Horses are wonderful animals! They can also be extremely dangerous! But, if you pay attention, learn to understand their behavior, and always practice good horsemanship, you can lower the risk of accident. One very important point to think about if you are new to horses is "green on green" often spells trouble. "Green on green" means, "green" (inexperienced) rider on "green" (with little training) horse can be a recipe for disaster. If you are a new rider, find an older seasoned horse to learn with.

Even though I've been around horses on a daily basis most of my life, their incredible strength and surprising speed amazes me each and every time I witness it. Despite having witnessed their explosive strength and unbelievable speed and agility numerous times, each time it appears faster than I remembered. To understand the horse you must always remember they are a prey animal not a hunter. Because of this, when the horse is faced with a situation in which they perceive danger, their primary instinct is to leave and leave now! Always remember this, the horse's natural instinct is not to think something over and decide if it's dangerous, instead it is to run, and run fast. The consequence of this behavior to you is that when around them you must always be sharp and keep your eye on them. People are rarely injured by horses when they expect it; it is usually when they don't. Similarly to playing defense in football, soccer, and basketball, if the offense gets just one step on you, they are gone and you are left standing, with your mouth open flat-footed and surprised. When you are around a horse, if he or she spooks and gets the step on you, they are gone and you could be left flat footed or worse, flat on your back. Sometimes horses don't think of what is in their path, because their one thousand pounds of muscle, tendon, and bone is powered by a brain the size of a grapefruit! If you pay attention when handling your horse you have a better chance at controlling unexpected situations safely.

The best way to prevent an unpredictable situation is to learn your horse's behavior and work with them in a consistent manner so that THEY aren't surprised by what YOU do. We will review some basic horsemanship and common sense that will minimize the consequence of a horse's unpredictable actions and highlight some do's and don'ts when working around the horse. Later in the article we'll review some basic horse healthcare.

First, some practical horsemanship guidelines. When working with horses try to establish a routine. Feed and water them as close as possible to the same time each day. Don't change what you feed them or the quantity of the feed much. When increasing the amount of grains, pellets or other concentrated feed always make the change in small amounts over a few weeks time span. Make sure they cannot, under any circumstances get into the grain storage bin. Grain, pellets and other concentrated feeds should be kept behind at least two barriers, or one horse-proof one. Horses escape their stalls every day and a garbage can is easily opened, a bag easily ripped. I have attended to too many horses that escaped their stalls, walked over to the container, and ate until they were on the verge of death.