Moose Patrol: Some things a horse just can't accept.
We live in an area where we are lucky, (or unlucky, as the case may be) to encounter moose quite often when we ride. Usually, our horses get jittery just before we actually see the moose. We've learned to pick up on the clues our horses provide and ready ourselves to see the moose, who is usually just out of sight, around the next bend.
We like to think of our horses a courageous, but when it comes to moose encounters, I'm afraid they're anything but. At the first sign of a moose we still ourselves and our horses, waiting to see just what the moose will do, which is usually nothing. They gaze at us nonchalantly, noting that we are of little or no concern.
In open clearings we make a wide arc around them. They go on eating while our horses fear for their lives. The horses act as thought these Moose were armed with flamethrowers. We're always relieved to pass safely by and glad when the horses calm down a bit.
Recently, the horses did something that we would never suspect.
All five were in the pasture, when a young moose and it's mother came down and stood on the other side of the fence. The duo had the full attention of all five horses. Then, the young moose hopped easily over the fence and into the pasture.
Woah Nelly. Evidently this was something the horses would just not accept. Suddenly, with military-like precision, all five horses started galloping right toward the little moose, who instantly realized he had no desire to take on five horses, and plunged back over the fence to his mom, waiting patiently, seemingly unalarmed, for his return.
Feeling a bit full of themselves, all five horses then bucked and kicked and galloped around the pasture, clearly delighted in their victory. It seems that the home field advantage works for horses too.
7 Comments
Reader Comments (7)
Abby