arab spookiness, sometimes a good thing

["Rachel Ward" <rward@peppersnet.com>]

Barbara said:

"I realize they are often more reactive than some other breeds, but they are also very alert and make better "watchdogs"  (watchhorses, we call them) than the dogs do.  They can spot a coyote or a deer crossing the hillside a quarter-mile away."

    

      This particular quality kept me from getting bitten by a rattlesnake this weekend.  I was riding Sabre and looking for my other two horses who had gotten into a pasture that I wanted them out of.   We spotted them and I was preparing to dismount (and halter one of them to pony back up to the house) when Sabre reared up and threw a hissy fit.  I was having very mean thoughts about his arab-ness when I heard the snake rattle and saw it moving through the weeds away from us.  It had been right between us and the horse I intended to catch.  There's not a doubt in my mind that I would have stepped on that snake if it wasn't for Sabre.  He got a couple of carrots and a big "good boy" for his spookiness. 

    On a side note, he was pretty comical after the snake incident - he walked back to the house on his tiptoes with his ears pointed at the ground "watching for more!"

    Rachael and Sabre (who's reveling in his hero status :-)