Public horsey health warning!
The following delightful thread is our pick of the month from the horsejunction discussion forum (due to space restrictions some of the contributions were edited):

By LL: I was having a really good lesson this afternoon, horse fresh but obedient, when suddenly he spotted a scary, equine eating Egyptian goose behaving in a threatening manner (i.e. walking next to the arena). Horse took violent evasive action, leaving me behind! On the upside, at least he dropped me on the damp sand next to the huge puddle in the arena, and not in the water ... So I thought I should just warn everybody who might ride in the vicinity of Egyptian geese this weekend – watch out, they've become carnivores!!!

By Jynx: Your horse must have been talking to my horse. Apparently hadedahs have also been infected with said virus.

By Jane: So glad you raised this very serious topic. Beware – these animals are in the same class as the Lesser Spotted Horse Eating Stick and closely allied to the highly dangerous GARDEN HOSE.

By Christie: Has anyone else had experience with the African Green Hosepipe? How about the deadly Orange Pointed Traffic Cone, or the vicious Common Parked Bicycle? I think the worst had to be the Greater Spotted Paddock Mate. Horse nearly went into cardiac arrest at the sight of her new Appaloosa friend!

By N3: Top 10 spooky things from a horse's point of view

10. Blowing paper: "At any moment it could whip up into our faces, covering our noses. We could suffocate. And don't try to tell us you'd do CPR."

9. Barking dogs: "What? You've never read Steven King's CUJO?"

8. Puddles of water: "Quicksand."

7. Trash cans: "They've been known to swallow horses and transport them into another dimension."

6. Babies and li'l kids: "Long lost tribe of horse-eating pygmies."

5. Plaid horse blankets: "Hey, when was the last time you wore plaid? It adds 100 lbs."

4. Ropes and hoses on the ground: "Dreaded North American trail snakes."

3. Ponies: "Cute, clever, hardy. They want to take over the world."

2. Windy days: "Two words: Impending tornado."

1. Carts and wagons: "Look. You put a human on our backs, we can always buck them off. But hitching a horse to a wheeled object? It's just not right."