cache, goes away.

 

Next cacher comes along, doesn't feed the horse, horse gets miffed and has a go at the cacher 'cos horse hasn't been fed!

 

Don't. Feed. The. Horse!

 

It's what they tell you not to do with the New Forrest Ponies, and sheep. Feed 'em, they expect everyone to feed 'em! Then they get cross when you don't feed 'em.

 

A horse won't bump in to you, unless it's made to by it's rider, or it's cross with you...

 

G

[+Donmoore]

My wife is a horsey person. and so are my kids. So i went along once to see the horses she was training. My 3 year old daughter just sauntered through the fireld amongst these massive horses thinking it was great(she is fearless) theres me heart going ten to the dozen. Horses know this they are more crafty than they let on. they ran around me messing around this i didn't enjoy.

 

Moral of the story have no fear or else don't go into the field its all well and good getting all this advice but you don't know the animal so you don't know its temperment and you don't know what it is going to do. you would have to be a brave soul to test out half the advice given in this thread.

 

only go into a field of horses when they are tiny little ponies you can jump over.

 

Good luck.

[+Birdman-of-liskatraz]

 

only go into a field of horses when they are tiny little ponies you can jump over.

 

Good luck.

 

I used to work in Graphic Design for a company who sold Herbs for Horses, in the field outside of the "Office" were two animals of the equine variety... One a huge retired Race Horse and one a cute little Shetland Pony... and every time I had to photograph one of them "Modelling" a product - the race horse was always well behaved.. but that lil bugger of a Shetland would push you over with his nose... bite my trousers seeing if I had mints in my pocket.... a 100% pain of a pony!

 

So give me a proper sized horse anyway of the week!!

[+Alibags]

I used to work in a stables, I am pretty confident round horses, but even I had probs from a bolshy horse when I was crossing a field. I did not feed it, nor stroke it, I did not have a dog and generally I ignored it.

 

It wandered up and I said 'hello horsie' and then it decided to it was going to barge me a bit, so I barged it back and then, at the point it was bringing it's back end round to get into position to kick me, I told it to 'go away' (paraphrased) LOUDLY and waved my arms at it. It bogged off down the field to regroup and I brisky exited the field (not running) just moving purposefully.

 

cows are far worse!

[+StrongGale]

As has been said before, never approach a horse from the back and not only can they kick you from behind, but can turn their back legs and kick sideways too. Also, try not to turn your back on them, as I've been nipped this way and it doesn't half hurt!

 

Try not to be scared of them, as they can usually sense this, be brave and if it doubt wave your arms about and shout a bit, they usually just turn tail and run off.

 

If you do have mints on you, many of them will smell them and be all the more interested, so keep them well hidden!

 

D

[+The Forester]

that lil bugger of a Shetland would push you over with his nose... bite my trousers seeing if I had mints in my pocket

It wasn't really asking whether that was a mint in your pocket. It just wanted to know whether you were pleased to see it.

 

give me a proper sized horse anyway of the week

Hhhmmm

[+doctor scotland]

 

Staring directly into the eyes of a horse is interpreted by them as being a threat display too. The horse thinks you are telling it to go away. If you are in his/her home paddock and s/he thinks you are telling it to go away, s/he may be displeased.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, here's what you should have done in that situation. Stand quite still, with your arms at your side. Avert your gaze. Look down at the ground with your head tilted. Turn approximately 120° to the horse, but keep it just slightly in your peripheral vision. What will probably happen is that the horse will walk up to your side and will tilt its head downwards. You have just had a two way conversation with the horse in its own body language. You have told it that you are not a threat and that you are not afraid. By taking the initiative you have shown the horse that you are the leader and it is the follower. Now slowly and calmly walk out of the fiield. It will probably follow you very closely. Don't worry. You are now in charge.

 

I did exactly the same thing some years ago after a horse in a field decided that it didn't like an ex girlfriend (seems the horse had better taste than me at the time!!)

I'd recently watched a programme about horse whispering, and amazingly it worked!

[mtfc94]

i love dvds of horses

[DaBeEm]

Lots of helpful comments - thanks everyone, much appreciated!

[+wizard1974uk]

Hoarse whisper? Isn't that what you get when you shout too much?

[DaBeEm]

Yes, your heavy breathing might easily have been mistaken by the horse as a threat display against it.

 

Maybe that was the problem. When faced with a hill i usually take a couple of puffs on my inhaler first, but on this occasion i didnt.

 

Back to the O.P. - Were there any young horses or foals in the field?

 

I dont think so, if there were they werent with the other two

 

Do as I do: If there are horses in a field, don't go into it.

 

Horses arent usually a problem for me, done loads of caches in the new forest without incidents, even when ive been close. With this particular cache the horses were right at the top of the hill, not visible from the bottom as there were some trees, maybe a fence too, half way up. I didnt spot them until i got close to the top (past the point of no return for getting the cache, a few hundred feet!) - and it was quicker to get to the stile and safety than turning round and leaving the field lower down.

 

Where was It,

 

In Dorset, near Dorchester

[+Simply Paul]

On the subject of Asthma, I cut margarine and butter out of my diet in 2000, and within two weeks my asthma, which I'd had since childhood and which had landed me in hospital for a week, had completely vanished. I don't even bother carrying my Vlad (the Inhaler) when climbing mountains these days. Just a thought

[+Donmoore]

Having already posted here i feel ashamed it has taken me this long to think of this. well it did come to me as i was telling my wife about this thread. it only triggered my comedy brain cell then.

 

As you pointed out you were having problems with your breathing upon entering said field. At this point i believe big horse thought you were a little horse(hoarse see what i've done there?) and became excited by this prospect and had no other choice but to run towards you and investigate further.

I can almost picture it now. the disapointment must have been obvious. did you not see the long face as he got near?

 

well it amused me anyway.

[DaBeEm]

On the subject of Asthma, I cut margarine and butter out of my diet in 2000, and within two weeks my asthma, which I'd had since childhood and which had landed me in hospital for a week, had completely vanished. I don't even bother carrying my Vlad (the Inhaler) when climbing mountains these days. Just a thought

 

Thats interesting. Mine was only diagnosed in December last as being the cause of my breathing difficulties, usually when overexerting myself - walking, particularly up stairs and hills etc. Came as a surprise as previously i considered myself to be reasonably fit - including running a few london marathons in my time (should post that in another thread too!)