Saturday, October 31, 2015

A Word from the Halloween Harvey Alarmist

What we see at night...
What Harv sees...
Sorry to keep posting high-drama, scary posts about the Harvster. Despite odd symptoms and behavior, he is apparently, thankfully, not a sick horse -- just a slightly daffy one, apparently afraid of the dark at times. One of the blog readers suggested he might have a bit of dementia. I can't rule that out.

I will admit to being a bit sensitized to his health and attitude. I only see him once a day, his caretakers are not on premises, and he is alone with his buddies most of the time. I feel I need to be especially watchful for any signs of problems so that I can catch them early.

And however alarmist I may be, something is getting his knickers in a twist at night - full moon, deer season, weather change, zombie apolcalypes, whatever.

Maybe he sees deer, maybe he sees dead people. I just hope this night-time fearfest will stop soon...


5 comments:

  1. this might be a stretch, but the foxes around our farm have been super active and screechy lately pretty much as soonas full dark hits, and some of the horses become a little unsettled. idk if thats a likely scenario where harv is?

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  2. Is it possible there is something dead in the woods - I mean a wild animal, not a zombie nest :) - that he is smelling? I guess that might not apply if it only happens at night. My daughter rode a TB for awhile who was very sensitive and she became terrified of the forest edge in one area of the farm where she lived - it took months for her to get over it. There was some speculation that either an animal died in the woods OR a hunter shot something and left parts behind. She was totally fine with the sounds of guns, a foxhunter, etc. but there was something that totally freaked her out that no one could ever see or hear. I hope it resolves soon for Harvey. I have always enjoyed reading your stories about him and since my Keil Bay is now 26 (though thankfully still sound to ride) I am rooting even harder for Harv to get past this blip in his retirement!

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  3. Is it possible that he's losing a bit of sight and hearing as he gets older? I imagine that happens to horse in their senior years, too. That could cause him to be spooky since things are seemingly sneaking up on him.

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  4. In Colorado, at a stable in the foothills, there would be days when all the horses were on edge. Perhaps a mountain lion stalked the premises the previous night or a black bear or... Maybe there is an animal who visits your barn nightly that worries Harv. Having said that I remember at another barn some raccoons became very brave and walked the aisles looking for spilled grain.

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  5. I was also going to suggest that there is probably an age related a deterioration in vision & hearing which would account for Harvey's fear of the dark.

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