2 1/2 weeks post ankle surgery for a broken tibia incurred from a horse fall, I finally got back to the barn today! (Albeit in a wheelchair lol) which is where my question comes in. Only two of the twelve horses actually let me get close because the others are terrified of the wheelchair. I’d like to go down for more visits and I’m gonna be in the wheelchair till the end of October. Is there any way to show them it’s not gonna hurt them? They were in stalls when I went to see them but I still couldn’t get close.
Holding up a carrot for them to see!!!
I’m trying to remember how it went when I introduced my aunt to my guy - we were at a horse show that was wheelchair accessible. I think it was easy enough because I was still in the tack and we just walked right over. My mother was on the ground to assist if anything went really sideways, but he was too interested in his “post show treat” to care about wheelchair shenanigans.
I would start with the highly food motivated ones. Crinkly wrappers, grain scoops, etc - the typical “food is here” sounds/signs that horses have already learned…now they just have to accept that it involves a wheelchair.
Best of luck, and hoping for a quick recovery for you!
A fellow boarder brought a friend in a wheel chair to our barn for a visit. Lots of horses were giving the friend the “hairy eyeball”. I think if you have someone the horse knows and trusts lead the horse to the wheelchair, they pretty quickly recognize it isn’t a threat. At least my gelding and the other boarder’s own horse responded well to that approach. Food treats can also be helpful.
Yeah…I don’t know. I had foot surgery several years ago. I was using a knee scooter most of the time but it just didn’t work well at the barn in the gravel and dirt so I ended up using my crutches out there. OMG, my horse was terrified of them and just could not figure out my extra silver legs.
I could have someone bring her in the barn and eventually she would stand and snort…ready to leave at a moment’s notice but at least stand. I could literally walk (crutch) out the barn door, turn around and come back in and I had to start all over. She would be snorting and lunging and plunging around me. She never minded the scooter one bit. She never did settle with the crutches…it was weird.
Susan
Carrots. Lots of carrots. And talk to them, so they realize it’s just a person in a funny chair.
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Well, lots of carrots will work. But a wheelchair grossly limits your mobility. Even quiet horses can have a “Monday” and if you’re in the way in your wheelchair and its gross limits on your mobility…?
Do YOU have a “handler?” If not maybe one would be a good idea. Not to handle your chair but to handle the horse.
Going in harm’s way in a wheelchair should be carefully considered. You don’t need any more “breaks”, I presume! 
Good luck as you heal up!
G.
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When a horse shies from something, teach the horse to follow scary things.
When when something is scary, have someone “walk” that away from the horse and someone behind at a for that horse safe distance follow.
Horses are not scared if what they are unsure of is going away from them, but start to get interested and many will follow it, to the point of “conquering” it.
We have one of those practice roping steers we pull behind a 4 wheeler.
Practically every horse is scared when they see it for the first time.
It looks like a real animal, but is not!
It also wiggles and back legs keep kicking out as it moves.
We pull it away from them, they follow it and in a few minutes they are running up to “catch” it.
Now it is a game, not something scary any more.
If pushed to approach that monster, some horses get really worked up, is not a good learning situation, only teaches them to resist your requests.
You could try, if safe, to have someone push the wheelchair away if you can’t move it yourself and someone else lead the horse and see how that goes.
Using treats judiciously to train and reward, not to bribe!, is always helpful.
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My oldest daughter took her mare to middle school to be used as a prop for a book report. The class met outside to allow her to show the class mates what a real Morgan horse was. The kids encircled the horse who stood to be touched/petted/admired… one girl who was confined to a wheelchair looked on intently… the mare sees this girl and ever so gently works her way to stand directly in front of the the girl then lowered her head into the girls lap so the girl could touch her…the girl started crying… I intervened but the girl’s mother stopped me as her daughter told her she was crying because she said no animal had ever liked her before.
Afterwards this girl became a regular visitor to our house to see “her”" horse.
Much later on the girl’s mother saw me and stopped to say her daughter had just obtained her PhD in Education, she was saying that one day changed her life, giving her confidence she never thought she had
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When I had to use my wheeled walker in the barn the horses just were not too sure about it at all.
Then I “told” the horses that it was just a weird wheelbarrow.
After some snorting and thinking it through most of the horses decided my walker was not longer scary.
You might want to try this first with someone pushing your wheelchair so it looks more like a wheelbarrow. Then you will have the challenge of getting them used to it when you are propelling it yourself.
Clanter - horse empathy - a lady came to our home and loved horses, so we took her in her wheelchair out to the barn
but stopped outside the little ‘people’ space in the fence line. We had a foal and I was anxious she might get cheeky. Not so, that little thing gently poked her head through the space and put her head in the lady’s lap. The lady had had a stroke and life was hard for her, but she became so radiant with that foal’s trusting way.
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horses amaze me in their insight … we have used our competitive horses for beginner school horses, one who looks (and acted) like “Spirit” the buckskin cartoon horse was often the mount the littlest of kids wanted to ride. He was ever so careful with his charge, he would sidestep to keep his rider centered in the saddle
There is a connection that some children gain from an animal, my daughter has trained her Golden Retriever to be “reading Dog” who has a long list of kids who want to read to her.
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and we still take a horse to school… at first it was hush, hush… slip him in the back way, up to the third floor for the high school photography class … but a year or so ago we were told the principal in a district meeting told the superintendent “yes there will be a horse in my building and it is OK” … now his visits are just expected
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that is so sweet <3
Minis are considered service animals along with dogs (appropriated trained and mannered, of course) 
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Last winter I broke my foot (horse stepped on me) and once I was cleared to hobble on my soft cast after 4 weeks I went to see her where she was being kept at my trainers barn.
They drove me right into the arena and had an old collapsible wheelchair out for me.
Horse didn’t care at all but I felt very vulnerable with her up close loose in the arena.
I suppose she didn’t really see me getting pushed in the chair.
Of course this is a horse who is totally used to bikes, strollers, electric carts, etc from riding daily in a park.
I just wanted to say that this post brought me to tears, happy tears
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the horse was really a special Morgan, she looked like the print of Justin Morgan she wasn’t show quality but would tolerate being taken a show so one of our kids would have a mount. She was the half sister of the mare who won multiple national championships in different disciplines.
There was another time she was herself. Daughter and friend went trail riding on the local levee system Friend was riding this little Morgan (she was just 13.3). They had just climbed up one side of the levee and the friend falls off. My daughter said Shay looked at her friend on the ground with an expression of I Did Not Do That and she turned to head home. The route was not direct, nor was it logical as we live in the city. Horse trots back the same way they came… but she picked up a police car that followed her all the way to the gate to the barn. The officers said they had not seen anything like it as they said the used the crosswalks but before stepping on the roads she would look both ways to make sure the way was clear. Even crossing the the six lane divided highway they said she crossed to the median stopped looked both ways again then crossed. They said they did not attempt to catch her as they said she appeared to know where she wanted to go …and she was being safe.
She was a very good backyard horse who liked her kids… oh afterwards all of our horses were taught to ground tie
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they are smart… but our three at can get into more trouble than nine horses… always into something. The one we take to high school is fittingly named Romeo and the high school girls love him…he stands at 25 inches … he just posses for them, oh you want me to turn, how is this … the first time daughter took him to the photography class it was more like an outtake from The Mission Impossible as my wife and daughter (who orchestrated this) clandestinely slipped Romeo in the building through the library then up to the third floor… other teachers were covering for my daughter who also teaches at this school. The principal found out later when the kids started instant messaging photos of the horse in the school. The saving grace was several of the kids in the photography class took photos that won awards in competitions… every year before taking Romeo to the class their live animal shots were of dogs and cats and the kids wanted something new… my daughter heard about it and suggested that she could bring in a horse.
The next few years it was again a slip him in without really seeking permission the administration just turned a blind eye to the affair. Then last year year the principal just told the superintendent yes there is going to be a horse in my building and it is OK … now he is expected to show up… which should be in the middle of October.
is it the chair or is it the fact that a human is moving in an un-natural ( to their eyes) way?
I suspect it is the later.
Not sure they can tell the difference from a wheelbarrow or cart used in the barn. But a person riding in a wheelebarrow might elicit the same hairy eyeball reaction.
This requires the most sensible and carrot driven horse to take the lead and be offered a carrot from the sitting person. However it should be in a situation where the horse has ample room to fell they have an “out” in case they want to react.
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Horses have a natural curiosity, but it may take time for them to realize you are not a hairy, spooky alien. I’d just park the wheelchair out there and when that is a done deal, go and sit in it - for as long as it takes before one horse has enough curiosity to venture forward. …if you are safe and will not get barged into.
