Nervous of going to the field

[Sp1cer]

Hi,

Ive just bought my horse, and shared another at the yard where Im putting him - The girl at the yard is brilliant and giving me lessons on stable management, feeds, horse care & riding each week, but my biggest fair is catching him from the field. Its not the physically catching him - I can do that easy its there is about 8 other horses in the field and they all want to come with me too, and they jump about sometimes and Im scared I will get trampled on. The field is huge - 36 acres so sometimes you have quite a walk to get to them. Will this get better as I go on and eventually I wont be scared or will their always be the fear factor.

Pam

[AJB]

this can be a problem when there are lots of horses in the field, could you not suggest to your YO that she makes a gateway inside the gateway, this gives you the opportunity to walk your horse into this "pen" area, close the gate/tape and then go out the main gate in peace without others all trying to get in...this will get worse in the autumn and winter when they want to come in at night for feeds etc so best to address it now...also if your scared you will soon pass this on to the horse...alternatively try to avoid going alone to get him in, two people can deal with this situation better especially if one is experienced -good luck;)

[Nookster]

As said above - try to go with someone who is more confident from the yard.

It does take time but it will become second nature.

Just always be alert to your surroundings. Common sense will always help in these situations. Remember you are in control, most horses will have respect to voice commands so make sure you use them actively when needed.

Maybe also have a little chat while walking with your horses, will bring those nerves down and prevent any horses sensing that

[notpoodle]

i can totally emphatise with you there! a field full of strange horses can be very intimidating i think! mine is in with 10+ other horses and ponies most times ... some days half of them will be lurking at the gate, blocking my way out and trying to follow my horse through the gate :rolleyes: most of them won't budge when i do the waving/shouting thing at them (they're school horses and unfazed by most things incl. me!). i'm always worried about leading my pony past their behinds in case one of them decides to kick or suddenly spin round and take off :rolleyes:

(i'm slowly getting more confident though!)

if you are not confident (yet) in getting your horse in, ask someone from the yard for help :) don't worry about embarrassing yourself, it is better to be embarrassed than have horses escape or trod on you :)


julia
x

[Emarmite]

Hi,

I can also sympathise with this situation, I have loaned my horse for four months now and was terrified when I first had to get him from field, although he is brilliant I did not know the other horses.

I always used to look for spots I can hide behind if anything may happen, and in case the horses decide to charge off.

Now I have got to know the horses I am a lot more confident, we just have one field where they tend to block but are usually very good at moving on voice command, or waving the headcollar around near them helps.

Good luck

Beverley

[4_white_socks]

I agree - it's good to have some people or a person with you. They can keep the horses out of the way while you get your's. It's hard to find ways to get the horses away sometimes.

Today I had to get in a horse who was in a field with another. The horse we were getting was fine, but the other one's mean. He charged and the little angel, making them both run off, giving me rope burn. Painful.

Also, little stallion and BIG runaway horse in with the midget. Had to get midget out but the other two wouldn't have any of it. Hard wrok, not sure what we did.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, I like the dea of the extra gate too.

[notpoodle]

i like the extra gate idea as well, but i don't think many YOs would go for that :rolleyes:

when i got my pony today, there was just her and another horse at the very bottom of the field. i called her and she came gallopping over to me. i was almost worried the little darling would run me over :rolleyes: she didn't though. she ground to a rapid halt in front of me, stretching her head out to be stroked. awww. bless :)

julia
x

[lady ridealot]

I am normally fine getting in horses on my own but a couple of weeks ago i was getting in a Fresian x who is a little highly strung! I had her head collar on and as i was leading her through the gate (It was only open wide enough for her to easily fit through just none of the others!) Well she decided to bolt forewards, trapping my arm in the gate and giving me an instant swelling followed by a colourful bruise!! Only later was i told that she is a bit clostrophobic due to a bad experience!! :rolleyes:

Anyways my point was that as you get to know the other horses it should be easier to gauge their reactions! - Why is it that horses are fine together in a field but as soon as you introduce a human and a headcollar, or a bridle for that matter they cannot be within a foot of eachother without kicking!! lol! :D