I was riding double with my cousin a few years ago on her grandfathers
horse on a trail at their house when a garter snake came across the trail. the
horse squealed and struck out at the snake... I assume the snake got away,
because we couldn't find it afterwards, but I thought it was amazing that the
horse reacted to a little garter snake like that, because I had never seen one
of my horses do that to the hundreds of garters on my property. Turns out
the horse was born in Texas and showed on the rodeo circuit in the
southwest for ten years... Just thought it was interesting... sorry it's
off topic...
I once suggested possibly carrying one when riding in case of a snake
encounter (that's the biggest animal threat here in TX) or when riding
alone. Never occured to me until he asked me "What would Amira do if
you had to SHOOT that gun?". The answer is she'd freak...as she's never
had guns shot within close range. We do ride during hunting season so,
gunshots in the distance are a sound she's grown accustomed to...but would I
want to shoot off of her back...I THINK NOT! Tracey
