Monday, March 15, 2010

Snack Time

I know that it's not good to hand-feed your horse.  I know that horses who are completely food-driven can have big issues; they can become bullies and lose their manners.

Even knowing that, I admit that on occasion, I've been known to share my snack with Estes while out on the trail.  On one ride - I don't even remember if I had guests or if it was just a ride for fun - Bill and I were tied up at one of the hitch racks in the Wild Basin area for lunch.  I ate my lunch and was starting in on my trail mix.

For some strange reason or another, I decided to see if Estes liked trail mix, so I poured some in my hand and offered it to her.

Holy cow did she like it!  She hoovered it up off of my palm like a pro.

So, I gave her more.  Boy, did she love me for that.

She stopped mid-chew and allowed to something to drop from her mouth.  A blue M&M lay on the dirt between her hooves.

Then she asked for more trail mix, and I obliged.  I'm nothing if not trainable.

Again, she stopped mid-chew and dropped something out of her mouth.  Another blue M&M.

Hmmm... "Hey, Bill.  Look at this!"  I pointed out her pile of two blue M&Ms.  I knew that there had been M&Ms in every handful I'd given her, but she was only spitting out the blue ones.

"No way," he told me.

"Serious.  She's eaten all of the others."  I decided to show him and poured some more mix into my hand.

She hoovered the mix up out of my palm, stopped chewing, and dropped the blue one out of her mouth to join its little blue buddies who were quickly becoming desert for some very brave ants.

I can't tell the difference between colors of M&Ms, at least not since they took the carcinogenic red food dye out (and, yes, I can still remember that taste), but Estes certainly can and she does not like the blue ones.

Wonder if she's on to something?  Maybe I shouldn't eat them either.

~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to join us on Wednesday for Rachel's wild ride.

8 comments:

Shirley said...

Hmmm. Blue ones huh? My fave! Funny story!

GunDiva said...

Yup. The blue ones.

Does. Not. Like. Them.

Allenspark Lodge said...

Food isn't blue. Household cleaning supplies are blue. Windex, Downy, Jet Dry, Dawn Dish washing detergent... Even blueberries are purple.
Smart horse.
Bill

Linda said...

Makes me wonder about the blue ones now, too.

GunDiva said...

Bill, I really had to laugh, when after I read your comment, I walked into the bathroom and saw the Dawn sitting on the back of the toilet (don't ask, I don't know). It's a pretty color of blue.

Rachel said...

NO WAY!

That is beyond bizarre! There has got to be some kind of funky taste - but it's unbelievable that she manages to spit just those ones out while saving the good stuff for herself :)

And *ahem* on the hand feeding (feel free to slap mine, but my sweet girl has NO food issues and is a peach... so she's trained me well).

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Once Upon an Equine said...

That's funny. I wonder if you gave her a cherry, would she spit out the stem tied in a knot?

Rising Rainbow said...

I am guilty of hand feeding my horses as well. Personally I'm sure they'll be neurotic if I don't.

Blue ones, huh. I wonder if mine will eat blue ones. LOL