My husband Bill and I bred, raised, broke and showed Quarter Horses for years. One day he decided to take a very green 2-yr-old into the woods for a "relax" (they can sour of ring training pretty quickly).

All was going well, when the colt started to tighten up and "blow" through his nostrils. Bill patted him patiently and urged him further into the woods, thinking it was just a silly baby thing.

Imagine his surprise when the obedient colt walked right up to a huge black bear (we grow 'em pretty good here in Pennsylvania). Fortunately, the bear seemed as uneasy as the horse, and fled.

Bill learned to trust Spike's instincts in the future. He went on to be one of our best show horses and a high seller.