It really bothers me when people say "Oh, he would never intentionally hurt me!!!!" There are very few horses that I have ever seen intentionally try to hurt someone. I've never had a horse I was riding intentionally try to hurt me, but I've still been injured by horses. The filly that reared and flipped over on me wasn't trying to hurt me. The ones that have spooked, spun, and gotten me off weren't trying to hurt me. People have been killed by horses that weren't trying to hurt them.

I really don't think horses possess the kind of thinking necessary to try to hurt someone who's riding them. They may try to get a rider off, but I don't think they can quite put together that getting a person off will hurt them. They just want the rider off.

I remember the first time I saw a rattler curled up in my path. This one didn't look like a rattler, but I was still thinkin' 'snake'.