Horseback Riding - Horse Safety When Tied Up

Hi, I am Connie and this is Sam and Bobby and we are from Crestwood Farm and we are going to show you some safety tips on walking around and moving around the horse when the horse is cross-tied or tied-up.

When you stand next to a horse whether you are grooming or fixing the saddle or whatever, you dont want to stand like Sam is demonstrating here with your feet in front of the horses feet. If he was to move his leg forward or backward that is the easiest way to get stepped on if your feet are underneath his or in the way of his. Horses normally move their feet forward and backward so you want to have your feet off to the side, but close enough to where you can still brush, groom, or if you were attending to a wound on a horse, you could take care of it without endangering yourself. When you walk beside or around a horse you want to keep your hand on them so that they know where you are all times. We are going to walk behind Bobby and push him over so she has to get directly behind him, she will keep her hand on him and then push on his hips staying beside his hip to get him to move over.

When you walk behind a horse, keeping your hand on them, tells them where you are. Horses dont normally kick at people. They kick usually at another horse or if they are startled. So, keeping your hand on them helps them to know where you are and what you are doing and you have no unexpected motions to where you startle them. Most horses that have already been trained and ridden are not startled easily and as long as they are aware of where you are, you will have no problems and thats some of the ways of handling a horse when they are tied up and being in their safety zone.