Shark Week starts this Sunday!! Who else will be watching?! I love Shark Week, although I am often at the beach when it is on, so I do not always watch it – otherwise I will be too scared to get in the ocean. I am a total nature and wildlife junkie, though, and I love learning more about wild creatures. Shark Week always gets me thinking about the fact than when people are attacked by sharks, or other wildlife, it is often the animal that is blamed. Like animals pre-meditate attacking innocent human victims. I think that if we go into an animal’s natural habitat, we are responsible for anything that happens. We know that predators exist, and we choose to take the risk of being attacked. Sharks and other animals are merely acting through their natural instincts.

This got me thinking how horses are often blamed for rider injuries, when many times it is rider error, pain, poor management, or poor training that is to blame for accidents. These are all things that we are responsible for as horse owners, trainers, and riders. It is so easy to place the blame on the horse, rather than take responsibility for what we could be doing wrong. Now, I know that there are some horses that are just plain aggressive, even when they are receiving the best possible care and training; yet so often they are the way they are because of past experiences with humans. They could have been abused, poorly trained, or poorly handled in the past. Their behavior might not be your fault, but there is likely a human somewhere to blame.

So, it comes full circle. Humans are responsible for many horse behaviors, much like are humans are responsible for anything that might happen when going into a wild animal’s natural habitat. We like to play the blame game though, rather than accepting this fact. Something to think about while watching Shark Week!