It's easy to forget sometimes that horses are flight animals, ready to fly the moment something jumps out at them. In those short moments, horses can quickly hurt themselves, or us. Here's how you can stay safe around your horse.
KEEP SOME DISTANCE
When leading a horse, don't allow them to walk right next to you or have contact with you. It only takes one bad step for both of you to get your legs tangled and most likely you'll be the one on the ground.
Maintain a distance between one and a half to two feet away. Use the lead rope to walk the horse by holding it about six inches from the shank. Only hold the halter when you need extra control and use the end of your rope to "swish" the horse away from you.
Also, keep buckets, brushes, hoof picks and other equipment out of the horse' range of motion or keep small items in your pockets or a grooming apron. This will also save wear and tear on your equipment.
MOVE CALM AND SLOW
Horses have a dislike for birds, bunnies or anything that can "pop out" at them. Naturally, in the wild, that's where things that "pop out" want to eat them.
So don't throw your hands up in front of your horse or wave things in their face. Not only will you turn your horse headshy, but you could also teach the horse that it's acceptable to toss their head around. That's a dangerous act on the ground and in the saddle.
KEEP CONTACT AND TALK
Horses cannot see directly in front of or behind themselves. Nor can they see their sides very well. It is likely they can see a rider's legs when in the saddle, but their side vision is limited beyond that.
Through feel and sound a horse can tell how far away an object is. Keeping a hand on the horse while you groom or standing with your body in contact with theirs is the best way for them to know where you are. If you are too far away to touch the horse, talk to them and keep them aware of your location.
When walking around a horse, walk closely enough to keep one hand on the horse at all times. If you walk behind the horse, hold the end of the tail walk far enough away from the hind legs so you won't get kicked.
WATCH OUT FOR THEM
With poor binocular vision and a long body, horses can't tell distance from the side. Whether it is 3 feet or 30 feet makes little difference to them. So as much as they are watching out for you, you need to watch out for them also.
Watch the horse's body language, the ears especially. A turned head and a cocked ear tell you the horse is looking at something and isn't paying attention to anything else. Flattened ears tell you to stop what you are doing and back away. Horses may also flick their ears slightly just before they step off.
If you cant watch the ears, pay attention to shifts in weight or a swatting tail. These can also indicate a kick or a move in any direction.
LET THE HORSE SEE IT FIRST
Many fears horses have of objects or actions can be eliminated if you let the horse look and smell it first. Syringes, brushes, hoof picks, it doesn't matter. If it's new to the horse, show it to them.
Letting the horse look at it and smell it lets them think it over. Move it around in your hands and make noise with it, then touch them with it. If the horse seems afraid, take a little longer and talk to the horse. You will know a horse is comfortable with it because their attention will move to something else. That's when you can proceed with what you want to do.
TRAIN YOUR HORSE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT
We already know the only way to get better at something is to practice. The same goes for everything you do with your horse. You can't expect the horse to do what you want if you haven't trained it first.
Many horses are unwilling to let people pick up their feet to clean them out or shoe them. They are taught to pick up their feet as young foals but never receive any follow-up training as they age. Nor do people prepare the horse to pick up their feet before they attempt to.
Remember how horses at the trot work on diagonal legs? Well, horses stand on diagonals too. They often stand with more weight on one leg than the other. So when you want to pick up the left front foot, make sure the horse has more weight on the right front and left hind feet before you pick it up. It's a far easier way to pick up a horse's foot than make them shift around to lift it up.
ASK FOR IT, THEN DEMAND IT
Better yet, teach your horse to pick up its hoof when you stand next to it and say "hoof." Stand the horse in a quiet area and run your hand down the horse's leg while you say "hoof" and give the horse a treat when they pick up the hoof and give it to you. Keep it up until the horse picks up their hoof when you stand next to it and say "hoof" without putting pressure on the leg.
Apply this concept to other areas of your horse life to establish trust and put the two of you on the same communication level. You can use it to teach the horse to come when called, move in any direction, lower their head, even lie down and roll over. The possibilities are endless once you learn to keep working at it.
Once you have established what you want the horse to do and set them up to do it, ask for it the same way all the time. If you have ever heard of the methods of Pat Parelli you'll understand what I'm saying. He says it should take no more than four ounces of pressure to ask for it, anything over that and you are demanding it. Any pressure over four pounds you are promising the horse they will do it.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Being that horses are highly sensitive creatures, it should take very little effort to work with the horse as long as the two of you work together. You should expect the horse to watch out for you and respect you, but you should also do that for the horse in return.
Horses are experts at being horses. Humans are something introduced into their lives and they are constantly trying to adapt to the new concept. You are the one who should think about what is going on, so think about what you want the horse to do and how to ask it before you ask the horse to do it.