Animal control freaks and scummy pond water.

I think anyone looking at this picture of one of my horses would say this horse is the picture of health. Shes clearly well fed, her hair coat is shining and healthy indicating she is routinely wormed, and her feet are nicely trimmed. What else could we do for her?

Well it just so happens that this horse resides in a pasture where there is a small and scummy pond of nasty looking water. Algae, frog shit ( literally) and who knows what else. All horses graze around other animals droppings by the very nature of where they obtain their cuisine, and opossum feces harbor a devastating disease horses can pick up from it.

What I want to tell you here is that this awesome looking horse for reasons that only make sense to her walnut sized brain will walk right past a clean water trough to drink out of that nasty pond. All my horses will stand out in a blizzard to avoid being in a clean stall out of the weather. I guess it just doesn't make any sense to impose my human logic on my horses because frankly they aren't having it!

So tell me why I have watched episodes of Animal Cops where the animal control officers make much ado about a horse without shelter ( he probably wouldn't use if he has the choice not to), and green algae in buckets or water troughs when apparently algae is a delicacy as far as the horse is concerned. To the point might I add of confiscating a persons horse over it, and/or using it as evidence in court as to how poorly the horse is being cared for.

To me we have a real issue with too many animal "control freaks" way too often imposing the standards one would use for human children on animals. I promise if you give a child the choice between being inside or standing out in the cold the child will come inside and pick a clean glass of clear water over a ditch water outside the door topped with scum.

 Animals are not humans, nor do they want to be. Animals are often mentally tortured by people who constantly treat them like people. ( think Paris Hiltons dog) and become neurotic. The people who have more trouble with horses than anyone else are the people who try to train them based on human notions. In contrast the people who get along best with horses are the ones who have taught themselves to see things from the horses perspective. The best animal trainers are the ones who marry their techniques to the natural nature of the animal they are working with.

We need to get away from this anthropomorphic insanity and we need to demand that people in animal control and other positions of authority over pet owners adopt far more realistic guidelines on what is and is not animal abuse and neglect. This is a real growing problem here in the U.S. and its only going to get worse if animal owners don't fight back. After all I don't wash my butt with my tongue, and my dogs don't drive my car.