Bizarre Nature Facts
On that same note, unless they are very familiar with you, don't look squarely at them. It's a predatory signal, and if they're unfamiliar, it will make them nervous or even frightened.
The other thing about being safer closer to a kicking horse is that when you're right against the horse, they don't really have time to get their foot accelerated into a kick...it's more like a really aggressive push, and if you're right against them, they're hitting you with their whole leg, which spreads out the force of impact significantly. The example used by the guy who taught me basic horsemanship was this--try punching a bag that's only a few inches in front of your shoulder. Unless you're Bruce Lee or similarly trained, you can't get any force behind the punch...so you want to stay inside that 'restricted leverage' range working around a horse.
And horses have two blind spots...right in front of their nose, and right behind them (it's worse, if their head is down, like while they're eating). That's why you're supposed to talk to them as you approach...if you walk into those blind spots and startle the horse, it can get ugly in a hurry.
On a different note: Llamas 'adopt' whatever animals they're kept with, and guard them. They're often used to guard sheep...but they'll do the same thing with horses, cows...my friends' llama even 'goes on alert' when minks, skunks, or raccoons start creeping around their henhouse. And while llamas can lay on a nasty kick, they usually just crush the breath out of whatever they go after...they'll knock it to the ground and then drop to their knees (on their front legs) on it and just sit there, keeping it pinned and making it impossible for whatever it is to breathe. I can tell you, from first-hand experience, it's a very disorienting sensation and pretty effective (there's a story behind that one, but it takes a while to tell...)