Getting Charged At By Horses

I'd like to hear your stories about being charged at by horses.

If you have room to move you have the choice between standing your ground or taking evasive action. If the horse is alone and the area is clear of obstacles the horse can swerve aside at any point or carry on until impact. If you or the horse are hemmed in the choices are more limited.

I offended a stallion. He galloped off out of sight leaving me thinking he was a bit of a wimp . . . until he reappeared over the rise galloping straight towards me. He just wanted a good run up. I had time to think about it and I decided standing my ground was the best thing. There was a moment when he was a few yards away coming straight at me at full speed when I wondered if perhaps I'd made the wrong decision. Then he swerved aside, jumped and kicked, came around me, then back up out of sight over the rise and repeated the process twice more.

He wasn't very fit at the time and after the third charge he stopped close by breathing hard. I cautiously approached him talking to him gently, put the headcollar on him and led him around. He was quiet as a lamb and we had a mostly good relationship from then on.

On a previous occasion I'd been travelling late at night in the rain when I saw a horse trailer with the back open and straw on the floor in a field by the road. Thinking it would be a good place to sleep I entered the field and walked up to the trailer. Unknown to me it had been left in the field to enable a difficult horse to become accustomed to the trailer. The horse may have been feeling possessive about the trailer. It certainly didn't want an intruder there. It came at me aggressively out of the dark and I fled and vaulted the gate. That didn't feel like a time to stand my ground.

One time I stood like a fool not knowing what to do was in thick fog at dawn. I'd entered the field and cautiously walked across it. Visibility was very poor. I called my horse. He wasn't far away and I heard him cantering straight towards me. I couldn't understand how he could have the confidence to canter when visibility was so poor. I couldn't tell where he was going to appear and I stood, fidgeting and nervous, not knowing what to do. Suddenly he loomed into view and stopped beside me looking slightly surprised. I'm still surprised that he felt able to canter when the fog must have meant he was running blind.

Have you ever been charged at by a horse? What was your experience?

If you're hemmed in and the horse hasn't got room to manoeuvre it can be very dangerous.

I was mushroom picking in a spot where horses wander about at will. It was an area full of silver birch trees and every now and then an a small clearing of grass where the horses tended to be.
I emerged from the woodland into one of the small clearings, walking with my vision firmly set on the ground a metre in front of me. Scanning the grass ahead not thinking about my surroundings. I was startled by the sound of a horse I had not even realised was there. I quickly looked up and saw that the horse was accompanied by a fawn and I stopped dead in my tracks.
It felt like hours had gone by with me and this horse staring each of out. It had started to get angry and I decided the best thing was for me to leave. As I turned and walked away I heard it start to walk, following me. I looked over my shoulder and the horse began to run and so did I. I was terrified, sprinting as fast as I could with the horse galloping behind I made for a metal gate and leapt straight over it.
My heart thumping I turned and the horse had stopped and was waiting for me to come back over. I walked the track and the horse walked beside me on the other side of the fence, stalking me like prey. I started to jog and the horse did not, I made it to a gap and darted into the woodland not knowing if the horse was still chasing me.
Quickly I made it to my van and panicking, opened the door and jumped in. I let out a huge sigh of relief. I was safe. I looked to my left.
The horse was sitting next to me....






lol, I made the last part up.

a reply to: Kester

There is a significant difference between being charged at by a horse with no rider or saddle, and being charged by a police officer on a horse.

For a start, a horse left to its own devices operates according to natural instinct alone, and that instinct, although it may have room for violence, will favour self preservation and use of its physical size, to terrify an offending party into backing off, rather than entering into physical combat with the individual in question. Sometimes a horse will have been mistreated by an owner, or have had experiences out in the wild perhaps which lend a more aggressive attitude to its dealings with threats. In such a scenario, the natural instinct of that horse may have been augmented to include doing physical violence with far less provocation. Best to avoid that.

But a trained police horse? Those animals are tested, trained to allow the rider to control their behaviour, direction, speed, and so on. A police horse will not stop if its rider instructs it to continue. It will ignore the things which might distract or terrify an untrained horse, or a horse which has been bred and trained for other roles, like racing, or jumping. It will diligently carry its rider wherever that individual wishes to go, even if that happens to be through a crowd of protestors or rioters. The two things are not alike in the least.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Here's another way to get charged by a horse. Nasty.

a reply to: SilentE

Glad you got out of there OK. Like people, you never can tell.

www.chronofhorse.com...

Last year a friend of mine lost a mare through a live cover breeding. The stallion wasnt getting the job done with him and the mare being held, so the stallion owner suggested turning them out loose together. He did get her bred, and as the mare and stallion owner were talking, the stallion appeared to take great exception to this mare being in "his" paddock, so from what I was told by the mare owner, he flattened his ears and charged at her, tried to grab her by the neck and throw her on the ground. They both went into the paddock to try and get the mare out of there and he repeatedly savaged the mare and if they got within range, he pinned his ears and flew at them and drove them both out of the paddock. And then went back to savaging the mare. The SO got a lunge whip so she could try and drive him off the mare, the MO grabbed the mare and tried to get her out of the paddock, but the stallion flew at both of them so she had to let go of the mare and get the Hell out of there and then he went back to savaging the mare again

Finally she was able to get the mare out of there with a lot of holes and gashes in her neck and body. She was euthanized a few days later and the MO said as many horses as she has been around over so many years, she has never been as afraid for her life as she was trying to get her mare out with the stallion coming at her repeatedly.

a reply to: Kester

I offended a stallion.

Your posts are always hilarious*, whether intentional or not.
My sister has been charged at by no less than 4 separate horses (she seems to offend them too) and also by a goat. She evaded the goat by climbing a tree, and the horses by dodging at the last moment (and screaming loudly).
The particularly sore point for her was that one of the horses had appeared quite friendly at first, but then veered under a low branch (on purpose she claims) with the intent (she claims) of knocking her off. She ducked, and rode it to it's field when it then turned and headed straight for her. Adding insult to (near) injury.

They're pretty scary when they take a dislike to you, I'm a bit wary of horses.

* the way you write them, not the content!

a reply to: beansidhe

They will knock you off with a low branch if they don't want you there. If there's no branch available there are numerous other options. My father-in-law saw a new hand mount a cattle horse in Australia. The new man wore spurs and jabbed the expert cattle driving horse in the ribs. The horse stood still for a second then turned its head, took the man's leg in its teeth, and dragged him off.

a reply to: Kester

I texted my sister to let her know - she says she feels vindicated now, she wasn't imagining it! Last thing I would want is a horse's teeth in my leg, they can do some real damage with those things.

originally posted by: beansidhe
I'm a bit wary of horses.

I've always been a bit wary and stayed away from horses after being thrown from one the first time I ever sat in a saddle aged about 15.
These last few weeks have been brilliant though, I've been fence building at some stables/paddocks and I've got to know the horses there, head to head hugs/strokes, really connected with them, even though I was #ting it when they followed me around the first day.
They hated me when I started as they didn't like the petrol chainsaw I was using, thought they were out to get me at one point.

Two of the horses are cared for by mid teen girls and I was a bit ashamed of my fear but I was honest and admitted it to them so they introduced their beautiful animals to me. They are absolutely stunning creatures and these last few weeks have changed my perception of horses.

a reply to: grainofsand

I quite like them, and I've rode a couple of times. I completely bottled it when I met some Clydesdales though -those things are enormous.
My friend broke her collarbone when a horse kicked her, so I'm a wee bit cautious of them as an entity (horsist).

Fence building at a stables sounds nice though, plenty of time for thinking in the fresh air. A horse hug would just be the icing on the cake. I love it when you 'connect' with an animal, and they remind you that you're an animal too - we just happen to share this space together. They make a lot more sense than people some days, they play less games and tell you exactly how they feel.

They are beautiful creatures though, I am slightly in awe of them.

I have been charged at by a bunch a cows, the most terrifying moment of my life. Elvis was the name of the bull with his herd of girlies. Elvis didn't mind me and hubby in field but the ladies came at me snorting and strutting their weight until I jumped a 6 foot fence. The fear I felt will never leave me and I always look at a field and say they are killer cows. In Britain quite a few people have been killed by cows. So now I don't even cross a field with horses as they are bigger and stronger. Those cute animals are after us humans. Pay back time.

a reply to: beansidhe

Best parts of my day those head-to-head horse hugs lol, I am in awe of them as well, and this last week or so has been amazing for me to get to know these majestic animals.
...and it took a couple of mid-teen girls to shame me into getting over my fear!

a reply to: Kester

I've been ran into by a polo pony.

I was in the goal,a player scored,I raised my flag and waited for the four-footed lunatic to stop.

I didn't know in which direction to throw myself and the poor neddy started to look a bit worried.The rider hauled back the reins,fortunately,and I received the biggest smack of my life.

It's the furthest I've ever flown without a mountainbike under me.

After I finished tumbling along the ground and woozily stood up(to applause from the audience)the rider asked me if I was alright.

I replied "Yes,I'm fine....how's your horse?"

a reply to: beansidhe

His leg was badly ripped and he had to travel for hours to get it stitched.

I inadvertently offended my stallion again at a later point in our relationship. I was bent over facing away from him at the time. He took hold of my right buttock in his teeth and flung me aside. It didn't break the skin but it was a very impressive bruise. At least I thought it was impressive. When I tried to show it to my friends for sympathy the reaction was anything but sympathetic.

a reply to: Kester



I can sympathise since I was also arse-gouged, but by a parrot. I was sitting on a plastic chair (funnily enough I was with my sister, who seems to attract these animal based accidents) in Mexico, when unbeknown to me, a parrot lodged itself underneath and then prised its beak through one of the plastic slats. No bleeding in my case either, just a squawking and flailing chair-flinging exercise when I tried to figure out what had happened.
I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible. (That story warrants a Morrissey quote).

a reply to: grainofsand

Can I ask the circumstances of getting thrown?

Being scared of them can keep you safe when you don't know enough about them. I'm reminded of the time a busy body festival goer tried to shoo some traveller horses away from a bin they were eating chapattis from. The wise old mare just fractured his pelvis and carried on eating.

Now you've got this change in perception, please be aware it's bad manners to interact with random horses who you may encounter, possibly standing at a gate waiting for attention. It's far too easy to spook them with something unfamiliar or interfere with training. By interfere with training I mean you can introduce some influence that seems nothing to you, but the owner suddenly finds a major change in behaviour and response to training.

a reply to: beansidhe




Laughter precludes sensible comment.

a reply to: beansidhe



I used to lead a Clydesdale in from a 12 acre field. One day I thought, "She's so quiet. Why don't I ride her holding the lead rope." She stood patiently while I struggled up onto her. Then she took off like the wind. All I could do was hold on to her mane. The hedge passed as a green blur. In the corner we were heading for there was a set of chain harrows, some trees and a river. Every time I'd seen her move at speed before that she'd ended it with a big bucking spree. I considered bailing out but from that height at that speed onto hard ground it wasn't a nice thought. To my relief she slowed down when we reached the corner of the field and let me get off. I never tried to ride her without a bridle and bit again.

a reply to: Ericthedoubter

I'm glad you noticed the horse was looking worried. Some people think they're just instinct and training. There's a lot more than that.

Good that you didn't get any broken bones from that encounter.

If you let a horse do what it wants, it won't see you as the master. Personally though, I prefer geldings and mares, and leave stallions to those who want to mess with it.