Hahahaha...of course! I like the way you put that “have a vote”...:)
Granted, I got thrown from a horse as a kid, and it was probably because the horse just did not like me. I was cantering in a ring, and the horse just stopped dead.
Stopped!
I was over its head and on the ground before I could even react, and boy, was I ever mad!
Who knows...I was only 12 at the time, probably the first or second time I ever rode a horse, and might have been pulling back on the reins really hard while compelling it to go forward at the same time and the horse just decided I had no idea what I was doing!
Oh yes. From what I have seen, horses can be quite obstinate. Mules are obviously related to horses, and in Ulysses S. Grant’s memoir, he talks about how much he hated having to deal with stubborn mules! I think horses have that too, especially if they think they are the boss and not you!
I find horses fascinating. Always have...
I trail ride. My horse has vastly better hearing and sense of smell than I do. Once in a while, he’ll stop in his tracks and refuse to go forward. He isn’t always right, but he’s been right about “predator ahead” enough times that I don’t try arguing.
Not that it would do much good. He plans to live forever and has no intention of being attacked by javelina or anything else. If terrain permits, I can tell him we’ll take a detour and still go where I want to end up and he has no problem with that.