Why cows can't be trusted...

[KarinUS]

Missy has this distrust for cows. While DJ couldn't care less, Missy likes to keep an eye on them just in case.
The cows have their pasture right beside the horses so they should be used to each other.
Being an ex barrel horse Missy especially should have seen cows before.
I'd like to call her silly for fearing the cows but I have watched them and the evil cows actually enjoy torturing her.
They come in droves to the fence and stare at her. Of course that concerns her even more.
What's going on?
Why is she afraid of cows? And more bizarre: why are the cows plotting something against her?

[Grace O'Malley]

Is she actually afraid of them, or is it more that she seems anxious? I just wondered that maybe if she was trained to work cows, then seeing them might make her think she should be working. But of course there's a fence there and no rider to direct her actions...so she thinks she should be working but doesn't know what to do, leading to stress.

A total wild-a** guess, Karin, but I thought I'd throw it out there, just because I'm busy procrastinating from work :o

Grace

edited to add, and of course those mean cows know a cow horse when the see one, and are laughing at her inability to herd them around!

[esavage]

I agree with Gracey. I believe she must have some background in working cows. I recently got an arabian yearling, and he had never seen cows before in his life. At his first glimpse he carried on quite a bit, then went through the fence trying to get away from them, even though there was a fence separating the cows from him. He stood on the other side of his enclosure, just shaking all over. So, I believe your horse is more excited an curious than frightened. Her behavior would quite erratic, and she would seem spooked. Some breeds of horses instinctively want to work or run cattle.

[KarinUS]

Well, she does what I considered 'a spook'.
She is facing the cows. The cows are staring at her. Then a little one unexpectedly moved and so did my horse.
Luckily she is so fast at it that by the time I notice my horse dropped and side stepped, she is already standing still again...

[galadriel]

The cows may have an entirely different mindset from a horse, and so their response to her is not in a "horsey" social context.

I'm thinking of the difference in behavior from the dogs to the horses. When one of the dogs takes off, all the others chase him and try to catch him to tussle. When one of the horses takes off, either they're all running around just for fun, or they're bolting to get away from something.

Add a dog to a horse, and you get two animals with entirely different goals in a group run. It confuses the horse and it confuses the dog. The horse may take off; the dog will give chase thinking it's a game. The horse then thinks he's bolting for his life, because instead of running WITH him, the dog is running AT him. The dog just keeps giving chase thinking that the game is getting better & better. (You can, of course, teach dogs to behave around horses--but this is their general play.)

Groups of animals clearly don't have the same reactions to a lot of things. Dogs, cats, and horses all will respond differently to many situations. It could be that the cows are just trying to respond properly to Missy's actions, without realizing that she's not a cow and won't appreciate their efforts.

Of course, they could also be harassing her. I know our horses harass the dogs; I think they find it amusing to be juuuuust on the other side of the fence while the dog's going ballistic trying to get at them. Duchess particularly will graze close to the fence, as far as I can tell, specifically to set the dogs off. She'll wander away when the dogs lose interest or go inside.

I have no idea why Missy would still respond to the cows by spooking after being pastured by them. Kat's gotten a lot more accustomed to the sight of cows across the street from her field. (This is after her repeated spook-bolts the day the cows were first turned out there. She'd creep closer and closer to the fence, then bolt for the far back pasture...then do it again, and again, and again.) She used to be pretty bad. The only time I've ever completely lost control of her was due to a cow taking one slow plod in her direction. She's much, much better about them now.

Perhaps Missy *used* to be terrible, and this is an improvement!

[Dizzy]

My namesake 'Dizzy' was exactly the same. She always played up when we passed them, and for some reason she was a cow/bullock magnet. I've ridden down lanes with a whole herd charging down the fence side, just to get a peek at her. We got some amazing snorting, side pass and cantering on the spot - that I could never replicate in the schooling arena, no matter how I tried;)

I had her for years and it never got any better - my friends and I used to joke about it, saying that they were her close relations and that they saw her as a deformed cow. But it was something I just had to learn to live with - from April to November (depending on the weather) our local fields are littered with them!!

[KarinUS]

She doesn't run away from the cows. She just seems to fixate on them.
When she hopped to the side when the calf moved, she kind of mirrored the calf's movement. When the calf stopped, she stopped.

I don't know if she is scared or falling back on a weird game she has learned before.

I was trying to find some previous owners to get more info on her but that just made things more confusing:
Missy's Past- it doesn't add up.. (http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=41792)

[Peace]

She is facing the cows. The cows are staring at her. Then a little one unexpectedly moved and so did my horse.

Sure sounds like a cutting horse to me!:cool:

I read your other thread - do you suppose maybe she was started as a barrel horse and then moved on to cows? Or maybe somebody worked her on cows just for funsies - Leslie says she's going to start doing a little bit with Quanah as soon as "the girls" (the foundation of Leslie's father's future herd:eek: ) are a little bigger.:)

I've always found that tendency cows have, to form a big group and silently stare at one, a little unnerving myself.:o especially the way they prefer to encircle the object of their attention, if possible.:eek:

[CityGirl]

I agree with Peace, sounds like Missy may have some background as a cutting horse. Might be fun to try her out... :D ;)

[laura jeanne]

I was going to say that she sounds like a cutting horse also.

If you ever watch OLN (Time Warner cable) on Sunday afternoons about 4-5 pm, there's American Horse and then sometimes a rodeo competion and I think it's American Horse that I have seen the cutting horses on.

They face the cow and are trained to mirror it's movements instantly to keep it from the rest of the herd- dodging all over the place exactly in time with the cow.

[qhlover]

Yeah, I too, think she must have worked cows before. My mare and gelding were recently turned out on 40 acres with about 40 head of cattle when the three hurricanes struck here in Florida.

My gelding, who heels (roping), just ignored them but Tuffy did the mirroring and then, being the aggressive witch she is (see Disciplines>Western for my post sent today about her) actually started cutting them out, riderless and all. It was pretty cool.

I had no idea she had any cow in her at all! Fun stuff when you find a bit of previous training hiding in there.

Qhlover

[entreat]

Originally posted by KarinUS
why are the cows plotting something against her?
Cows are evil. they have no reason behind their actions of terrorism against horse, they just do it for pure evil pleasure.

My OH's TB is only afraid of one thing. Cows. They like to come right up to his yummy looking tail for a sniff (and maybe a chew if they can manage) & he freaks out! It is literally the only thing he has ever shyed/spooked at - cows at him bum. Tractors, trail bikes, dogs, bags, walking over cardboard, honking cars travelling 100km/hr next to him - all not a problem. He's fine if they're not at his bum. I wish I had a camera the day he met a new-born calf! He went as doey-eyed as I did!

[KarinUS]

Cows are evil. they have no reason behind their actions of terrorism against horse, they just do it for pure evil pleasure.

I think you are right. I was already having that same suspicion...

[MagicRidge]

It's just their instincts, I dunno I have the same problem with Monty. Were cantering down the dyke and POW he stop about 30 feet from the cows. And he stands their stiff as a board it takes me 10-15 minutes to talk him into going past them. Then their is this whole movment of circles and criss crosses, lol I don't see any fanges and red eyes on those cows but i guess the horses do, lol

[JOJOBA]

My mum's very first hack on her horse when she bought him nine years ago, they rounded a bend and walked straight into an escaped cow. Poor horse almost collasped!
Now he always has one eye on the cows and if they dare to move he's off.

Which is fair enough I suppose - he has a reason!

xxx

[joshes mum]

My horse shares his field with cows hes very naughty as sometimes he chases them.Definatley not scared of them though farmer doesnt like it very much!