When Scot Hansen first met Vito, he came within 4 inches of being hoofed in the head by the 1,200-pound, chocolate-brown Trakehner horse.

That was almost a year ago. The other day, Vito — a gelding that lives on Sandy Heisey's 3-1/2-acre farm three miles west of Fall City — stood behind Hansen and gave him a horse hug, wrapping his head around Hansen's shoulder and across his chest.

It was an affectionate gesture for a man many Snoqualmie Valley horse owners say has an uncanny understanding of the way horses think and respond to human handlers. This weekend, Hansen will showcase that knowledge in a class to teach riders how to protect themselves from ne'er-do-wells on the trails.

At the request of numerous female clients, Hansen created a self-defense course in September, with Vito's help, to teach riders how to use their horses' powerful bodies if they're accosted on trails, particularly those in semiurban areas like the Eastside's Bridle Trails State Park. Roughly 40 people have signed up to take one of four three-hour classes that Hansen will conduct today and tomorrow.

King County is home to roughly 30,000 horses. Before the Eastside's suburban evolution, this was horse heaven, with farms and woodlands stretching from Lake Washington to the Cascades. But growth squeezed out many traditional riding trails, and now riders often share trails with other recreational users.

Police officials say they haven't received reports of women riders being attacked on horse trails. But horse enthusiasts say, anecdotally at least, there are women who have encountered problems.

"Women are much more vulnerable to an attack than men are; that's just the way it is," Hansen said. "Add to that the fact that there are more women (than men) riders out there, and it's more likely they will be attacked."

Hansen, 45, is a former Seattle police officer who spent the bulk of his 21-year career with the department's mounted unit. He spends half his time on the road, training horses across the United States.

Sammamish residents Robyn Bachesta, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter, Brooke, took Hansen's course in January. Soon, Bachesta knows, her preteen daughter will want to go riding with her friends.

Hansen "definitely has a gift, and you embrace the information and walk away with a great deal of self-esteem," confident you know how to protect yourself, Bachesta said.

Hansen grew up on Vashon Island and now lives in a small Ontario, Canada, town southwest of Toronto, but he returns to the Snoqualmie Valley every other month. This weekend, he'll conduct his self-defense course at a friend's Carnation farm. The class costs $75 for each horse and rider, or $25 to audit the course without a horse.

Riding clubs in North Carolina, Missouri, Oregon and Massachusetts are interested in the course, said Heisey, who books Hansen's teaching appearances.

"A horse is a prey animal — he's designed to flee," Hansen said. "But once they feel the need to fight back, they're very powerful — and they do understand when their riders are in trouble."

In learning self-defense, Hansen said, riders need to fight their instincts because "everybody's instinct is actually the opposite of what you should do."

To demonstrate for a visitor, Hansen played "the bad guy." He approached Heisey from her left as she sat on Vito's back. Hansen grabbed at Heisey's arm and leg, and she spun the horse counterclockwise, a movement that let Hansen stay close to her, protected by the "well" created by Vito's head and shoulder. He tugged at her, showing how easy it would be to pull her from the saddle.

"People don't know how to use the horse, and they respond in the same way they would if they were on the ground — that is, to face up to the attacker," he said. "They respond the way a human would, not the way a horse would, and they don't use his power."

Hansen grabbed at Heisey again, but this time she turned Vito in a circle away from her "attacker." The force of the horse's massive body dislodged Hansen's grip on Heisey. In seconds, he was facing the horse's hindquarters — the most powerful and dangerous part of a horse's body.

"People who prey on other people are indeed predators, so the object is to use your horse to your advantage," he said.