The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 18 December 2008

Although I doubt if he would have.

Lunch time, the NHK people are visiting a horse farm. And the big bruiser who is their visiting TV talent gets handed a folded mass of greens to feed to the friendly horse.

He sticks it out close to the horse, who clearly wants to eat this and stretches out to get it. The horse gets a little of it, but the TV talent opens his hand and backs off, dropping most of it outside the horse's stable.

The horse farm guy says something about how friendly he is, and gives the talent another handful of greens. He steps forward again, and the horse manages to get a mouthful. The horse farm guy urges that the talent pet the horse, and he reaches out . . . and drops the greens, sort of waves his arm in the air near the horse, and backs off again.

I'm watching this on TV and diagnosing "someone is scared of horses" while they just keep on with the rest of the show. Of course, I'm also rooting for the original horse, who is probably standing in his stable wondering just why this stranger offered him a treat, then dropped it before he could get a good bite of it. TWICE! He may be thinking to himself, "I shoulda bit him."

But horses are pretty friendly critters. And these were well-kept horses. Racing, I think. Still, offering a treat to an animal and then dropping it, twice? Why not admit the first time that this is just too scary, and let someone else feed the horse?

I guess that would break the "masculine bruiser TV talent" mythos, though.

(Mr. Ed would have bit him, I bet :-)