Top 10 Spooky Things to a Horse

As horse folks, we work with our horses to help them deal with things that surprise them - the term we use is "spook." A well trained horse will spook in place when he/she is surprised. In other words, he/she won't run out from under us when a bird flies up from a sage brush and leave us sitting on our sore butts.

To help you understand what a horse sees as spooky, here are the Top 10 Spooky Things to a Horse.

10. Blowing Paper: "At any moment it could whip up into our faces, covering our noses. We could suffocate. And don't try to tell us you'd do CPR."

9. Barking Dogs: "What? You've never read Steven King's 'CUJO'?"

8. Puddles of Water: "Quicksand 10 feet deep - no question about it."

7. Trash Cans: "They've been known to swallow horses and transport them into another dimension - never to return."

6. Babies and Little Kids: "Long lost tribe of horse-eating, ankle-biting pygmies."

5. Plaid Horse Blankets:"Hey, when was the last time you wore plaid? It adds 100 lbs."

4. Ropes and Hoses on the Ground: "Dreaded North American Trail Snakes just waiting to swallow us whole."

3. Ponies: "Cute, cleaver, hardy, but devious and deceptive. They really want to take over the world."

2. Windy Days: "Two words: Impending tornado. Besides, it messes up our manes."

1. Carts and Wagons: "Look. You put a human on our backs, we can always buck them off. But tying a horse to a wheeled object that keeps chasing him all over the place? It's just not natural."