Approaching a Horse Safely

Horses are our most important volunteers and come with many different personalities. Whilst all of our equines are assessed to ensure they are suitable for RDA activities, even the most experienced horses can have unpredictable behaviour at times. Listed below,  you will find a few things to keep in mind when you are around horses.

1. Being confident and competent in your interactions with horses at RDA is key. A horse takes confidence from a confident handler.
2. When approaching a horse you should usually walk towards the shoulder where they can see you.
3. Avoid approaching horses directly from the front or directly from behind as they may not see you and this increases your risk of being injured should a horse strike out with a limb.
4. Talking to the horse quietly as you approach and patting them on the shoulder or neck helps to show you are a friend and not a threat.
5. Being consistent in your behaviour around horses will help you form a good relationship with them.

Approaching the Horse – Positioning

When working with horses and participants it is important to consider how you will position the horse for participants to interact with them. From a horse’s perspective the following are important:

• Choice to remove themselves from a physical contact situation
• Social contacts (equine friends) within view
• Avoid long periods without access to forage

There are 4 main scenarios when participants might interact with a horse in an RDA session where the horse remains static, but you can adapt the principles in the following scenarios to suit your individual RDA group, your equines and your humans.

1. Barrier between the horse and participant with the horse unrestrained
2. Barrier between the horse and participant with the horse restrained
3. Barrier between the horse and participant with the horse restrained
4. Barrier between the horse and participant with the horse restrained