Custom cursors have gotten a bad reputation. People see them as tacky and childish and even dangerous.
While the apprehension is fair to some extent, cursors aren't dangerous in and of themselves, if one knows how to properly install them.
.cur and .ani files aren't threatening by themselves (ANI files used to have a vulnerability that got patched forever ago). The problem arises when you run scripts to install the cursors.
While there may be some legitimate scripts out there, I like to install cursors manually using the Control Panel. It's what I advise.
I believe cursors are a fun way to customize your experience. They are also plain fun to make!
I've recently gotten into making my own cursors. Here they are:
