Blowing and snorting endurance horses!

[Joane Pappas White <Lyoness@Castlenet.com>]

Hi All,

Once again the hunting season in Utah is underway and our ranch is a
Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit (CWMU).  Once again, the endurance
horses have been "bannished" from the mountain for behavior inconsistant
with hunting, namely, blowing and snorting! 

There appears to be vastly different opinions on the purpose and value
of this "blowing".  My dressage teacher loves to see Silver blow and
stretch her neck down--says it is a relaxing gesture.

At endurance rides, all our horses are blowing and snorting (whatever
you call it) and it sounds more like a communication thing to me but no
one ever corrects their horse for the noise. If I have made progress in
getting Falon to stop it, one race surrounded by snorting horses is all
it takes to get her going again.

Several of the articles on cooling of blood in the horse's head suggest
some purpose to the blowing.  BUT, the cowboys at the ranch see this
behavior as rude and illmannered and prefer not to have blowing horses
around their horses at all.  Their horses are quiet and don't
blow--unless mine start it!  

Since my mare Falon is still in the pasture after her Ty up, I am back
to Thumper, the quarter horse with an attitude.  Last weekend he and I
were sneeking through the quakies trying to catch sight of the hugh bull
elk that lives under the top of Dead Cow Canyon.  Not one time did
Thumper make a sound.  He loves to hunt and he knew what we were doing.
At one point, we actually got into a herd of about 50 cow elk and their
calves. Thumper stood quietly with me playing "cow elk" while the herd
grazed past us.  My horses would have been snorting and blowing and we
would never have even got close to that herd much less their bull. 

I understand that my horses can and do scare away wildlife but I sure
miss taking my own horses to ranch this time of year.

Why do we allow our horses to blow?  Healthy habit or Rude, untrained
behavior?

Joane and the noisy herd
Price, Utah