Smart Animals

Some animals are much more cluey than we imagine

Holly Go Lightly EMMA WOODWARD

Five years ago, I was a trail ride leader at a holiday ranch on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. My favourite horse was a warmblood called Holly, a chestnut mare with a flaxen mane and tail. Aged seven, she was graceful, sweet-natured and well trained; the only problem with Holly was her vivid imagination. I was constantly surprised by Holly’s ability to be spooked by rabbits, the wind or even shadows – sometimes her own shadow!

One day, as we headed back from a ride on the beach, Holly and I were leading the way over hilly terrain. When we got to one particularly long, steep hill (think lie-back-inyour-saddle steep), Holly began to twitch her ears and prance in place. So, when she proceeded to sniff and snort and give all the signals that she believed the ‘horse-eating monsters’ were close, I became a little worried.

At the bottom of the hill as we rounded a corner, Holly slowed with caution, and so I followed her gaze to the path ahead. There, sunning itself

in the middle of the track, was a brown snake. This time it was my turn to freak out; I was on a flighty horse, leading a group of eight inexperienced, pre-teen riders. Holly was firmly planted, ears forward, muscles relaxed. With the snake in her sights, she was no longer worried.

I have heard that horses have a better sense of smell than dogs; I hadn’t seen it demonstrated before that moment. Thankfully, while we waited in reality for just a second or two – but for what felt like an eternity – the snake roused itself and glided calmly off into the bush.

Holly then stepped forward, leading the horses with caution and care. She had been alert to danger and taken responsibility for the safety of us all. Following in the footsteps of their lead mare, not one of the other horses showed any fear.

Photo-Bombing Dog TIN JOO YEN

I have a gold-coloured, mixed-breed dog named Bobby who loves to be in photos. One day last summer, while I was renting a house in the Sea Home Estate in Penang, I was trying to snap the sun setting on the sea over the edge of a wall of my place. Upon seeing me hold my camera, my Bobby, who is two years old, climbed up the rocky ledge and over towards me, getting as close to the edge as quickly as she possibly could. She stood tall, glanced back with her intelligent but innocent eyes in the direction of my camera and grinned to show her teeth and wouldn’t budge until I took her photo!

Golf, Anyone? ARNOLD BENTLEY

Some eight years ago, a magpie that we named Maggie ‘adopted’ my wife and me, no doubt attracted by the chunks of meat we regularly fed him. Over the course of a few weeks our feathered friend would often perch on top of my head while I putted from hole to hole in our backyard putting green.

Probably not so unusual, I hear you say. I agree. But how many golfminded magpies do you know that graduate, in just a few weeks, to climbing to the shaft of the putter for as long as the owner wants to putt around? I wondered whether the smart bird, who eventually flew away, could possibly have known that at the time I was a golfer as well as course ranger and rules official.

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