The Invisible Squirrel

When your human is riding you, an easy way to get out of doing something you don't want to do is to spook at something. Humans usually are not able to tell when you are faking it and when you are truly scared, so you need not worry about your acting abilities.

Let’s say your human wants you go down part of a trail that you do not like in particular. Not wanting to go down it, you have two choices. You can be defeated by your rider and go down the horrible path, or you can pretend to be scared of something.

 

Razzle would rather go back to the barn.

When you are pretending to be scared, be sure to remember the three S’s: Stop, Stare, and Shake.

Stop moving. You need to basically become a rock and freeze. 

Stare at something. Just pick a random object to look at. It can be invisible; it really doesn’t matter.

Shake a little—just enough to make your rider feel sorry for you. If they start to urge you on, shake a little more and refuse to budge. Keep your legs spread out evenly and stay planted to the ground. This will usually convince your rider that there is some big scary monster up ahead that only your super senses can detect.

If there are other horses riding along side of you, be sure to use the international horse signal for pretend danger: invisible squirrel. This will alert your horse companions that there is not really any true danger up ahead, but that they need to pretend there is to keep up the show.

That’s our two bits!

 

How Scary is That?

We horses are flighters, not fighters. Almost everything is scary. But there are some things that we do not need to be afraid of. Today we have compiled a list of things that the average horse might be scared of. These are our scary ratings survey results:

Please note that all fear ratings are out of 10.

·        Plastic bags and other flimsy noise-producing items. Fear Rating: 9

Although their scare rating is abnormally high, studies have shown that a plastic bag or other flimsy noise-producing object has almost never been known to hurt horses; therefore, we actually need not be afraid of these items.

Possibly the most scary of all, but not harmful!

·        Foreign animals. Fear Rating: 6

Depending on the kind of animal, the rating can vary, so be sure to keep a good eye out. Note that foreign animals have been known to attack or hurt horses.

Clearly Vegas is not afraid of dogs.

·        Bull Whips. Fear Rating: 3

These should never actually hurt you. It is just the loud cracking sound that is scary. If your human is using a bull whip to hurt you, report to an older horse who may be able to give you tips on how to get out of this situation. It is very, very rare for this to happen though.

·        Standing Water. Fear Rating: 3

Water is a good thing, though many horses forget this. When asked to step into the water, do not fear. Although smaller puddles may appear deep and dangerous, 99.9 percent of the time horses do step in these puddles, they are perfectly fine.

·        New Surroundings. Fear Rating: 10

Be afraid of all new things! Whether it is a new stall, a new arena, a new trailer, a new tree, be on guard. If you do not know what it is, how can you be sure it won’t hurt you?

That’s our two bits!