Of What Value are Horses?

The support from everyone to what happened to Steele has been met with overwhelming support. However, I feel a need to respond to an Anonymous comment on my post about what happened to end our journey together.

First off, I'm sorry your horse had to be put to sleep, but to say "fucking dog" is not fair to anyone. A horse is a hobby, a dog is a companion, a friend, a protector, an aid to the blind, an aid to the sick, an aid to those with PTSD .... I could go on and on. You see, although some people like, maybe even love their horse(s), what do they really do? When was the last time you saw a "seeing eye horse" or a "watch horse", or one trained to find drugs, survivors in an earthquake amongst the rubble, I didn't see one helping find the bodies from 9-11 or the Haiti earthquake. I can't seem to find any horses that are MWH - Military War Horse. None that can sniff out IED's, unexploded ordinance or weapons caches. Dogs have been known to frequently give their lives to protect humans ... again, no stories about horses doing the same. Dogs are smarter, can be more easily trained to benefit man, are more agile, more adept, less fragile, have keener sight, hearing and smell. Yes, I feelsorry for you and your horse, but please ... just because 2 dogs doing what to them was natural and fun, to run ..... don't put all dogs in your "fucking dogs" category. They are far more beneficial to man than are horses. (from a loving dog owner)

I do realize that the dogs were doing what they do naturally and I am a dog lover. I thought about removing that last line but decided to leave it. I could try to help others understand with long explanations as to why I said what I said but what would be the point?

However, there are many points wrong with these whole perspective. First of all it demonstrates a flaw in logic called the Unwarranted Assumption Fallacy. To quote Wikipedia:

• Unwarranted assumption fallacy - The fallacy of unwarranted assumption is committed when the conclusion of an argument is based on a premise (implicit or explicit) that is false or unwarranted. An assumption is unwarranted when it is false - these premises are usually suppressed or vaguely written. An assumption is also unwarranted when it is true but does not apply in the given context.

So first of all let's look at horses are companions/aids etc:
1. guides for the blind: http://www.guidehorse.com
2. Helping veterans, police officers and others with PTSD: http://www.va.gov/health/newsfeatures/2014/September/Reining-In-PTSD-With-Equestrian-Therapy.asp, http://www.calicojunctionnewbeginningsranch.org/ptsd.html, http://globalnews.ca/news/1565784/equine-therapy-program-launched-for-rcmp-members-with-ptsd/
3. War Service: seriously? My grandfather was in the British Calvary. How could this person not know the long history of horses and war. But here are some links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_warfare, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIo3ZfA9da0
4. Dogs and humans have a long history. So do horses and humans. Horse made agriculture easier, allowed for travel and trade.
5. assuming that the dogs were having fun so it's all okay and i should get over it. Well. We will never agree on that point.

Now let me tell you all a personal story. This is one I have about my first horse- a small Quarter Horse named Woody. I did a blog post about him last year. He is an awesome horse. One summer he was being pasture boarded and was turned out with another horse. I would go and get Woody, ride him and bring him back. His pasture mate ignored me. One day I was there riding over feeding time. The Barn Owners asked me to take both horses feed out when I was done. So after my ride I brought Woody to the field and he trotted off like always. I grabbed the feed bucket and was heading to put it in his pasture mates feed bin. I heard a noise and looked up. This horse was charging me with his teeth bared, his ears laid back and his neck snaked out. I was too far away from the fence to run and it was clear that this horse was coming at me intending damage. I grabbed the feed bucket to swing at him and hope that it made him veer off. When he was about 10 feet away Woody came flying out of no where and stood between me and the other horse. That horse tried to get around him to get at me but Woody kept between us and would not leave no matter that the other horse was biting and kicking at him. I quickly walked to the feed bin and dumped in his feed. I backed away and the horse went to his feed. I went over to Woody's bin and dropped his feed in. I began to head back out of the field keeping my eyes peeled but Woody left his grain and followed me all the way to the gate. Once I got to the gate he went back to his feed. After that he always escorted me to the gate every time.

And a more recent story. When Steele was laying in the mud, exhausted, going into shock and his hind leg was trapped under the roots and muck I was trying to frantically to free it I could not get a purchase or on the right angle. I climbed by his belly so I'm in between his front and hind legs. This is an incredibly dangerous position- if he began to flail I could have been seriously hurt. I knew that but I couldn't get a purchase. So I risked it. As I worked on freeing his lower leg he kept the one on top dead still. When I moved away he would kick and try to get a purchase. When I went back in he would hold it still.  This happened again and again. I am convinced that he was being careful of me.

There is the stuff you know and there's the stuff you don't know but you know you don't know it and other stuff you don't know and don't know you don't know it (read that a few times) So my point is don't assume that because you don't know something that it doesn't exist.

I can't answer the question about the value of horses. Obviously to this person they have no value. To me and many of my fellow bloggers and friends they are priceless.