#goriding Grams of the Week

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Another week of horse life, rounded up in your images.

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Gram of the Day from @akaashmaharaj. ・・・ My horse Bello nudged me over to a spot in his shelter. . He then pawed at the ground, drawing my eye to a chick who had fallen out of its nest. . I placed the nestling on a beam, where he caught his breath then chirped plaintively. . Eventually, two adult birds appeared and tended to him. . The adults flew frantically between the nestling and a nest in the rafters, which I took to be their home. . I placed the chick in the nest, where he and the adults settled down, while Bello returned to his hay. . Ever since, I have been pondering what this incident might reveal about animal cognition. . I can not know if Bello felt distressed by the nestling lying helpless on the ground, or if he wanted and expected me to help. . At a minimum, Bello thought this was something unusual, and decided to call my attention to it. . I wonder if this means the that he has the capacity to generalise from his mind to mine: to understand that a novel stimulus had provoked a response in him; to imagine that that same stimulus might provoke a response in me; and to therefore act to manoeuvre me into the path of the stimulus. . It suggests that he may possess both self-awareness and empathy. . I suspect many horsepeople will find this an unremarkable conclusion, while many non-horsepeople will find it outlandish. . I am still wondering, as Bello quietly eats his hay, and the birds chirp contentedly above him. 🐴🐦 @oxfordzoology @equinestudies_uoguelph @animalcognition @thinkinganimalsunited @onequestrian @go_riding @humanecanada @ontariospca @ottawahumane ⁂ #RexBellorum #warlander #equestrian #equestrianism #equine #horse #horsesofinstagram #equinestudies #goriding #twohearts ⁂ ➡️ https://maharaj.org/bello

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