For too long we humans have dominated the reporting of interactions between ourselves and members of the “animal kingdom.” For this reason I included the thoughts and comments of the horses in a photo essay about events at a Tucson rodeo.
Having been around horses for more than three quarters of a century, I know what a horse’s snort signifies, or the meaning of a teeth-bearing guffaw, or the angry twitch of a tail. Even humans unaccustomed to horse behavior should be able to sense the innerfeelings of these proud animals who have become actors in rodeos. Just as we can share the artificial emotions of a human actor, we are obliged torecognize what a horse is pretending to exhibit in a rodeo performance.