Horses

A pair of happy horsesI managed to get out for two nice walks at the weekend. Not much in the way of cows to photograph, but that was compensated for by a number of horses who were all up for having their photo taken in exchange for a little stroking of the nose and general fussing over.

The Devil Horse and RickA Flickr contact left a comment on one of these photos to say that ears pointing forward is the sign of a happy horse. I did a quick check of my photos tagged with horse and sure enough, lots of ears pointing forward which was nice. When I’m photographing animals, I try and be relaxed around them and make them feel at ease. If they’re happy and relaxed they usually stick around and give you plenty of opportunity to take photos. Horses are generally very relaxed and seem to love the attention. Each of the horses in these photographs had a field to explore, but instead they were at the edge near junctions where people were sure to pass. On Sunday, the two horses pictured above were at a footpath junction and we stayed there a while with them. Later when we ascended Bramah Edge and stopped for lunch, we could see these horses in the distance with another set of people in the path fussing over them.

This final photograph was taken after I had been stroking the horse and it really seemed to enjoy it – it looked like it could have fallen asleep. When I stopped to take a photo, it yawned and it took me by surprise. It reminded me of the scene in Alien where the alien erupts from the person! So, a little more nose stroking and I was ready the second time it yawned…

I shall attempt to eat the carrot… vertically!