enough. I have carried them on my shoulders when I feed the horses and they have been sniffed up close and personal The boas don't seem to mind the puffs of warm horse breath. I don't think the horses recognize the boa as "a snake" when I am holding it. My horses are very curious about them and don't show any fear. Neither do the boas. They usually are stretching out apparently trying to get closer for a better look/smell at the huge horse nose

Now, if the boa were on the ground crawling around (like snake's are supposed to do - in a horse's mind), then they might show fear or try to attack the boa. I don't let that happen. I put my boas down on the ground well away from the paddocks and I watch that they don't wander too close.

That said, we ride in the mountains a lot and have encountered lots of rattlesnakes and gopher snakes on the trail. I have never experienced any of my horses showing fear....maybe because I am not afraid of the snake. We usually stop and marvel over it for a while, and then walk around and go on.
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Linda Hedgpeth
lindafh@frontiernet.net
Sierra Serpents

"There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses have most of it".

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