Teaching baby horses to roll with cattle

[mvp]

I’m embarrassed to say that my new young horse is a bit of a basket case about cattle. I need a solid fix-it plan.

Back story: This horse is more female and hotter than my old gelding who was a kind and quiet show hunter. As a four-year old, I took him to a cutting horse guy and rode some very slow, quiet turn-back for him. Once my gelding figured out that the cattle would move away from him, he was pretty good. I liked being able to introduce him to cattle in a small space and where everything was pretty slow.

I do remember this gelding being OK with cattle afterwards and that never being a big training issue. But I can’t remember how we got there, other than his visit to the cutting trainer and then us just riding slowly around cattle when we (infrequently) met them in our travels.

Should I try to find the same for this mare?

This past weekend, she went on a field trip to a ranch where she saw (and smelled) her first cattle. She was really not sure. So she hung out in a round pen where she could see them. We hand grazed closer to their fence line (they were off a bit in the field) and she gave them a hard look. I’m not sure this kind of desensitization is enough. She seems more verklempt about cattle (and everything) than did my gelding.

I don’t have cattle on the place where she lives, so I need to figure something out.

[BayRoan]

Find a trainer to let you introduce her, so she can figure out she can control them, or go to a beginning team penning, sorting, cow work clinic where they are doing the basics of getting into the herd and moving the cattle, slowly.

Robert Hartley in Coburg does cattle clinic sometimes. Corrinne Dimick (Ride On Ranch) up by Hillsboro does excellent beginner cow clinics. You might also try Laird McCabe outside of Yamhill. Saul Navarro at The Barn outside of Rickreal was doing cow work evenings last winter.

[enjoytheride]

I took my arab mare (in a dressage saddle) to a cutting clinic where she saw her first cow. The clinician did tell everyone to steer clear of me for some reason…

They bring the cows in with a very controlled series of pens so the cows are in a pen within a pen. My mare rooted herself to the ground and her ears and eyes were bulging. As she watched other horses go into the pen and work one cow at a time (with the other cows safely in an inner pen) she gradually got closer and closer to the main fence.

When it came to be her turn someone had to lead her into the outer pen, and then the clinician instructed me to just have her follow the cow, she was curious but cautious. She needed the clinician to put his horse between her and the herd to pass by them.

Eventually it was her turn, after several other exercises, to cut the herd and move all the cows around. I did have to use my whip on her. At one point she snorted very loudly and was shocked when all the cows MOVED. Then she snorted again and the cows RAN. Next she put her nose on a cow and it RAN REALLY FAST. Finally she opened her mouth and had a hunk of burger and that cow put on the afterburners.

She was hooked. By the end of the day she was galloping in a circle through the cows and chasing cows down with her mouth wide open. She did not hesitate to give a cow a mean look and clack her teeth at it if she thought it was looking at her, and I nearly came off when she dropped close to the ground and faced one off that was charging her.

Clinician was very happy and so was I (eventually we would have to work the biting out of her but for then he was happy she was being bold).

[mvp]

BayRoan, Thank you so much for such helpful advice. I thought I’d have to post on some Oregon-centric FB page next.

I’m happy to take this little mare wherever she needs to go to have the right experience. And last time, with my hunter gelding, it was the cutting horse guy who did the most to direct things and ensure the right introduction for him. I just did what I was told and the horse got better.

In general, then, you think that riding the mare and giving her a job to do with cattle that lets her succeed is better than the “let her hang out near them” approach?

I’m starting to get the sense that this mare does do better with some direction. She’ll chill eventually, but it comes faster when she has someone telling her what to do and, I assume, making her feel that they are her alpha mare who is responsible for her safety.

[Luseride]

The best way is to put her in a pen with a couple of cows and leave her alone. If that is not possible you are going to have to get her around cows.

We own a very nice MFT that we got for a steal because he was scared of cows and he was at a barn that had started doing cutting and he was a basket case. He is still spooky around them but not as bad as he once was.

[sorrelfilly721]

Don’t know if you have this near you, but see if you can find a team penning or sorting. They are usually low key and they will pair you with partners. Tell them you’ve never been on cattle before with the horse. It’s usually pretty cheap and you can let the horse figure out that the cattle move away when she approaches. Very empowering.

[BayRoan]

Yes, I think if a horse is prone to be worried, teaching them that they can control the cattle is better than letting them just hang out. It seems that some tell themselves stories about the cattle on the other side of the fence and get worse. Most horses will acclimate, but I think if you see a problem building, show them that they can be in control and it will head off a lot of problems.