The Death Spook

Gavin has champion feet - big, strong, and sturdy.  I've never met a farrier who didn't like Gavin's feet, or for that matter didn't like Gavin.  So it came as a shock to me when this last Thursday Gavin's farrier called me to say that Gavin misbehaved so much that he wound up not working on him and was hoping we could meet up a different day when I could be there to supervise.  What did he mean when he said misbehave?  He explained that Gavin had "run through him twice" and had broken the twine that was attached to the fence where Gavin was being worked on (his own pen).  

I was shocked!  Gavin has never pulled back so much that he's broken any sort of rope, or twine.  I was also shocked (though less so) to hear that he had pushed on the farrier that much.  Gavin can get a little bit pushy, but I've never thought it was malicious, or something that couldn't be fixed quickly with a growl or some maneuvering.  I agreed to meet-up with the farrier this Saturday (and agreed silently to myself that I'd get out there early to school my horse, and teach him some proper manners before the farrier arrived).

When Saturday came it seemed so silly though because Gavin was a sweetheart.  I went out there to slay some fire-breathing Gavin (haha - get it?! dragon and gavin sorta rhyme), and finished with him like "well that was uneventful!"  The farrier worked on him with no problem (besides Gavin seeming a little bored).  I did notice that he looked sort of scared.  Just in his face.  His eyes looked worried, and his ears moved worriedly.  I didn't know what to make of it, but then the farrier told me that the other day a horse was put down just a few yards from Gavin right before he went to work on him.  I know where the horse lives that was put down, and Gavin can definitely smell, if not see her from his pen (where he was to be trimmed).  

And it made me wonder - was Gavin misbehaving in such an odd way because he was afraid?  If he had just watched another horse be surrounded by humans and then collapse dead, maybe he had (has) the ability to fear that the same was about to happen to him?  It's just a thought... and I'm not sure if it holds any water, or if he was truly just being a little pisser.