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Re: [RC] wildlife encounters - Maryanne GabbaniWe have herons and egrets in abundance in the countryside and I'd bet that most of the desert-ridden horses would spook at those. Mine are used to them, so birds are no problem. The biggest spook I ever got from one of my horses over 'wildlife' was during mulberry season (which is right about now) when we rode under a huge mulberry tree only to have about half a dozen kids cheerfully greet us from about 4 meters up....above Bunduq's head! Poor guy could not imagine where those voices were coming from and he did a stop and 360 to find them. His spooks are exceedingly gentle so staying on was no problem but he was eyeing mulberry trees suspiciously to see if they were talking trees for a while. Problem is that on a given 10 km of trail, we would encounter roughly 100 trees and that got old quickly, especially when none of the others started talking to him.Our most spookable wildlife isn't really wild but belong to the farmers. Things like donkeys almost entirely obscured by a pile of clover upon which is perched a small boy can surprise a horse initially. Camels with palm branches draped over their backs so that their heads are carried level to the ground and the branches brush the road behind them....the world's biggest peacocks and they smell funny too...that's a show-stopper. Then there are the 'dangerous Madonna donkeys' who wear cone shaped eye-shades and walk in circles around a waterwheel...I always tell my horses that if they aren't good, that will be their next job. <VBEG> Maryanne Cairo On May 14, 2005, at 2:58 AM, Zephyr Arabians wrote: The ones that will get the horse startled nearly every time (even the unflappably horses) are the egrets/herons we'd see down in the Santa Ana riverbed. The birds will stand like statues on the side of the trail -- so you, the rider, can see them, but the horse doesn't -- then, JUST as you get next to them they'll launch into the air. I think they're probably extra spooky because you DO see them and KNOW what's going to happen, but can't warn the horse except by getting tense yourself in expectation... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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