Henk writes:
I watch my human, Lil, trying to train lots of horse-newbies how to behave in a barn. Sadly, so many of them just don't listen. The worst ones are those that pretend they "know all about horses," but in truth can't tell a fetlock from a forelock and won't admit they can't. Some samples:
1) Horses are individuals, just like people are (although horse personalities are of course much more varied and interesting!). You can't treat us all the same. For example, our Canadian horse, Louis, hates having his face messed with and will bite you if you persist. Lil says: "Please don't touch his face. Pat him on the shoulder or neck. That's where horses 'groom' each other, that's what feels good to them. Please leave his face alone." And what do people do? Time and time again they go in for that face hug, invading poor Louis' space until he's ready to lose his mind. And if he takes a nip at the fool who's got him in a headlock? He's being a bad horse. Good grief.
2) Horses are flight animals. We've survived all these thousands of years by running away from critters that are trying to eat us. Even now when we live in stables and paddocks where mountain lions are relatively rare, our first instinct when something scares us is to run. Notice I said "instinct" and not "thought." When we panic, we're not thinking. But we are running. Don't get in our way.
3) Corollary to above: we weigh ten times what you weigh. If we're running from something scary, throwing yourself in our path isn't likely to stop us.
4) Corollary to corollary: we can't see directly in front of us. If we're running from something scary and you're standing in our blind spot, you will get laid-out flat.
5) We need carrots and apples to live. Seriously. I read it on the Internet. The Internet is never wrong. I prefer a nice Paula Red, thank you. At least once a day.
