Avoiding a Horse Kick
How to Safely Move Around Horses


Talk about a horse kick with a person on the receiving end and it can strike fear into the hearts of even the most experienced horse person.


And this is for good reason.


A well placed kick can leave you bruised, with a broken bone or possibly worse. A horse strikes out like that to defend himself. To another equine it generally doesn't do much harm. But it can cause a lot of damage if it is well placed and full force.


As a beginner, it can be even scarier because:


A) That is what most people say horses do


B) A person is nowhere near the size of his buddy in the pasture


C) You don’t know horses and fear for your safety


Good thing you have that safety radar! But don’t worry. It’s not nearly as likely to happen as you are making it out to be.

Most times they don’t kick or hurt people unless surprised, frightened, or cornered.


  • I will show you how to avoid all that and become more confident moving around all areas of his body.

The Rear End

If you are taking lessons you’ll be moving around the back of the horse, and you will need to get confident doing so.

Sometimes you may end up approaching a him from the rear (although this is really not recommended).


  • If possible you should greet him from the front.

If you are at the front of him and need to go around his rear end make sure you have already touched him and he knows you are there.



Run your hand down his body as you go to walk around him. As you go around, keep your hand on his rump and stay as close to his back legs as possible.


  • That is your first and safest option besides the following.

If you want, you can also take the L-O-N-G route and go out around his rear, WAY out, about 10-12 feet.



You are safest right next to him though it might not seem that way.



A kick is most powerful when his leg is fully extended.


If you are very close to him it won’t have near as much power.


Add in that they can back up some and then lash out when tied, you can see why you would have to be SO far away if you choose to go around that way.

I hope you feel more confident now about how to avoid a horse kick .


Horses are generally very friendly and would rather run away than hurt you.


For more information on how to move safely around horses including their front end, click below.

Leave Horse Kick and go back to the home page where you can find all sorts of interesting horse articles.