A Horses Point of View

I have been around horses most of my life on a daily basis and my wife Zee spends most of every day working with our herd of horses reminding them all to remember their manners and don’t fight, exercising others and then playing nurse to any that might need some TLC, or determining if a call to our vet is necessary. With two lifetimes of experience observing these very social animals were going to now act as interpreters for a conversation we overheard between two of our senior citizens by the name of Hot Shot, age 30 and Pozie age 25 Hot Shot, this day, was in a philosophical mood and was pondering whether the horse was better off after casting it's lot with we humans some 5000 years ago. Pozie thought for awhile and then with her horse sense, she came to the logical conclusion that her ancestors had plenty of chances to cut and run as the planet was not very crowded back then. In fact it's only been in the last 1000 years or so that we really started losing elbow room. Well, Pozie came to the conclusion that as badly as we've been treated by our human master over the millennia there must have been more pluses than minuses. Hot Shot appreciated her view on the subject and responded with his own bit of logic. “Pozie”, he said, “You know we can't change the past but what about you and I coming up with the pluses and minuses that we like and dislike about today's world. Pozie you go first.” “Well luck has certainly been with all of us that have been able to live out our lives here on the V6 Ranch. I don't know of a nicer part of California than right here in Parkfield but some of my flat land relatives might argue that point saying “that you guys spend all of your time either going up a mountain or down and that looks like a lot of hard work.” Pozies' reply to the issue of hard work was “that if you’re in good physical shape the mountains are a piece of cake” and then Hot Shot chimed in saying that “way too many of our city brethren are looking a little large around the girth and that maybe some mountain climbing and a little less time at the hay bunk might be in order.” “Hot Shot it's your turn now. What good and bad things can you think of?” “Well I’ll start with the new training methods that are being practiced today. It's a much kinder and gentler way that most trainers use today. The modern horseman acknowledges that we in the horse world have a brain and that most of us want to please our owners and we will tell you with visual signs of our content or discontent.” Pozie says, “I like that. Hot Shot Why don't you tell our readers some of the body language that we use to let them know how we’re feeling at the moment." “Okay I'm going to start with my eyes, they reveal a lot about my personality from fearful to fearless, somber to hysterics, my eyes are a window to my inner feelings. Next my ears, if my ears are pined back I’m saying "you there, yea you on my back, that horse behind me keeps pestering and threatening me and I know he is back there, because of my eyes being placed on each side of my skull allow me to see clear back to my tail. So please, see if you can fix the problem." Now if my ears are more or less straight up I feel relaxed and I’m enjoying life and looking forward to tomorrow. My ears pricked forward means there's something going on that I need to know more about like do I run like hell or is it much ado about nothing and when you approach me in the corral and my ears are looking forward and I start licking my lips I'm saying “I'd like to be your friend.” Pozie why don't you tackle "tell tale signs" a cliché from the horse and buggy days.” “Ok, if my tail is hanging straight down everything is cool. Now if I start swinging it back and forth slowly at first I'm slightly peeved. As my tail moves faster I'm getting more and more upset and when I start to ring it in a circle I'm pissed and I may even pee a little and I want you to stop what you’re doing right now. Maybe the day hasn’t gone to well for you well don’t take it out on me by constantly poking me to do something pointless. The worst is the show off who want to show what a horseman he or she is to please some other dude who’s as clueless as I am. Your turn Hot Shot.” “There's one thing that really bugs me and that's horses that become weavers or cribbers from boredom by being in solitary confinement in a box stall for there lives, with little or no exercise. But Pozie I think it's time to look at the positive side of our owners. I think that we are much better fed than my brethren of the past century, when we were simply beasts of burden that had no feelings. Today I like the way our strengths have been cultivated so that, we who like working cattle can work cattle. Others who like to run can run around a race track or around a barrel. Pacers and single footers can “rack on” and you work horses, “I hope that pulling a freight wagon is fun.” “Well Hot Shot, I believe that most of our kind don't want to go back 5000 years. But choose to live with you and me on this day of April 11th, 2019 and are looking forward to many more tomorrow’s.

See Ya, Pozie and Hot Shot