Fireworks – Fight or Flight!

Hay Folks,

The Fourth of July is almost here and that means barbeques, HOT DOGS, (Mmm mmm mmm) and of course fireworks!  Fireworks are magnificent and a great way to represent my patriotism, after all, I am an AMERICAN Quarter horse. But in a horse’s mind, the loud sounds and bright lights can mean “something is attacking me!” and trigger a horse’s flight response.  This can be very dangerous for the horse and people around them, too.

"She loves me, she loves me not"

Love is in the air…or could it be a delicious heart-shaped doughnut that I smell?!? 

With Valentine’s Day later this week, I’m planning to spend quality time with my gal pal, Hugme Christi! It took me a long time to figure out if she liked me or not.  I used to pluck the petals off of flowers singing, “She loves me. She loves me not,” over and over again until there weren’t any petals left.  But that wasn’t very scientific of me.  I’m a professor of equine science, so I put my thinking cap on and started to pay closer attention to her behavior.  Learning a horse’s behavior is very important so you know when they are going to give you a kiss or a bite – but don’t worry about me; I only bite into doughnuts and hot dogs!