Every horse I’ve ever known handles fear just a little differently. I’m sure you’ve noticed how your horse handles fear. I’m also sure he has shown you many times.

I had a beautiful illustration on my property the other night. May I add a safe illustration, involving 6 horses responses to a one simple scary source. A black Standard Poodle. Now we have dogs on the property. Their owners have dogs that visit. Several are Hunt Horses who have had 50 Hounds around their feet or running by them, but the Standard Poodle unhinged them.

One of the owners came to visit her horse after a dog training class. The dog, Anna, was an 8 month old 50 lb. Standard. They don’t do a Poodle Clip until they are a year old, so she was just a big black ball of fur. She had never seen horses before and was a little wary of all these large dogs, but also curious, so running up to them and checking them out, was not her idea of a fun thing to do. She cautiously stayed close to her owner and peaked around her legs.

Each horse reacted differently upon seeing her. All reacted with “what is that black mass of whatever walking in our yard?” The heads went up, the ears went up, and some snorting occurred. One horse put his head up, snorting, and pranced around tail flagging at a safe distance. His buddy had ears up but walked to the fence to get a better look. It was his owners dog but had never seen this dog before. I guess a closer look was necessary to determine the danger level of this unknown thing. The other gelding, in the next pasture, just decided to walk away and let the others handle this oddity. My girls turned there backs and walked quietly to a safe distance of 15 feet, turned around and gave it more thought. Slowly they walked back to get a closer look, no big thing. Upon seeing there might be a mint in it for them, they came up to the fence and accepted the peace offering. The strange ball of fur became nothing to write home to mother about. Not one of them saw it as a threat, no panic, no running to the opposite end of the pasture, just “what is that thing?” They all used their brains in a quiet, controlled manner. That’s really nice to know.

When we brought our Clydesdale mare home they all lined up at the fence, dropped their heads to the ground and watched her walk by with her feathers swaying. They were all fascinated by this white fluffy stuff floating around her legs.

I’ve had horses, that when confronted with a boogie man, left town, no questions asked, whoever was last was dinner. Then I had a little filly, who when seeing something odd, such as a burned out car in the woods, would run up to it and strike out at it. Anything scary became a target of her aggression. She never asked for permission to do this, I just was taken along for the ride. We were going to get, and kill this thing. She was going to protect and take care of both of us and rid the world of this danger.

I’ve seen horses in a total panic from fear, or others that just ignored the weird stuff. It’s nice to be on a horse that freezes and waits for you to say “its alright” or “let’s just leave quietly.” It’s even nicer to be on a horse that just ignores and continues on it’s way. As opposed to those that just take the bit in their teeth and head for the hills, with or without you.

We know that fight or flight is just born into them to save there lives. We know that some horses listen to this instinct more closely, and we know that some horses will take it into consideration but use their brains more. I just love watching horses actions or reactions. It speaks volumes as to who they really are, and how safe they can be.

I much prefer a horse that will use their thought process and listen to their rider instead of one who leaves and asks questions later. Yes instinct is strong in any horse, but I have gotten some really skittish horses, to stop, trust, and pay attention to me. It’s all in the “Trust” part of training. It’s safer for all involved. Had a horse once that would panic, turn and run head on into an on coming car. Not a good plan.

My suggestion for this week is to sit back, relax, and observe. You learn so much, and it’s very entertaining. As long as you are not on board the “loose horse”.

Fall is almost here for many of you. We are still with a heat index of 110 and horses that are getting their winter coats. This has been the most unbelievable summer in Florida ever.