With warmer weather and school breaks, more visitors are spending weekends and vacations in horse country, whether at a dude ranch, or Uncle Ben's farm. Many of the visitors are children who have had little experience around horses, and, in fact, many adults have had little experience with horses. Keeping everyone safe is part of what owning a horse is all about.
Keeping visitors and horses safe
With the arrival of spring visitors including children, horse owners need to have strict rules in place for anyone coming to visit them and their horses.
Horse owners need to have strict rules in place for anyone coming to visit them and their horses. Not only will effective rules prevent possible accidents, but they will also make the visitor's time with a horse more enjoyable.
Horses should be respected for the big animals they are. Everyone should be taught to make sure that the horse has time to adjust to new people coming into the barn or stable area. For obvious reasons, no running, shouting, or playing should be allowed in the stable or barn areas.
Children should never be allowed to be in barns or stables unattended and they should have the full attention of a responsible adult any time they are around horses.
1. Get to know the horse:
For some children and adults, their first instinct is to walk right up and pet a horse, but they should be taught to speak to the horse from a distance to avoid a startle reflex. Approaching near the shoulder rather than directly in front of or from behind the horse, allows it to see them and acknowledge their presence.
2. Wear horse- friendly clothing:
Another important safety measure that everyone should follow is wearing appropriate clothing. Wearing functional clothing that stays close to the body while protecting it should be the rule in all cases. Slip-proof protective footgear should be worn at all times for obvious reasons.
3. Use proper equipment:
Use proper tack and lead rope with horses and make sure they are adjusted properly to prevent accidents. The same goes for saddles, and of course, helmets should be worn whenever needed including when riding and working out horses.
4. Feed and give treats to horses safely:
Don't take grain or other feed into a group of horses. This might entice them to crowd around and could incite a "food fight," with the person caught in the middle.
Feeding a treat to a horse is one of the joys of getting to know the horse. The horse owner can demonstrate the proper way to give a carrot or apple chunk from the palm of a flattened hand to avoid being accidentally nipped. Better yet, especially in the case of frisky, greedy horses or ponies, put treats in a bucket before offering them.
5. Keep horses safe:
In all cases, horse owners should encourage visitors to take responsibility for checking all doors and latches before leaving stables and barn areas, thereby preventing horses from getting loose, causing damage or ingesting things that may cause colic.