My mule Annie Mae and my old QH gelding Joe used to play a game when Annie Mae was a youngster. She would run to get ahead of him as he walked through the woods and hide behind a tree. Even a young mule hangs out on both sides of a pine tree. The funny part was that Joe knew she was there, laid his ears back in annoyance because he knew what was coming, and kept walking toward her. She lurked in waiting until he passed by. Then she sprang out at him, bit him on the butt and took off running. Joe just continued on his way looking really annoyed.
One day (a million years ago when I was a kid) my mom was unlocking the feed shed. All the horses were loose in the big pen where the feed shed was located. My mom was having trouble with the combination lock ( "left,right, left... or right, left, right...?") when she felt hot breath on her neck. Moses, the big, phlegmatic bay gelding was watching over her shoulder. Finally my mom gave up and left to get one of her brilliant combo lock opening children (me) to do it for her. As she walked away she heard a rattling noise and turning she saw Moses, lock between his teeth, yanking and flipping it around. He knew that in there was THE SOURCE OF ALL EQUINE JOY and dang it, he wanted in!
My 32" mini mule, Betsy, is a frequent source of chuckles around here. Here's one of my favorite "Betsy stories."
Syd the man-eating mini was just a weanling when she was moved here, so it is natural that Betsy was the dominant animal then. About the time Syd turned 2 years old, she decided that she wanted to be the boss mare. Betsy wasn't thrilled about the power shift, but she didn't really want to fight about it either. I told Betsy I didn't care who was on top out there; she was first in my herd, and first in my heart.
Shortly after this bloodless coup occurred, I happened to notice half of a watermelon sitting in my refrigerator. Watermelons usually disappear fairly quickly around here, but this one had been there for a few days. I hated to just have it go bad, so I decided to give it to the "critters" (three minis, four goats, and assorted chickens and ducks). I threw the watermelon over the fence, thinking that the impact with the ground would break it up and give more animals a chance at it. No such luck! It rolled over onto its cut side and lay there, rind side up.
With her newly-acquired bossiness, Syd tossed her head and claimed it, "MY watermelon!" Everyone else stood respectfully back as she sniffed it, lipped it, licked it, even tapped at it with her hoof, but the watermelon rind remained impervious to her efforts. Finally, Betsy could stand it no longer. I could almost hear her muttering to herself, "Stupid horse! Let a mule show you how it's done," as she pushed herself between Syd and the watermelon. Betsy opened her mouth wide, and pressed her teeth against the rind. She leaned into it, much as a person would when biting into a large apple. CRUNCH, smack, slurp, crunch! The watermelon was no match for those jaws! A chagrined Syd gently nosed toward it, ears neutral, "can I have some of that?" Betsy was quite willing to share, and soon all of them were enjoying a juicy snack.
Betsy has a gift for making friends wherever she goes, both human and equine. At our local fair one year, she was stalled next to an Arabian gelding that is quite a character himself. I remember watching the big black gelding and the little brown mule entertaining themselves with a little game they had invented. He put his leg right next to the pipe panel that separated his pen from hers. She'd reach down, trying to nip him on the leg, and he'd reach down just a little faster, nipping her on the nose. It was all gently done, and they were clearly enjoying themselves. I saw him shift his feet around, and reposition that hoof right there against the bars again. He was like, "go ahead, try to get me. Nope, gotcha first! Gotcha again!"
My quarter horse gelding would run throughout the pasture, and run , full speed toward the door, and slide to a stop. We were renovating the barn, so we had plastic over the main door. (we let the horses out the side) and when he slid to a stop, the plastic rippled , so he put his ears back and -being the dominant "stud"- went to check it out. He sniffed it, kicked it, bit it, lipped it, but it would not break, so our filly (3 weeks old) went up to him, put her head through the plastic , pulled it out, and strut away proudly. Our gelding just stood, dumbfounded
Its amazing when animals display humor. ^^