Is this okay to do even when a horse is nervous?

Don't feel bad, she needs to know her boundaries and that no matter how nerving a situation is she MUST respect you. In fact it is even more important in scary situations as a scared horse running over you is not funny.

In fact, by getting a horse to listen to you and pay attention during a difficult situation actually will do them good. It teaches them that they can trust and respect you, and that if they follow your lead and don't just panic and push that they'll get past safely.

I'm very strict on ground manners, and do not like a pushy and rude horse. Any horse I work with the first and foremost thing I do is make sure ground manners are sussed.

My mare was a very nervous horse when I first got her, she would often leap away from little things for being nervous of them. I was quick to make sure she knew she HAD TO respect my space at all times, and although she's generally a well mannered horse who knows not to push her luck, on the few times that she pushed in my space she was quickly reprimanded and learnt not to. She learnt that what I said went, and also that if she did as I said, that I was not going to take her anywhere unsafe or get her hurt.

I would often put her in spooky situations, be it in her field with tarps and bags, or out on a ride, and taught her that if she continued to listen to me and do as I say that she would not be hurt by the item she found scary.

In a few short months she is much braver, things really don't tend to scare her much and I trust her a lot.

In the herd side of things your horse should think of you as the lead mare, someone she doesn't boss around but someone she looks up to kind of and follows, she would work well with the lead mare but won't hurt her or get too close.

You don't want your horse to think of you as the lead stallion, this would mean that your horse would pretty much be scared of you. She'd stay out of your way etc etc. So you have to find the perfect balance of your horse being in control but not scared of you.

In that circumstance I would stop my horse, lower his head, this not only allows your horse to be more relaxed but their head is then lower that yours, they're submitting to you and leaving you to deal with the scary pig.

I learnt in a clinic that a horse pretty much has a switch in it's shoulders, when a horse is relaxed in a natural environment what is it doing? Usually eating, meaning it's head is down under it's shoulders. Now if a horse gets scared, anxious, curious, then what's it doing? Usually it's tense, it's ears are pricked towards what ever it's looking at and it body language is different, it's head is above it's shoulders hey?

Now I've tried with my horse and it absolutely works, if your horse starts panicking or looking around gently pull it's head down level with it's shoulders, totally relaxed. You can try this, don't stop though this will make your horse more nervous and ready to leave this scary place. Talk to her and massage her neck, pull her head down and just talk in a calm voice keep your hands and arms relaxed and just pass the pig farm quietly.

I hope this helps you! Good luck.

of course!!! the best thing to do when a horse if frightened is to act like there is absolutely nothing going on, this is what got my young connemara who was scared of anything walking past lorries. tractors etc so if this is what you would do when everything is normal then go for it because it shows her you're not bothered by the pigs so therefore she shouldn't be bothered. having this established pecking order where you're the one who is infront (ie always lead infront and slightly to the left not at the shoulder) and little things like when feeding turn your back to her with the feed bucket in front so it looks like you get the first pickings just like what would happen in a normal herd. Another thing, try taking her as close as possible to the pigs and just stand there letting her watch them feeding her polos or something and soon she will associated the pigs with treats and therefore not be scared any more and with your established role as leader, you will be able to handle any situation - this i have learnt from multiple experiences with my four year old who literally was scared of anything eg leaves haha!!! carry on exactly how you are and good luck

110%, absolutely. You do not in any circumstance want a nervous horse in your space. A calm horse in your space is likely to spook and run you over, but a nervous horse? Amplify the chances considerably!

Most horses are afraid of pigs. No one is particularly sure why, though personally I think it's because they are demonic creatures descended from Jodie the pig.

My suggestion for when she crowds you in her moment of fear, you don't act aggressively toward her as that can increase her suspicions and make her even more wary of crossing the pig lot. If you have to shake the rope to get her to listen initially, so be it, but I would really push for her to learn different methods of cuing so you don't have to resort to that each time she crowds you. She'll start to think that every time you guys cross, she's going to get reprimanded for being afraid, and that will make her increasingly nervous and sketchy, and less trusting of you.

What I would do here is, when she started to act up near the pen, is just stop. I'd just stop and stand there. Move her calmly into a position beside me, turn her to face the pigs, and just stand there until she gave in and stopped being silly. (My horses are trained to verbal cues as well as body cue on the ground, so even if they got bargy I want them to know when I say "move off" it means to go to my shoulder some feet off. So when I say "move her calmly into a position beside me", I'm telling the horse to "move off," so that they know to step to the side and stand there nicely. They also know that when I make the "ahnt" noise it means to stop what they're doing immediately and behave themselves. Verbal cues are a handy thing to know.)

Stand there long enough with nothing at all happening, except the quiet breeze blowing pig stink in your faces, and she'll realize she's not going to die or get in trouble if she just stands there still. Move her away from the pen when she can stand calmly for a short period of time, and return to the same spot to begin afresh. Increase the time that she has to stand still before she gets to leave, and she'll come to understand that being calm and respecting your space is the only thing that gets her out of that situation.

In a herd, horses put total faith in their alpha leader. When they are scared they look for direction. The best way to comfort a scared horse is to give her direction. Show her that nothing changes (your body language, your rules, your ques, your routine) because if you carry on like normal she will see you aren't afraid so she needn't be. BUT if you start acting differently and change your body language or habits then she will think you are scared and she will fear that there is something to be afraid of.

I hope that isn't confusing.....

I think so. Every single new or unknown thing has the potential to be scary to a horse. I obviously don't want them to think they can run me over every time they meet something new, legitimately spooked or not. If you ignore it you are telling her its acceptable to ignore her training when an excuse to do so arises. Putting you both in danger.

You did the right thing.

It is the same as with a child. I insist that children around me be quiet even when they are scared.

This little boy is scared of the dark and when I take the lights off and shut him in the garage for causing trouble he screams loudly. I tell him that he is not allowed to scream and he can only come back in when he stops.