I missed the staff meeting but the minutes show "RogerN"
wrote back on Thu, 13 Jan 2005 02:53:31 GMT in
rec.crafts.metalworking :

Should horses be spooked by gunfire?

Horses, to be polite, "ain't the sharpest tool in the drawer." They can
be spooked by all sorts of things. Remember, they are herbivores - another
way of saying "prey". Prey species tend to be real alert about unexpected
things in their neighborhood. "Paranoia" is a survival trait for things
which could be "lunch". So yeah, horses "spook" at gunfire. They also
spook at snakes, laundry flapping in the wind, the wind, things sneaking up
on their blind side, loud noises, lightening, rain, sunshine, cars, dogs,
cats and horses named "Brucey" .
Let's face it, if you din't know someone was shooting, you'd jump at
the first gunshot too. And if you had no idea what that noise was, you'd
be a little spooked too.

On the other hand, based on conversations with a horsewoman I know,
what most people call "spirit" in a horse is closer to neurotic or
hysterics. "Flighty." Her experience with horses had been as 'working
horses'. Ayup, she rode horses to get to work, or as part of the job.
"Cow ponies" they was called. (Tain't nothing purtyer than a gal from
ranch country getting to pet the pretty working horses at the fair. That
smile lighting up her face, just beautiful. Course, I thought her
beautiful the rest of the time too, but I digress.)

John Wayne would be ashamed! :-)

If it were his horse, maybe.


--
pyotr filipivich.
as an explaination for the decline in the US's tech edge, James
Niccol wrote "It used to be that the USA was pretty good at
producing stuff teenaged boys could lose a finger or two playing with."