Let's face it, horses are large, dangerous animals.  They are capable of doing some serious damage to a person in the blink of an eye, possibly even seriously injuring or hurting you -- and you don't have to be on the horse's back for it to happen.  So how do you stay safe on the ground?

By instilling excellent ground manners, of course.

One of my favorite horse bloggers, Kate at A Year with Horses, posted a little while back about staying safe on the ground.  Becuase it's the best post on the subject I've read, I saved it for future reference (in case I ever need to make someone read it).

I know far too many people who seem to lack any sort of common sense or horse know-how, and are therefore constantly at risk of getting hurt on the ground, either because they let their horses run amock or because they aren't paying attention, or both.  I know people who let their horses bite and kick and fight in their presence, and those who think it "cute" when foals rear or kick out at them.  I know people who never seem to have any control over their horses when leading -- whether the horse wants to go or the horse wants to stop, it's up to the horse -- the horse never looks to their handler for guidance.

All of these things are potentially very dangerous.  Horses that fight when a person is standing right there can inadvertently get said person kicked or run over.  Horses that do what they want when they are on the lead line, without regard to their handler, can easily run them over if spooked (not to mention it's darn hard to get them to do anything if they don't listen to you).

I think the key to Kate's article on ground safety is consistency.  You can't do some of this stuff some of the time -- you have to enforce your personal space and your expectations every single time you are around your horse, whether you are grooming and tacking or just visiting to say hi, kiss a nose, and feed some treats.

For instance, my horse knows that I will never, ever let another horse harass him while I have him on a lead.  He will stand quietly while I use the end of his lead to chase off other horses.  Same rules if I am standing there visiting him, even if he's at liberty.  This saves me from getting hurt if another horse decides to come up and bite him while I'm there.

And like Kate says, how a horse behaves on a lead is extremely important.  You want him to be able to go where you ask and do what you ask, without getting pushy or getting in your space.  If he does something he shouldn't, you must correct him immediately, every time, or he will never understand that this is something he is not allowed to do.

Whether you think you know these things or not, do check out Kate's article.  Like I said, it's the best-written explanation of ground safety and enforcing good ground manners that I have ever read.  Even if you won't benefit by reading it, perhaps someone you know will!