Property Protected by Watch Horse
Apr. 25th, 2008 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threadwalkerMy coworker and his wife own a 47 horse stable in Kansas City, MI, where his wife is currently running the business. (He's out here because this is where work moved him and it's prohibitively expensive to uproot and relocate his ranch, so he's racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles).
A week ago (per the mail carrier who witnessed the event), 4 dogs chased some deer into the geldings' pasture. There were 11 horses hanging out and 6 of them banded together to chase off the dogs. The deer got amongst the rest of the horses and came to rest and, with the other 5 horses, watched the 6 combatants run down the dogs, break them up, and run them off.
Can you imagine having 6 horses come at you with intent to do severe bodily damage? I bet one successful kick could crush a skull or spine. The dogs were scattered and left.
During his last visit home, my coworker and his wife were going for a trail ride and the trail head is 50 yds from a neighbor's property. The neighbor's 2 dogs came out to defend their "turf" and lunged at the horses, barking. My cowboy co-worker, who is one of the mildest and calmest men I've ever met, told his wife that they were not backing down. They wheeled around and he told his horse (who is, I'd swear, the smartest horse evah! based on the tales), "Go get 'em, Rojo". So his horse, Rojo, rears, paws the air, screams at the dogs, and charges. His wife's horse follows suit. The two dogs do a reality-check and then high-tail it back to their property.
I need to get me a herd of "Watch Horse" to guard my property and family from... well... anyway. It was pretty cool and gave me a whole new level of respect for horses. I won't be able to help looking at Brandee and her SCA buddies without recalling these incidents. It's a weird relief and I have a sense of universal-oneness that courage and protecting the weak is something that comes naturally to so many. I'm going to be smiling all day about this.
A week ago (per the mail carrier who witnessed the event), 4 dogs chased some deer into the geldings' pasture. There were 11 horses hanging out and 6 of them banded together to chase off the dogs. The deer got amongst the rest of the horses and came to rest and, with the other 5 horses, watched the 6 combatants run down the dogs, break them up, and run them off.
Can you imagine having 6 horses come at you with intent to do severe bodily damage? I bet one successful kick could crush a skull or spine. The dogs were scattered and left.
During his last visit home, my coworker and his wife were going for a trail ride and the trail head is 50 yds from a neighbor's property. The neighbor's 2 dogs came out to defend their "turf" and lunged at the horses, barking. My cowboy co-worker, who is one of the mildest and calmest men I've ever met, told his wife that they were not backing down. They wheeled around and he told his horse (who is, I'd swear, the smartest horse evah! based on the tales), "Go get 'em, Rojo". So his horse, Rojo, rears, paws the air, screams at the dogs, and charges. His wife's horse follows suit. The two dogs do a reality-check and then high-tail it back to their property.
I need to get me a herd of "Watch Horse" to guard my property and family from... well... anyway. It was pretty cool and gave me a whole new level of respect for horses. I won't be able to help looking at Brandee and her SCA buddies without recalling these incidents. It's a weird relief and I have a sense of universal-oneness that courage and protecting the weak is something that comes naturally to so many. I'm going to be smiling all day about this.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-25 05:23 pm (UTC)And some do comprehend a command to 'get 'em!'. Surprises the heck out of aggressive dogs, cows, neighbor boys...
I heard a story of a horse that fought off a mountain lion. No idea if it is true but wouldn't it be cool if it was? :-)
no subject
Date: 2008-04-25 07:54 pm (UTC)You can always tell if a predator is near a group of horses, because they stay grouped up...
no subject
Date: 2008-04-25 08:56 pm (UTC)I think we might need more than one if we're talking ponies and big dogs, but I have no doubt that those hooves could be wicked! Did you see Night Rider w/ Nicolas Cage? And he asks Sam Elliot (after he's mounted) if he can keep up? I cheered when the horse looked at him, light up on fire and took off.
Have we met? I zipped over to your journal, but I don't do horse stuff. If we have, then it's my bad. I'm a geek and not so good with names and faces. If not, then pleased to meet you.
My old riding instructor
Date: 2008-04-26 07:21 am (UTC)Re: My old riding instructor
Date: 2008-04-28 04:20 pm (UTC)