How to not be afraid of horses

monkeyman

monkeyman

Lurker
Hi everyone, this is my first post. Ive always wanted to have a passionate relationship with a mare, but the problem is, im afraid of them. I always fear they Will harm me. Are there any ways to overcome this?
 
There is only one way - become a horse person. The cure for fear is knowledge.

I would start by Googling the name Dorrance along with horses. That will lead you down a true path for the rest of your life if you want.
 
the only way to get rid of fear is to face it. volunteer as a stable hand and work from there. wishing you best of luck.
 
I used to fear them due to their size and strength. While I'm not an equine zoo myself, multiple equine zoos with mares have assured me that generally they are easy tempered with humans and almost never kick you, unless you legitimately give them a reason to. Mares like dogs, can form deep bonds with their human companions. Once this bond is formed, hurting you is the last thing on the horses mind. They're more likely to try and please you, sexual or otherwise.

With that being said, this is only testimony from other horse zoos. I honestly haven't stood next to a horse since I was a kid. I like to meet a horse again in person. If she'll have me, I'll have her. But I honestly wouldn't mind just staring at their beauty.

But hearing this testimony laid a lot of my fears to rest. Hopefully, you'll meet some nice equine zoos who will do the same for you.

If you have a phobia of being trampled, while unlikely, you could start your zoo journey with a mini mare once you get your own land and the appropriate equipment for their needs. Mini mares can be as light as only 160 lbs.
 
I used to be scared of horses when I was younger, then I got the chance to learn how to ride and care for them one summer. Totally changed my opinion of horses and in a few years I started having feelings for the mare I learned to ride.

A well mannered mare is very unlikely to try hurt you unless given a reason, unlike most stallions. My advice is to either take riding lessons or do volunteer work involving equines to help you work through your fears.
 
I'm female, in to horses but also very scared of them! I suppose its getting used to them, as you're not used to be around them, I think the more time you just spend with horses the more at ease you'll feel around them. Just got to throw yourself in there and spend time with them. If you can have others with, so you feel a bit safer and have some assistance if needs be. Horses are very intelligent and very emotionally in-tune with people, they pick up on your feelings and that, they'd only kick or trample if spooked or felt attacked, but it is that unpredictability that gets me too. I say start with a smaller mare as others have suggested too.
 
FloofyNewfie said:
I used to fear them due to their size and strength. While I'm not an equine zoo myself, multiple equine zoos with mares have assured me that generally they are easy tempered with humans and almost never kick you, unless you legitimately give them a reason to. Mares like dogs, can form deep bonds with their human companions. Once this bond is formed, hurting you is the last thing on the horses mind. They're more likely to try and please you, sexual or otherwise.

With that being said, this is only testimony from other horse zoos. I honestly haven't stood next to a horse since I was a kid. I like to meet a horse again in person. If she'll have me, I'll have her. But I honestly wouldn't mind just staring at their beauty.

But hearing this testimony laid a lot of my fears to rest. Hopefully, you'll meet some nice equine zoos who will do the same for you.

If you have a phobia of being trampled, while unlikely, you could start your zoo journey with a mini mare once you get your own land and the appropriate equipment for their needs. Mini mares can be as light as only 160 lbs.
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With very rare exceptions, a horse isn't likely to kick a person unless surprised - which is fairly hard to do, considering the fact that as prey animals whose main defense is "get the fuck outta dodge!", they pretty much exist in a near-constant state of what a self-defense instructor would call "condition orange" - the only "higher alert" condition is red. A kick that's actually aimed at a human is a very rare thing, though a human pushing his way into a scuffle between two or more horses might catch one if he's damn-fool enough to wade into such a situation.

A horse MIGHT bite a human, but usually, it's less an actual bite than a case of "Oops, got fingers/some meat on the palm along with the snack you were offering - sorry..." or "Oh, yeah... That's the spot! Scratch harder! Feels so good I just gotta share <CHOMP> - Hmmm... Sorry, forgot you two-leggers ain't got hides as tough as mine..."

As for trampling a human, unless there are several in a group, all in full-blown outright flee-in-terror panic mode, and "forced" into it (a human blocking the only exit from an enclosed space, ferinstance) a horse is going to do everything it can to avoid stepping on a human obstacle. Sentient or not, they've got a pretty good sense of self-preservation, and a leg injury (or having his hoof trapped in your ribcage...) is severely bad juju to a horse. They'll almost always dodge sideways, jump over you, or maybe knock you down as they try to leap over you, but actually stomp over top of you? Almost never happens. In general, only a horse specifically trained to stomp on a human target will do it, and while it's possible to train them for that, it's generally not something that's done these days, for obvious reasons. Such training pretty much ceased when mounted warriors stopped being a significant factor in warfare. This of course ignores the case of damn-fool humans that don't keep their feet out from under the horse's feet when in close quarters and get toes stepped on, but thats not "trampling" someone - that's nothing more or less than the human putting his bits and pieces where they shouldn't ought to be at the wrong moment. Most people pick up on that concept real quick, though, so it's rarely a significant issue.

Of course, all of these concepts go out the window in the case of a true renegade horse or a vicious feral, but then, only someone who already knows his business, and knows it very well, around horses should even be thinking about attempting to do anything at all with one of those.
 
Observe their moods. I would start with their safe zones. I approach them indirectly, not directly as prey would. I'll offer and upturned hand and let them smell me for a bit. I watch the ears closely, the mood barometer. That's a whole other chapter. People are harder to read IMHO. I'll massage the shoulder and the tops of their withers, then scritch the hard to reach areas, but bites, etc. I usually get into mutual grooming sessions. lol. I love that. See the Tellingtouch series books for more relaxing massage techniques They give you the best back rubs I swear. ;-) I Always let them know where I am by touch. If you go behind them, make sure your hand is on their back. If you know each other well, then it varies. Don't surprise them. They have limited rear vision. They jump objects blindly too. Amazing. I agree with other comments here, they will not willfully hurt you once you have a bond. They can step on you. Don't wear sandles and put your foot in their path. They're 1,200 pounds! Duh. Be smart and aware. If you see a horse fly, kill that damn thing. I always leave room for an out in case they get spooked. I hate confinement. The bond builds confidence, and trust is bi-directional from my experience. Knowledge suppresses fear, which converts to confidence and trust . I still don't know as much as I want to about them. It will take me a lifetime of continued learning. That's my two cents.:p
 
Yep, if you're gonna cross or otherwise be "right in the line of fire" for a kick, you either wanna be close enough that's it's just a shove, or far enough away that it can't reach you. For me, that means I've probably got a hand on the rump - horse knows I'm there, and if it does decide to kick for some totally off the wall reason, it hits me with hocks and it isn't but a push. Honestly can't remember the last time I got actually kicked by a horse where it was anything worse than a shove.

No - I lie! Got to thinking about it as I was checking for typos, and realized that I *DO* remember the last time...

Old Spot, back when I was... let's see, would've been 5, I think. Maybe 6. Knew better - he was one that got a red ribbon in his tail when he went out in public, and having grown up a "free range" kid wandering amongst 'em, I knew exactly what that meant. Here I come, dragging my literal "little red wagon" - Almost certainly a Radio Flyer - from directly behind him, rattling and banging away. Walked straight into both barrels - one on each shoulder. Thankfully, the distance was just right so that it just knocked the wind out of me and tossed me across the yard a few feet then set me on my arse gasping - instead of ripping both arms off at the shoulder.
 
Interact with them. learn their behaivior, learn, how to approach them, learn to read their language. LEARN.

You wont loose youre fear if you dont get exposed to it.
 
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