Quote for the week

Horses always do the right thing, you just have to figure out why they did it.
~said by the Support Crew Chief, he read it in the book Half Broke Horses

It is true we always do the right thing, it may not just have been the thing our human wanted us to do. The DOR and I have run into this several times and when she stops to think about what happened and look at things from my perspective she discovers I was always right.
Take the time we were out on a trail ride and I absolutely refused to go forward. She nudged, I wouldn't budge. She kicked, I wouldn't move. She got off and started to lead me only to discover a motorcycle was coming down the trail. I could hear it long before she could and was waiting the beast out in a wide spot. I was trying to keep us safe and she was not listening. Or the time it took me a week of not letting the DOR mount from the mounting block without moving away. My saddle was pinching and I was trying to let her know I didn't like it. I finally had to get pretty dramatic before she figured it out. I won't even go into the white bag hanging from the saddle event. Just suffice it to say we have reached an understanding regarding white bags.
The DOR has learned that horses act the way they do for a reason. If we appear to be behaving badly it is because the human doesn't understand the situation from our perspective. While I will agree that most times we just need to mind our human and do what they ask because it is the polite thing to do. But there are times that a horse has to do what a horse has to do. There are also times where what appears to be bad behavior on our part is just a misunderstanding of what the human requested.
Temple Grandin makes it a habit to get down and look at the world from the perspective of animals, maybe that is what all humans need to do on occasion.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!