The mind of a horse..

Ok my equestrian friends... it is spring and those of us that have had the luxury of riding indoors all winter are now peeking our heads outside at the strange orb in the sky and heading toward the outdoor ring.  At my barn the owners have been busy this winter revamping a few jumps.  One of the horses I ride takes great pride in his ability to spook at the silliest things so last week as we walked to the outdoor ring I figured... nice spring day.. new jumps.. fresh horse.. yup.. I'm in for an interesting ride... well I was and I wasn't.. I'll let you guess... Which new jump did the horse not only spook at... but flat refuse to jump

Jump A.. brand new jump.. new flowers.. on " scary" side of the ring

  Jump B. Riveria..  this jump has  been there before but is in a new location and  now has added "scary" greenery...

Jump C. Wishing well... older jump new location... and greenery

Jump D.. covered solid coup.. brand new jump.

Jump E Gray wishing well.. old jump but new location..

Jump F.. plain old painted gate.. used to be white ... now green..



















If you picked F you would be correct.. None of the other ones got even so much as a sideways glance... but this.. set at this height he flat refused to jump.. and this horse never refuses and is an old A show hunter so he's seen everything. So what was so damn scary??? Trainer looked around sideways and everywhere and couldn't find anything scary. I finally figured it out the second time we attempted it.. He literally saw his own shadow as he raised to jump it and scared himself...* rolling eyes now*... and that damn shadow showed up every.... damn.. time LOL. He eventually stopped refusing and would jump it..hesitantly and crooked with his nose between his knees staring his shadow down as he went over.





Horses.. scared of only 2 things.. things that move.. and things that don't...