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mjranum β Mjr and P-Nut
Published: 2007-02-20 01:35:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 8480; Favourites: 74; Downloads: 853
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Description
Me! (in hat) And my horse P-nut (in brown). He's a very sweet - and way too smart - fellow, who's sometimes nearly more trouble than he's worth. But he's good company. This photo was shot for me by my buddy Paul Robertson a few winters ago. The body language in this shot is just amazingly true to how P-nut and I interact. You can tell he's planning some kind of joke on his little daddy, and I'm keeping an eye on him because he's probably up to something. Sure enough, seconds after Paul hit this shot, P-nut grabbed my hat and galloped off with it in his mouth. Never teach a horse to "fetch"!I've put this up because DA just took down my "southpark style mjr" because it's a "copyright infringement."
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Comments: 91
You've got a shire!?! COOOOL! We've got a shire baby (I named him "Otto") who's just a sweet goofy lunk. P-nut is a Suffolk/Percheron.
Playing tag was something that just happened but then we got more serious about it. He's very treat-motivated and I used to feed him ridiculous amounts of carrots. So usually when I went into his field he'd come running over to shake me down for carrots. I learned not to bolt off in a random direction when he did that because he might flatten me accidentally. So I got into this thing where, when he'd run up, I'd run very carefully at right angles to his line of approach. Waving a carrot. 
So here's another important horse-handling lesson I got playing tag with P-nut! When I would get tired of playing (my endurance can't match his) I'd stop running and he'd walk over and collect carrots and nose rubs. So far so good. One time my hat came off while I was running away from him and I bent down to pick it up. As I straightened up I looked over my shoulder and the sun was blotted out with - uh-oh - brown fur *WHAM* I was pile-drivered into the ground with his chest. It was like getting body-checked by an entire football team (pretty much! he's a draft horse and weighs about as much as a football team's offensive line). He backed off immediately and everything was cool. THAT was when I realized that I thought my signal for "done playing tag" was when I'd stop running. He thought that my signal was when I stopped, stood straight up, and turned to face him. It made me realize that you need to think really carefully and consistently about how we signal eachother. It's really a language and if you're not consistent you're messing with their hard-earned vocabulary. So now when he tries to signal me with something I am extremely careful to try to figure out what he wants and, once I do, I look for that signal in the future.
One time we were walking and he spun and shoved his ass right at me. Startled the crap out of me. There was a big horse-fly on his butt and I smacked it dead. Now, whenever he has a horse-fly (or an itch or wants his butt scratched) and I'm there he just walks over and goes "HEY!" and sticks it out at me. Very cool.
We humans like to think we're the only creatures on earth whose feelings matter. What a crock! Anyone who has a dog or a horse can tell you that they have a sense of right and wrong and they think. Some more than others, just like humans. None of this stops me from eating cows and pigs and chickens (gotta do what ya gotta do...) but I've learned to be MUCH more aware of animal's feelings.
As far as riding versus play-time: the second time I was on horseback (with P-nut) when he was only a baby, he spooked at a deer and galloped out of my control. So I fell off. That hurt a lot and was terrifying. For both of us. So I spent about 5 months regaining my courage to ride by playing ground games and just hanging out with him. That's where a lot of this comes from. I realized that it's amazingly important to watch them and learn from them rather than JUST trying to tell them what to do.
While your horse is still a baby - play with her. It'll stimulate her mind and get her thinking. I believe that horses that spend all their time standing around in stalls while they're young just turn into robots. You might want to consider trying some clicker-training and teach her a few tricks. That works wonders to get her brain switched on and it also means that when you're with her she's going to learn to pay attention to you.
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Sorry to butt in, but I absolutely loved reading this.
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lol, you have had some fun, haven you
well, we have three, a 14year old TB (meg) with an amazingly quick and intelligent mind (has been known to wedge people that donβt feed her first). Then Indi - shire X Tb, she was orphaned when young and came to a friend of ours for a foster home, we were there when she first arrived and helped with the introduction and skin thing ( the mares foal had died), I have to say it was one of the most amazing things I have done. After that Indi came up for sale and I persuaded my other half to purchase her (not much needed as she wanted a companion for Meg). As it was my idea, I am now paying what we call βFoal supportβ for her up keep
And then there is Thorunn the Chav, have you heard of chavs? [link] My other half decided to have a foal, and what a foal. I have learnt a lot from this one, i.e. if taking a picture of said foal, do not back away to get her in shot, she will chase you 
Poor indi has a slight flaw though, I love her to bits, but if any one farts near her she is off like a shot
All of them have been carefuly brought up by my other half and treat us as part of the herd, that is an important lesson to learn as humans, as you said horses are heard animals and once you are in they will listen.
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Photographing horses is tough. I have a lot of pictures of noses.
The picking up fence posts trick - that's a cute one! Never heard of that before!
With respect to the farting thing. Try making mouth-fart noises while offering her carrots. Start off softly and wait until she's relaxed and has her mouth on it. Another thing that might work is to mix the farting noises with a signal that she recognizes for something else. Be careful, though, you can confuse her easily if she makes the wrong association.
Never heard of a Chav before. Heh. Cute term!
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ah the farting thing, lol she is getting better, but is is slow and she is way to treat orientated at times, turns her into a lap dog if not careful.
Thorun was this [link] and is now this [link] tacky I know, but she is such a little teenager
If your interested, this [link] was the point I realised that walking backwards was a bad thing, all my other half said was "she wants you to scratch her arse, dont be a fairy"
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This is a lovely pic. Its amazing to see both you and P-Nut have the same pose, leg forward, head glancing down, both in a 'Can he see me?' way. Very nice pic.
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About your "southpark" character (I checked it thanks to Google cache), I know very well french copyright law and I don't think it would be infrigment. On that point, US Law looks like french Law, parody does not infringes copyright and it is fair use too...Anyway, very nice photo.
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I just love those personal side-kicks in your Descriptions ... You're one of those few non-"the-world-is-out-to-get-me-guys" here on dA
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>You're one of those few non-"the-world-is-out-to-get-me-guys" here on dA
I'm 44 years old. The world IS out to get me!
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That's right. He's my big buddy.
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Really nice shot and P-nut seems quite a nice horse, too. I always wanted to post something to thank you for your beautiful photos and thoutghts, it's something funny that I'm doing it for a photo you didn't take, but in my little experience with horses (I rode them for about two years, westen style, and I did cleaning their boxes and things like that, which could seem odd but is just another way to interact with them) I think I understand what you're saying about them. They have their personality, each one with it's own characteristics, and they're "smart" in a way that could often surprise. For my experience when an horse has a bad character it's most of the times because of some bad experiences with humans and I'm happy to hear about your (still careful of the differences) position and your training style.
So, once again: thank you for your beautiful photos (I like almost all of them, you're great!), thank you for your posts and thank you for the lovely memories you brought me back.
Keep up both riding and the good work!
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He is having quite a devilish-naughty smile, and the eyes, almost closed, make him seem he's up to something. Of course, I don't know if I would have seen things the same way if you wouldn't have mentioned it. I would have probably thought he was peacefull and calm.
I love horses.. just like all the other animals.
Horses are smart and sweet.. but who am I to tell you that? You surely know it
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haha, thats funny, i never heard of horses playing tricks on people like that, kinda cool lol
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First, I never thought that you'd actually look spot on like your user icon.
Second of all it's fairly amusing that you taught your horse how to play fetch. Treating the horse as an equal and ending up with an animal as loyal as a dog seems something out of an old west legendβthe cowboy whose horse comes running when whistled to.
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He does come when I whistle, for what that's worth.
I was on a trail ride with my wife and 4 of her friends (all much more experienced horse-people than I am!) and we got to the top of this pretty gnarly-looking hill. My wife's friend who was leading tried to ask her horse to go down but he refused and started spinning in circles and acting like a fool. When that happens (horses are herd animals, remember?) the other start getting upset, too. So I jumped off P-nut and took his bridle off. Everyone was staring because at that point he was out of control. If he had decided to go galloping back to the barn or whatever I couldn't have stopped him. I scrambled down the hill and when I got to the bottom I turned and whistled and he came rackety-banging down in a huge cloud of rocks and dirt, obviously having a great deal of fun. Horses, when they are happy (see his expression in the picture) get this kind of soft-eyed loose-lipped look - it's pretty easy to tell a horse that's having fun when you get to know them. Anyhow, he rumbled up to me and I put his bit back in his mouth and saddled up and everyone else was sitting at the top of the hill, staring in amazement. My wife's friend turns to her and asks, "how did he do that?" and without missing a beat she replies "He sold his soul to the devil."
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Hmmm...
That reminds me, I should go visit my uncle in PA sometime.
So it's one of those relationships with your wifeβthose are the most amusing sorts. I can see why she lets you carry out your hobby without killing you outright.
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::laughs:: Smart, isn't he? i do have to admit i am a little jealous--i don't have a horse of my own yet, but i've been riding both saddled and bareback since i was very young. ^_^ But he seems very gentle, yes?
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He's amazingly gentle. But you can still get hurt with any horse. When I was playing with him once he stepped on me. It was amazingly painful and I still have a big pressure-scar on my leg from where it nearly ruptured my achilles tendon. He was really really upset, which was interesting. I was lying there screaming and rolling around on the ground and he went over and picked up my shoe in his mouth and brought it over and sort of stood looming over me until the shock wore off and I could limp back to the barn holding onto his mane for support. One problem with animals, though - you can't ever really understand their motives 100%. Was he upset because he cares or was he upset because he was afraid he'd be beaten? I like to think that he cares, anyway!
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Dude, your like the Marboro Man.
Very cool. and Yes horses do have personalities, they are like people to me. Very smart animals that deserve our respect.
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Great picture! I learned a little about horses from your comments.
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I've only ridden horses a few times, but I've learned their personality, friendship, and power are something that demands respect.
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Aw, he's a big boy, isn't he? Anything in particular, or is he grade? I love this picture thoguh, you look so accusing and he's just plodding along innocently.
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He's a percheron/suffolk cross. I refer to him as a "Sufferon"
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This is such a beautiful photo. So painterly.
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hahah The same guy on the icon!
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That is awesome. Horses are huge and extremely powerful, yet extremely gentle. I would love to own a horse when I get older.
Horses are just like humans- we have the same basic needs and wants, so it's not too surprising that they like to play around and joke.
I love the fact that he finds it amusing to slingshot people. That is hilarious.
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Nice pic. But what is all of that white fluffy stuff on the ground?
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Well then I say one day while P-Nut is sleeping you steal his shoes
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That's a great shot, and how totally fun! P-nut sounds very smart!
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Lol, they did that? I thought you said it was a free tool to create your avatar in SouthPark's style
That's a great looking horse. Very nice composition, and there's a story to the picture, nice.
i wish there are some snow over here *sigh*
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>I thought you said it was a free tool to create your avatar in SouthPark's style
Apparently that's not cool for DA. Because it wasn't my artwork. *sigh* whatever.
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He's a brilliant horse if ever there was one.
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He really is. He's got a lot of tricks he likes playing that most people can't imagine a horse would figure out or enjoy. Another one he did once when I was out on a trail was he hooked the saddle-horn of my saddle on a big fallen tree-branch, walked forward until the branch was tensioned, and dropped his shoulders. I was flung out of the saddle like something from a disney cartoon. The next day, when my wife took one of her friends out and I let the friend ride P-nut, he did EXACTLY the same thing to her. He thought it was so funny I had to go out with a chainsaw and take down the branch because he'd make a beeline for it every time.
My wife had a horse-client (she's a farrier and saddle-maker) who had a horse whose idea of funny was to steal stuff from your toolbox or pockets and hide it. Apparently if you looked in his stall behind the food trough there would usually be a whole pile of stuff: coke cans, purses, etc - anything that someone put down where he could reach it, he'd mouth it and sneak off with it.
Horses have senses of humor but they're kind of about as smart as dogs (different kind of intelligence) - I don't know if you've ever had a dog play a practical joke on you, but they think they are hysterical when they do. Horses, too. When P-nut plays a joke on me he's just tickled pink for days. It's kind of cute.
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Awesome, makes me want a horse, the way you describe him he sounds smarter than a dog really, dogs mess around I guess but they don't have such a mean sense of humour. Well maybe one day I'll get to own a horse.
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I've never had much to do with horses, but it only occured to me a few months ago that they might have personalities - like dogs do. That probably sounds stupid.
That's surprising your Southpark image was removed. I had to search Google's cache to remember what it was. I didn't think a style or craft could be copyright-able.
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No, it's not stupid - a few years ago I felt the same. Some horses have all the personality beaten out of them (which is awful!) in an attempt to discipline them. The way I raised P-nut (I raised and trained him myself) was by playing with him and interacting with him as an equal -- or as much of an equal as you can be to a 1500lb animal. I used to horrify people at the barn where we lived by playing "tag" with him. Ever see a horse try to run away from a human by taking little teeny mincing steps? Hysterical. And I'd run like mad making zig-zags that he couldn't cut sharp enough. We had a great time until I slipped under his feet on some mud. He was pretty upset by that, too.
Horses in a lot of ways have much gentler personalities than dogs. Dogs are pack animals and horses are herd animals, so they both do the "look to the pack leader for direction and encouragement" routine. But dogs are hunters and horses are hunted - a dog's instinct is to run toward something interesting; a horse's is to run away from it. They're much less aggressive than dogs, unless you're dealing with a stallion. If a stallion thinks you want to fight him he can turn you into an ugly red paste in about a second.
My southpark avatar was from their generator; all I did was edit it. So I got an automated lecture about plagiarism, etc. Bleah. I wasn't CLAIMING it was mine. I just thought it was cool. Whatever.
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