Conference noted::equitation

    Hi Linda,
    
    The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, maybe its the
    breed!!  My mare hates cows, snorting, blowing and trying to take
    off as soon as we get near them.  The more she saw them, the better
    she got but she wasn't too pleased when the cows started running along
    the fence line beside us!!

    Hi linda....
    
    Well your not in this boat alone. I to had this happen to me but
    my mare spun around so fast she lost her footing and over backwards
    we went.I was really lucky not to get hurt. She took off in this
    field and was looking for her way out. lucky I got to the  gate
    first. She never really got over it. It took me a long time to get
    her back into that field again. When ever i tried she of course
    remembered. Now the cows are gone and so is her ghosts.....There
    is another cow down the road and i spent many trips by there to
    try and get her use to their smell. 
    
    She is pretty good now although she knows they are there and tenses
    up some when she smells them, she will go by them. My other horses
    are the same way too. I just try to subject them to there fears
    as much as possible and they seem to be better now.
    
    I have sheep and a year or two ago I went on the Sturbridge trail
    ride at the village. Well the sheep were out on the lawn and my
    gelding went NUTS. Sheep are sheep I don't know what his problem
    is. Oh well......
    
    good luck
    
    terry

    I had the same problem with a gelding I had. Only his was with 
    sheep as Terry mentioned. He loved cows,but the sheep were a whole
    'nother story. I live about 1 mi from a huge sheep farm and had 
    this horse for 10 years..he never got used to them.. he was more
    in awe of them than afraid, but he just couldn't get over them.
    We used to just go for short trail rides just to stand by the 
    fence and watch them, when they began to run was when I had to be
    careful, he would get full of snort and blow as though he was going
    to burst not from being afraid but wanting to join them or CHASE
    them is more probable.
    
    Marianne
    

    Well it certainly is good to know I am not alone! :-) I like the
    idea of having a quieter horse go with her, but I almost always
    ride alone. I have a neighbor who has Belgiums, and his daughter
    has a TB but she got thrown off him so much he has been sent away
    for professional training and probable sale. Perhaps I could truck
    our own TB up for a few tries...with my luck he'd be terrified of
    them too! Thanks everyone, and keep the ideas coming! :-)
    
    Linda
    

    
    Yup, some horses just aren't familiar with various animals. 
    
    My horse was fine riding near and through a herd of cows until one day,
    instead of just standing there, they chased us.  She tried very hard 
    to leave for Kansas.  Of course, she reacted the same way when a herd 
    of antelope decided to quit watching and start chasing.
    
    All I could do was sit there and hold with my legs to keep her from
    moving laterally and backwards and hold with my hands to keep her from
    running forward.  Instead we bounced up and down (better than running,
    however).
    
    I can hardly wait until we encounter a herd of pigs for the first time.
    All my other horses think they are seeing a field of rocks getting up
    and moving.

    Pigs are LOTS of fun!
    
    

    
    	I've been there! Ray has tossed me off cause I wouldn't let him
    	run away from sheep - he couldn't run, so he bucked. And he hates
    	cows as much as anything. He used to try to run, but he's getting
    	better now - does this wonderful half-circle around them, with
    	his nose facing them at all times. And when we come upon the
    	flock of watch-geese on Jackson road...well, more fun! Those
    	things *pinch*!
    
    	Anyhow, this puts me in mind of two things. First, I re-read Black
    	Beauty a couple of months ago (still as terrific as ever!) and
    	to get the horse used to train whistles, the trainer sent him
    	off to another farm whose field was next to the railroad bed.
    	Beauty was terrified at first, but got used to it. So, I think I'd
    	like to take ol Ray and toss him out with a few strange animals
    	for a while just to get him used to them.
    
    	Second, horses are still relatively wild; as compared to cats and
    	dogs, humans domesticated horses much more recently. In addition
    	to which horses developed as prey, not as hunters like cat and dog
    	type animals did. So all of this helps to explain why the horse's
    	"flight" reaction is so very strong. Any fear stimulates that flight
    	response, and he's off. Hang on!!
    
    	Don't you love 'em? And to think, there are actually people out
    	there who can't understand why...
    	
    	-julie

    I also have a horse who can't stand cows. Unfortunately the only time I
    ever encounter them is when I'm in the show ring on course. One of the
    farms that hosts many shows in our area is situated next door to a
    dairy farm and I can garauntee that as soon as the announcer makes his
    first call for Adult Amatuers the cows seem to magically appear from
    the barn into the pasture.

    How about showing at a country fair when they're doing oxen pulls. That
    freaks a lot of horses out.

    Re. 9
    
    Wonderful! :-) That's what I can imagine happening when I am 10
    miles out on a competitive ride....with my luck, the judge will
    tie one to a tree or something just to see how the horse goes by
    it! :-)
    
    Er...pigs, too!? Gawd....we had them on our farm in my childhood,
    too, I musta had some pretty brave ponies!  :-) I have never seen
    this particular mare near a pig...something to look forward to!
    Unfortuneatly I can't think of any neighbors who have them....or
    perhaps fortuneatly?? :-) Sheep, though, she has no problems with.
    A few houses down from us there is a mini-farm with tons of 'em,
    she goes by there fine. They also have a little Shetland stallion
    who hollers at her the minute he sees us...he is white and no bigger
    than the sheep, my silly horse is probably convinced that all those
    little white things are nothing but a pack of talkative little ponies!
    
    I am going to try the cow farm again tommorrow afternoon (day off!),
    wish me luck!  hmm...I wonder if my husband has been paying the
    insurance premiums... :-)
    
    Thanks everyone, I am SO glad to know my mare is not the only normally
    sane horse to have this phobia!
    
    Linda
    
    

    
    
    	Boy does this bring back memories...:-)  Silly me in my teenage
        years went riding with two of my 4-H buddies and ended up in
        a nice big pasture FULL of apple tree's with nice big ripe apples.
    	Well of course I thought nothing of running up under one and
    	STANDING up in the saddle to pick a few when all of a sudden
    	the owners (COWS) of this field decided to have a few them selfs!
    	Well as they came RUNNING in I swear my horse grew about 6 feet
    	as I slowly sat back down in the saddle and as soon as I reached
    	his back off he was in the other direction!!!  I never did get
        him used to cows though or get a chance to get my apples I dropped 
    	that day...:-)  

    
    	We had a sheep given to us one time too...  At the time we had
        ten horses in the back yard and we thought nothing of putting
    	little "Jarvis" out with the rest of the pack and as soon as
    	we did there were Ten little horses running for their lives
    	down RT.121!  They did get used to her in time though, from
    	a distance though mind you...:-)
    	

    	Zina

    My TB gelding spent a whole summer in a pasture with sheep, geese,
    chicken, etc. - no cows though.  We went on a trail ride with a horse
    who was terrified of cows, so, monkey-see-monkey-do. Red decided they
    were terrifying also.  The next year we were on a ride by a field with some
    sheep - I learned how short a horse's memory can be - Red acted like
    they were visitors from another planet!  One of his worst scares last
    year was from a single goose waddling up to investigate the horses. 
    Red is normally bomb-proof, and given that he HAD spent so much time
    with other animals, I did not expect these reactions.  You can never
    tell with these beasts!  In his defence, though, he only spooks when he
    is in a playful mood, but since he is only 5 years old, you can guess
    how often that can be...

    Brings back memories of my 16.1 QH who was absolutely scared to
    death of my neighbors burros!
    
    Every time we rode by them, his eyes would bulge so badly I thought
    they were going to pop out of his head! He would try to tiptoe
    past them before they could see him.
    
    

    
    	I must have a great horse for we have encounted pigs, cows, and
    	sheep.  The sheep bothered him the most. Pigs are next. No problem
    	with cows, though.  What he does is come to a quick stop, smells
    	the air, searchs and then with some proding moves forward sideways.
    
    	We are having a problem in the ring with some of the horses in
    	the barn. A neighbor just got a pig.  You can't see it, but the
    	horses can smell it and hear it.  Most don't like going in the
    	ring at all now.  
    
    	what a pain......

    My first horse, Buck, didn't seem to fear anything so I had no sudden
    scares with him.  My second horse, Ka-Jim, also seemed to fear nothing
    EXCEPT the day she met a breed of dog called "Giant Schnauzer".  I
    think the main reason she suddenly felt fear when seeing this hug dog
    appear in front of her on the trail was that the dog froze still.  If
    the dog had kept going, it would have appeared less intimidating to her
    and she probably would have not feared it.  When we'd meet an
    occasional deer out in the woods, she'd just look at it with interest
    but never afraid and the deer would naturally run off in the brush.
    
    The only other thing she's been nervous around was when she'd see the
    big draft horses at fairs pulling bales of hay on skids.  To her it was
    unnatural for bales of hay to "follow" horses.
    
    Pat
    

    How about panic at a PILE OF DIRT.

    I was jogging two standardbreds for fun / experience.
    The fairgrounds track was upgrading with stonedust for State
    Sire stakes racing.  (mass sires since deceased).
    
    Half way around a 1/2 mile track were a row of piles of
    stone dust in the center of the track as the dump truck 
    dumped them.
    Luckily the horse was smart and experienced, eyed them over real
    good the first time, back-peadled as we went towards them and
    ran away a little as we passed.  Every other lap he ignored them.

    The other horse, a mare tried to run past the piles after EACH
    AND EVERY LAP.  You would think after awhile she would of caught on,  
    the piles were not moving or anything.

    Bill
    

    Pigs.....just experienced them 2 weeks ago.....all went well till they
    squealed (or what ever noise pigs make)....and off my gelding went
    like there was no tomorrow.  We went back twice (well the second time
    he was able to stand there quivering, like okay mom, I've seen them,and
    I've had enough.....can we LEAVE now????) and he bolted the first time
    and we were able to walk away the second time .......I hope he
    remembers the next time we go by there.....

    UPDATE;
    
    I tried the cows again this weekend...we got up to the top of the
    hill, where we stood quivering and ready to spin about at a moment's
    notice, but alas, no cows! They must have been in the barn, for
    there was not a one in sight! -sigh-...I can see this is going to
    be an interesting summer! :-) 
    
    This note has reminded me of the time a new boarder at our barn
    (a couple years ago, this was) discovered her gelding was terrified
    of Canadian geese. He ran back to the barn with her running after
    him (she came off at the first lurch forward), went right in through
    the open doors, and into more geese, who were in the aisle picking up
    stray grain bits. He stopped and stood staring wide-eyed until his
    mom caught up with him, at which point the geese hissed and ran
    out the other door. After that he was fine, I guess he thought he
    scared them off rather than his human counterpart....
    
    

    Hey, neat! I am sitting here having a rather slow afternoon (watching
    sleet hit the window and being depressed about a nasty ice/snow storm
    in what is supposed to be the start of spring), thumbing through some
    old notes in here.  Look what I found ... a topic I started myself, 7
    years ago almost to the day!
    
    I still have the same mare who was so terrified of the cows that day. 
    Thousands of trail miles and experiences later, Plympy is still none
    too fond of cows.  While she no longer attempts to flee them, she picks up
    the pace and hurries past while keeping one eye on them until they are
    out of sight.  She has never shown concern about any other farm
    animals, and was the rock of sanity in an incident a few years back
    with several running llamas (I never knew until that day that llamas
    *could* run!), a tiny Shetland, and a frantically circling trail partner 
    whose rider was laughing so hard she could barely stay aboard.  
    
    What does give me pause, though, is the realization that to this day,
    whenever we trot up that hill where the cows were pastured, Plympy
    veers to the far side of the road and eyeballs the remnants of the old
    fence.  The place was long ago sold and developed, the cows have been
    gone for years, but she still remembers the spot!  
         

    I don't think I've read this topic before but it sure made for some fun
    reading. My old mare must be a little unusual. None of the things
    mentioned have ever bothered her. Over the years, she's encountered
    pens w/ 10-20 yapping Pekinese, cows, sheep, goats, geese(wild and
    domesticated), ducks, deer, coyotes. She's had grouse coming up under her
    feet and territorial geese charge at her with flapping wings and lots
    of honking and hissing. She never gave them a second thought. I remember 
    the first time she saw a stag with a big rack of antlers.  She was just
    a rising 3YO and we were training her to drive. The stable was in the
    country and we went down the lane through fields and woodland for driving
    practice. We turned a corner in the lane and there he was standing right 
    in front of us. She stopped and looked at him for a few seconds and then 
    walked on towards him.
    
    "Bombproof! Unflappable!," you say? Nope. She was absolutely terrified
    on day of a barn cat stalking around the rafters! She's none to fond of
    rushing water under a bridge either but she goes as long as I tell her
    it's OK.
    
    John