Also, people are often surprised when I tell them horses have distinct personalities, and senses of humor:



...And besides, I know people on my f'list who are cheered by cute horsies, who also could use some cheering up.

All of the behavior you see was completely untrained and spontaneous - this is a horse simply displaying his natural curiosity and playfulness - Enjoy!

Rowan is wearing a saddle because we were testing out the fit of a new saddle when Rowan caught sight of the big purple ball and decided to play.

His owner dismounted to allow Rowan to play - the stirrups are down because they do not run up on this military style saddle.

How can you teach your horse to do this?

If you want your horse to play with the ball all you need to do is set up an enclosed area and then play with it yourself - if he's curious he'll eventually join you.

Why was the ball in the arena?

Rowan was very afraid of the ball originally so we left it in the arena to help him become acclimatized to it and after a week of snorting and two weeks of ignoring it he decided to play ball!