The Gentle Giants Of Our Farm

Horses! These Fury "Little" creatures can sometimes be misunderstood! People are often afraid of these gentle giants. Why? I don't really know, maybe its got something to do with the sudden movements they make, maybe its because they have a tremendous amount of power and with that power comes a tremendous amount of mass as well!

Even though a horse would very often hurt a human being they sometimes do but if you know your story you wont get hurt! If you are open minded as to what you should do around a horse and if you are able to read the signs that a horse gives you, you will be fine! The thing is horses dont like sudden movements so refrain from quickly turning around or running away or even waving your arms in the air! Especially that last one! Waving your arms in the air is somewhat a threatening sign for a horse as it gives them the idea that you want to challenge him/her! Almost like a horse getting on his hind legs making him much taller and larger if that makes sense! So for a horse you might be challenging them or trying to show them authority! In some cases it is needed to show that dominance to a horse that is doing something it must not in order to get it to stop doing something or to keep the horse away from said object or animal it might want to attack! Keep in mind when challenging a horse you must be very cat foot because if that horse decides to go for you I can surely promise you no matter how big of a human you are! You wont even come second!

Always remember to be calm and assertive around these gentle giants! They really love attention a lot and a belly rub or back rub can go along way in them liking you! Some horses also like to be tickled behind the ears and sometimes being scratched inside their ears NOT ALL horses love that so be wary! Their ears also shows you a lot about how they feel about you or just in general how they feel! If you walk up to a horse keep an eye on their ears! If they pull their ears back to the the middle of their head! chances are good that you are giving them a threatening felling! And that is a big no no, step back and give them their space and maybe try again in a few minutes!

If the horse is relaxed with you don't just throw your hands on them! Horses like to smell everything so hold your hand out and let them get your scent first! Its almost like a handshake to them, if they have your scent you'll know this because they stopped smelling at your hand, you may go ahead and pet them!

Refrain from hugging to tight and be aware of how and where you place your head as horses can get very happy sometimes and then they like to wave their head around and trust me if his/her head hits yours you will be left will a few stitches! They normally pull their heads up and down so try keeping your head beside them and not on top of their noses etc or under his jaw.

It's almost mid day and these fellas are still sleepy! You see horses do stand and sleep! It's a bit odd yes but that's how they are built! Yes sometimes they do lie down and sleep but it is very often that they do that! Horses love baking in the sun but on a hot day they would prefer being in the shade!

Horses also have leaders that they pick out them selves! The one I am hugging is the current leader! And believe me she looks gentle but she has a fiery heart and a bitching attitude! I would refrain from messing with her shes been through a lot of battles and shes led them for a while now! Also notice the young ling in the middle! YES they are protecting him and for good reason! They also know that their youth will one day lead them!

I think this is where I sort of woke them up from their afternoon nap, looking at me like "what ya doing" with me almost falling over the fence! Not long after that they started playing around and running around!

Horses can sometimes be playful, nosy, silly, intrigued in what your doing and sometimes just downright irritating (on purpose) even though they think their playing but actually their just messing you around! throwing their food in the air is one of those situations xD! And every now and then in rainy seasons they will go and roll around in the mud! When a horse is genuinely happy it will run around in circles kicking into the air trying to get rid of all that energy! When they do, don't stop them their is nothing wrong with them!

These horses are not used for farming purposes! The farm is more of a safe haven for them! They are all retired race horses! Well most of them! the rest were born and raised on the farm itself! Except for the two Friesian horses we have!