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.

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