To be Safe is to be Aware

By: Ted Howard Production Animal Consultation

“The common theme that I hear is AWARENESS. Awareness is the ability to directly know and perceive, or to be cognizant of events. More broadly, it is the state of being conscious of something.”

In recent months, I have been involved in safety meetings in different companies. I have found that employers are truly concerned about the welfare of their employees as well as their livestock. They are trying to educate their teams to be careful and make good decisions in their dayto-day work situations. The common theme that I hear is AWARENESS. Awareness is the ability to directly know and perceive, or to be cognizant of events. More broadly, it is the state of being conscious of something.

When working with horses, we need to be aware of the horse, tack, shoes and environment. Each horse brings a set of strengths and weaknesses to work every day. We need to understand that each horse is different. Understanding how the horse was started and its past experiences is very important so we are aware of any issues he may have in certain situations. If we are riding a young inexperienced horse, it is important that we have an experienced rider involved to help navigate any potential pitfalls.

The tack we use on our horse must be clean and in good repair. The proper fit of the saddle, cinch and latigo is very important as to not pinch or sore a horse. When a horse is pinched or sore, he may react in a negative or aggressive way. The proper fit of a horse’s headgear is also very important. I see horses that are either over bitted or under bitted. Either way it is a safety concern when trying to work cattle.

The environment we ride in is important to be aware of as well. The weather creates all kinds of ground conditions. It is important to adjust our speed when it is slick to prevent falling. I prefer to have rim shoes in very dry or icy conditions. These shoes help my horse to not slip as easily. I use toe and heel shoes in muddy conditions. When we put these special shoes on our horses, we need to be aware when we are on hard ground. Running our horse or turning quickly can cause him harm.

Another area to be aware of is around gate pins. We must keep our back cinches snug as I’ve seen a gate pin slip between the back cinch and horse’s belly. Learning to properly work a gate is important. The pad by the bunk can also be different footing and should be evaluated when riding a pen or pulling cattle.

If our horse is frightened of something in his environment, we need to be patient with him. Not forcing him to ride up to whatever is disturbing him is very important to build his confidence. Every day we can continue to reintroduce our horse. If our horse is confident in us and his surroundings, we can be that much safer in our jobs.

We must also be aware of the “horse sense” of our teammates. We need to be aware of what each member of the team understands about our horses and responsibilities. We cannot put teammates into situations they are not prepared for or do not understand for their safety as well as others.

Our teammates in other departments, such as maintenance and feeding, may not understand our horses or our ability to stay out of the way of their machinery.

We are very lucky to work horseback amongst cattle every day. Please be aware of your surroundings so you can go home safely every night.