On 10/02/2018 04:55 PM, Rod Speed wrote:
"Jimmy Wilkinson Knife" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 30 Sep 2018 20:27:05 +0100, Rod Speed
wrote:
"Jimmy Wilkinson Knife" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 10 Sep 2018 05:45:16 +0100, rbowman wrote:
On 09/09/2018 01:08 PM, Jimmy Wilkinson Knife wrote:
I really ****ed off a horserider once. I was driving a very old
Range
Rover automatic which had a conversion to LPG. It very often
misfired,
made loud bangs, and changed gear without warning. I managed to
cause a
small explosion and a loud revving of the engine just as I passed a
horserider coming the other way along a narrow country road. The
horse
**** itself, and so did the rider.
I did better than that... I was coming down a narrow road that went
past
a dude ranch on my Harley. Coming the other was was a herd of dudes on
their docile refugees from a canning factory led by a genuine wild
west
cowboy. ****head's horse had a nervous breakdown while the guests'
nags
barely roused from their stupor.
it doesn't take much to set them off. I've worked with horses
enough to
know most of them are a neurotic bundle of nerves. If the horse can't
handle public roads, trailer it to a nice quiet horse trail someplace.
Indeed. Horses on roads were fine, before the invention of the
motor car.
They weren't actually, lots got killed by them bolting etc.
They're not the brightest of animals.
They're actually quite a bit smarter than most, just a
neurotic bundle of nerves. They basically evolved that
way because they are prey to stuff like lions and tigers etc.
At one time I worked on a Forest Service ranch that was the winter home
for about 250 head of saddle and pack stock, both mules and horses. I
preferred the mules. The only problem is a mule is smart enough to look
out for number one while you can coax a horse into doing stupid things.
otoh, most mules aren't afraid of a length of rope laying in the trail,
running water, tree branches blowing in the wind, llamas, bicycles, elk,
deer, shadows, or whatever else will trigger a horse.
I've packed with llamas and they are equally neurotic. More cowboy humor:
Q. How do you pack a llama?
A. Quarter them, just like an elk.