"I don't understand why they're scared of the silly things.."

Floxie

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Why does this always seem to baffle people? I read it so many times here - their horse isn't scared of the roaring tractor, but has a fit at a Hedge Monster - and they're surprised...

I'm not, not really! The tractor is quite obviously there, and whilst noisy, it's fairly clear where it's going, and the horse is possibly quite used to similar vehicles not eating it. As a prey animal I'd be far more concerned by the potential monster half hidden in the shadows - after all, that's where my natural predators would be waiting for me - not barreling up the road towards me flashing their headlights :D

I admit that doesn't make it any easier when your horse is seeing invisible tigers, but surely it's not that surprising :)
 

tessybear

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Why does this always seem to baffle people? I read it so many times here - their horse isn't scared of the roaring tractor, but has a fit at a Hedge Monster - and they're surprised...

I'm not, not really! The tractor is quite obviously there, and whilst noisy, it's fairly clear where it's going, and the horse is possibly quite used to similar vehicles not eating it. As a prey animal I'd be far more concerned by the potential monster half hidden in the shadows - after all, that's where my natural predators would be waiting for me - not barreling up the road towards me flashing their headlights :D

I admit that doesn't make it any easier when your horse is seeing invisible tigers, but surely it's not that surprising :)

For me i dont understand why she spooks at say daffodils that have been there for weeks and have been pulled up by someone ... :D special girl saying that she does only stare nothing silly so not really a spook ? :)
 

Shantara

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The one I don't get is why Ned will put up with as much as he does...but then a baby rabbit in the middle of the road (he could see it clearly, it was quite close) is absolutely terrifying? That's one I will never understand!
 

FabioandFreddy

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Fabio the other day had seen the pigeon sat on the water trough as i was walking him down the field and was clearly staring at it, yet still warranted a Scooby Doo jump on the spot when it flew away! :rolleyes:
 

JFTDWS

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Nope, sorry, I am still baffled as to why small birds fluttering around 20 feet away are terrifying, despite being perfectly visible and often present (yet never attack him), yet speeding, heavy traffic scraping past him isn't interesting at all.

Not to mention the dead pigeon which has sent him flying across the road every day for the past week, while (very much alive) loose dogs under his feet aren't scary at all :cool:
 

Toffee_monster

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I often joke about this with friends that my driving pony is only scared of things beginning with P !! Plastic bags, pigeons, the postman and ponies (shetlands specifically)
But meet a 40ft artic lorry full of harcore on a hump back canal bridge and he is perfect ???
 

Tinsel Trouble

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this week Oz has run away from bats that live in a brick barn next to the school, and a buzzard that swooped down out of a tall hedgerow tree.

To much hilarity I could be heard shouting "you are not a moth! you are not a moth!" as we dove for cover from the bats!! (didn't even realise that had come out of my mouth!)
 

Polos Mum

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Maybe to do with their eyesight which has blind spots and is designed to be very accurate a long way away (to spot lions creeping up!)

Mine is most entertaining when I get him from the field draging him away from licking our pigs over the gate (I can only assume they like an itch and he prefers the taste of natural salt over his salt lick!), tack up ride down the lane next to the field and he spooks ......................... at the pigs behind the hedge !!!
 

JVB

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Her own shadow? I mean really, she's 11 so I would have thought got used to it by now but no, sometimes it just takes her by surprise it's still there...

Best one was yesterday, hacking round field a tiny floating white seed/ dandelion type bit of fluff floated past, she leapt/ bucked to avoid it... what did she actually think it was going to do to her?!
 

RainbowDash

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I'm still baffled. Boyo has passed the same fallen tree both ways 300 times before but every so often spooks at it - is he not expecting it to be there? :-\
 

Floxie

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But you see, trees are really GOOD hiding spots for tigers. It's probably worth a spook just in case. Imagine what might happen the day he doesn't bother and there IS a tiger waiting? Doesn't bear thinking about.
 

starsailor

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The blue wheelie bin merits particular suspicion
Oh and the mounting block. We can pass it 19 times and on the 20th time, yee hah!
 

RunToEarth

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Horses aren't logical though, and neither are their owners - if you weren't horsey and someone asked you whether you would like to donate half your annual salary to support something completely unpredictable with a very real potential to seriously injure or kill you, and in return for your half a year's salary you get to shovel poo and worry about it constantly - would you honestly agree?

I'm not bothered by the boys spooking, at least with most of them it is the same dustbin or bush monster. The thing that genuinely does puzzle me with Joseph is how he manages to pick a new thing to spook at most days, and it is something that has been there forever. This morning he spooked at the concrete whilst I was turning him out, it's been there 5 years, he has walked over it most days but today that was the thing he was going to cause an issue over.
 

Polos Mum

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The NOT things are also entertaining, OH parked the tractor at the end of the school for a few weeks, rode in there no problem a dozen times (the big boy wasn't keen on tractors when he first came).

OH then moved tractor and the space where the tractor was caused us to throw ourselves across the school every circle past the NOT tractor for 2 days !
 

1stclassalan

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I'm still baffled. Boyo has passed the same fallen tree both ways 300 times before but every so often spooks at it - is he not expecting it to be there? :-\

Fallen trees can look a lot like pigs!! Wild boar are a major concern for horses as they live in holes in the ground and can came charging out without warning ( although they do smell) - the males have tusks which are at horse belly height.

Elecky switch spooker - is your switch just a simple on/off jobby or does it make a contactor work somewhere else? Your horse might be able to hear it better than you.

Most horses will spook at something or run off - it is a natural response wired in their brains by evolution - it will not be modified by a few years of domestication no matter how much we love them.
 

Kat

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The only thing mine is scared of is tape*measures..... :rolleyes:

She isn't bothered by normal things like pigs or flapping plastic but a tape measure can reduce her to a quivering wreck. Don't say it is because it resembles a snake, because other snakey things are fine. And it doesn't matter whether it is the weight tape or a steel retractable tape measure, they are equally terrifying.
 

Spanish Eyes

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I remember reading somewhere that horses are wired to notice the tiniest of changes, and often the sort of things we wouldn't even notice, so if there were 2 daffodils last week and now there are 3...........!

Oh and whilst on the subject of daffodils, I also remember reading that horses respond more to the colour yellow - so daffodils are probably a bit of a double whammy! And as for all that high-viz we insist on wearing...........!
 

1stclassalan

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I also remember reading that horses respond more to the colour yellow -

How do you know that a horse's eye sees yellow - or any other colour the same as us?

In many other lifeforms the world looks very different. Insects sense in polarised light and have compound eyes ( not like sometimes portrayed in films - many pictures all the same!) each one measures the lightwaves at a slightly different angle so they are very good at navigation. This kind of eye also sees movement far better than our single lens ( did you know that everything you see is really upside down?) which is why you'll find it difficult to catch a fly.
 

Ahrena

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The one I can't get my head round..

I sometimes ride past a house that has 6 identical stone blocks on the verge to stop people driving on it.

The 4th one is a monster. The others are fine.
 

tallyho!

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I have the ultimate answer!

Horses are scared of silly things mostly because they are silly things!!!

:D
 
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