Comments on Behind the Bit: Harvey's moment of higher reasoning

This is my favorite, Stacey! (And I love everyone ...

2008-12-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite, Stacey! (And I love everyone else's supplemental stories). I just bought my first horse -- on Tuesday! -- and I have been enjoying your blog for the past month or so.

I think you're right in observing Harv's reasoning...

2008-10-09T11:50:00.000-04:00

I think you're right in observing Harv's reasoning. Armani displays what I can only call intelligence all the time. He actually intimidates my husband, who is used to sedate dairy cattle. Armani is very tactile towards objects and he's figured out how to open or break out of just about anything. At our last show he opened the stall door and was on his way to get me (out of sight across the

One of my horses is a whiz at opening latches. He ...

2008-10-08T11:36:00.000-04:00

One of my horses is a whiz at opening latches. He hates to be stalled, so after he finished his meals he would let himself out as soon as you turned your back. He knew he wasn't supposed to do this, so if you were watching him, he was good as gold.

The same horse also learned how to open the latched door to the hay storage area. When he got hungry, he would open it up and pull a bale of

Shadow Rider, That's interesting, a good example t...

2008-10-08T06:30:00.000-04:00

Shadow Rider, That's interesting, a good example that horses understand the social realm and can take steps to rectify problems (baby's mom missing!). That would also break my heart, so cute that he took the baby under his wing...

I have seen many instances of linear thinking by h...

2008-10-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

I have seen many instances of linear thinking by horses. The most recent a few weeks ago when we weaned a colt by taking mom away, leaving the baby out with my herd gelding (he considers himself the 'King of the Pasture')two older mares and a yearling colt. The baby ran around for a bit calling for mom, and our gelding followed him around, herding him away from fences, etc. After a bit, he came

I was once hand walking a mare when she crouched d...

2008-10-07T22:51:00.000-04:00

I was once hand walking a mare when she crouched down, ready to spook, and then suddenly realized the only places she could jump were forward -- towards the thing that scared her -- or sideways, on top of me.

There was a long, long moment while she thought about what to do, and she finally gave a very calculated spook that was just a little forward and just a little to the side. She

I believe having two horses does bring out the cun...

2008-10-07T19:42:00.000-04:00
I believe having two horses does bring out the cunning intelligence in them. Who will get the treat? Who is going to get ridden? Who gets the last sugar cube? I believe every micromillimeter of their intelligence can be marshalled for these questions.

I think if you have horses at home, where they can...

2008-10-07T16:32:00.000-04:00
I think if you have horses at home, where they can get a bit more freedom, you tend to see more of the smartness and reasoning skills come into play.

Our pony knows how to lift gates off hinges, walk them carefully around (b/c they're still attached by the chain to the post at the other end} and then carefully extract his head from the gate before trotting off to freedom.

Indeed! Sometimes I think horses are smarter then ...

2008-10-07T02:42:00.000-04:00
Indeed! Sometimes I think horses are smarter then they lead us to believe...
I used to do a lot of ground work with my Paint, and he is a very lazy horse. I was asking him to jump over two barrels I had placed on the ground, and after doing it once he realized it was way two much effort. The second time he refused, and I just sent him around to it again. The third time he trotted to a stop; I