Headbanging horse rocks out to heavy metal music

by DWolfe
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Something a little different than everyday news - https://www.wect.com/2024/02/14/head...y-metal-music/
You can even watch the video if you check the link above

" A racehorse who's also a heavy metal fan has gone viral for how she rocks out.

Pretty, a 7-year-old Chestnut mare at Bogar Farms in Ontario, Canada, is a headbanger, giving a whole new meaning to the term "rocking horse."

"Metal was her go-to headbanging music, and she loves it," said Pretty's groom, Autumn Purdy.


Purdy noticed the heavier the metal music, the more Pretty would headbang. When the music was turned off, she stopped.

"I looked at my barn manager and said, 'Do you see what she's doing?'" Purdy said.

When played country music, Pretty turned her butt at it, but her appetite for metal is obvious - and she even seems to headbang on beat.

"It's incredible. No matter what song we play. Slow jams, she's slow. Heavy songs, she's going with the beat," Purdy said.

Pretty's favorite band so far seems to be Slipknot. Surprisingly, she wasn't that into Rage Against the Machine.

Her groom plans to post weekly music reviews on TikTok with ratings based on headbanging intensity or lack thereof. "

By CNN Newsource Staff
Published: Feb. 14, 2024 at 5:33 AM EST
  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    I was expecting Aerosmith's "Back in the saddle".
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    We tend to project our feelings and behaviors onto animals.

    Has it occurred to anyone that the head shaking is because the sounds are irritating?

    Maybe the horse is simply imitating a person the horse has bonded with.

    I suspect that if we stomped our feet when listening to heavy metal, the horse would stamp its feet as well.

    Although, I've seen videos where someone played classical music in fields, and cows would gather to listen....

    Or maybe the cows gathered because they assumed that the music was a signal that it was time to eat.

    Claude "Rain on everyone's parade" Whitacre
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      We tend to project our feelings and behaviors onto animals.

      Has it occurred to anyone that the head shaking is because the sounds are irritating?

      Maybe the horse is simply imitating a person the horse has bonded with.

      I suspect that if we stomped our feet when listening to heavy metal, the horse would stamp its feet as well.

      Although, I've seen videos where someone played classical music in fields, and cows would gather to listen....

      Or maybe the cows gathered because they assumed that the music was a signal that it was time to eat.

      Claude "Rain on everyone's parade" Whitacre
      Your such an old nag.

      Parrots and budgies bop around to musical beats, plenty of example video's around to show that and it looks like they are are really enjoying themselves and food is always on tap in their trays. No reason not to think some other animals do the same. Cows, that you mention generally eat the grass for food, so the fact that they congregate around classical music indicates no real other reason to come over, other than that they like it.

      In a huge expanse grassy area on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, I was with a group of people at a stone circle for a night. In the morning we did an Om meditation, chanting the Om pitch. Within a few minutes, just about every animal in the area had come to the circle, and your talking about from hundreds of yards away and were circling around us. in procession, cows, sheep, you name it. Never seen animal behaviour like that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Your such an old nag.t.
        Ha! I liked that.


        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        Parrots and budgies bop around to musical beats, plenty of example video's around to show that and it looks like they are are really enjoying themselves and food is always on tap in their trays.
        You are assuming they are enjoying themselves. Ever see a bird doing a mating dance? Are they doing it to enjoy themselves? When a parrot mimics a laugh, is it really happy? Or is it copying a call because that's what birds do?




        Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

        No reason not to think some other animals do the same. Cows, that you mention generally eat the grass for food, so the fact that they congregate around classical music indicates no real other reason to come over, other than that they like it.
        You assume they like it. Maybe they do. Or maybe they associate it with a call from a farmer that it's time to gather.

        I've seen cows play with inflated balls. I've seen them jump up and down in cadence with their owners. I think cows and many animals have intelligence and emotions like we do.

        But dancing is a cultural behavior, not an evolutionary one.

        If a horse is "banging" its head, it's not because it's rocking with the music...anymore than it would be square dancing 50 years ago, or ballroom dancing .

        Birds have mating calls. If a bird sings a song that it has heard, it's because the bird is instinctually thinking that it's learning a mating call. And anything we see in a bird that resembles a dance, is a mating ritual...not a night on the town.

        Horses? I don't know. I have no idea if the horse likes loud music or not.

        But to assume that the horse likes the same music we listen to, and behaves the same way we do...because it interprets the meaning of the music the same as we do, actually has a name. It's called Anthropomorphizing. It's the strong tendency for us to interpret animal behavior in human terms. Or to imbue animals with human characteristics.


        If the horse heard hard rock music on its own, without a human dancing in front of it, would it create the reaction on its own? If the horse hears the music in the distance, would it seek out the music? And why would it seek out the music? The reason my not be that it loves music, or appreciates the style of music....or even knows what music is.


        My cat lets me rub its tummy. I hope its because the cat enjoys it. But it could be that the cat is submitting to the rub because it sees me as its Alpha. Maybe I've conditioned it to accept the tummy rub as a condition of getting regularly fed. I have no real way of knowing.

        The cats sleep in our bed. Is it because they love us? Is it because our bodies generate heat? Is it because the cat feels safe? Is it because it wants to be right there in the morning when I get up to feed them?

        Does my cat know its name? Does it know what a name is? Or does it hear a sound and assiciate that specific sound with food? I have no idea.
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          Ha! I liked that.




          You are assuming they are enjoying themselves. Ever see a bird doing a mating dance? Are they doing it to enjoy themselves? When a parrot mimics a laugh, is it really happy? Or is it copying a call because that's what birds do?






          You assume they like it. Maybe they do. Or maybe they associate it with a call from a farmer that it's time to gather.

          I've seen cows play with inflated balls. I've seen them jump up and down in cadence with their owners. I think cows and many animals have intelligence and emotions like we do.

          But dancing is a cultural behavior, not an evolutionary one.

          If a horse is "banging" its head, it's not because it's rocking with the music...anymore than it would be square dancing 50 years ago, or ballroom dancing .

          Birds have mating calls. If a bird sings a song that it has heard, it's because the bird is instinctually thinking that it's learning a mating call. And anything we see in a bird that resembles a dance, is a mating ritual...not a night on the town.

          Horses? I don't know. I have no idea if the horse likes loud music or not.

          But to assume that the horse likes the same music we listen to, and behaves the same way we do...because it interprets the meaning of the music the same as we do, actually has a name. It's called Anthropomorphizing. It's the strong tendency for us to interpret animal behavior in human terms. Or to imbue animals with human characteristics.


          If the horse heard hard rock music on its own, without a human dancing in front of it, would it create the reaction on its own? If the horse hears the music in the distance, would it seek out the music? And why would it seek out the music? The reason my not be that it loves music, or appreciates the style of music....or even knows what music is.


          My cat lets me rub its tummy. I hope its because the cat enjoys it. But it could be that the cat is submitting to the rub because it sees me as its Alpha. Maybe I've conditioned it to accept the tummy rub as a condition of getting regularly fed. I have no real way of knowing.

          The cats sleep in our bed. Is it because they love us? Is it because our bodies generate heat? Is it because the cat feels safe? Is it because it wants to be right there in the morning when I get up to feed them?

          Does my cat know its name? Does it know what a name is? Or does it hear a sound and assiciate that specific sound with food? I have no idea.
          There is of course, truth in what you say. A pet can mimic the reaction and a parrot could do the laugh of a human, even cats can pick up mimicking words. A girlfriend had a cat who said thank you to me for opening a door for it, but only because she trained it to do so.

          You would have to put a parrot, or horse, or whatever in a space with camera's and be sure to have never exposed them to the possibility of being around them when any rock music or or other had been previously played to avoid cue taking I wonder if anyone has done this?

          The animal response on that moor I experienced was interesting to say the least but not the first time I have heard about such a reaction. The "Om" sound and pitch is supposed to be an earthing sound. Perhaps it has a universal appeal. (and they have all of Om's albums)

          Having seen a few cat behavior vids. the fact that it rolls onto it's back is a sign that it trusts you and and totally comfortable with you. Being able to rub it's belly though is relatively rare as most don't like it, the top of it's head and under the chin and side of the head is the most favored spots to be stroked. It would never be that it thought you were the alpha male to do it's belly, cats don't work like that, The cat, if it could speak would say you were being totally honored in allowing you to do this.
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post


            Having seen a few cat behavior vids. the fact that it rolls onto it's back is a sign that it trusts you and and totally comfortable with you. Being able to rub it's belly though is relatively rare as most don't like it, the top of it's head and under the chin and side of the head is the most favored spots to be stroked. It would never be that it thought you were the alpha male to do it's belly, cats don't work like that, The cat, if it could speak would say you were being totally honored in allowing you to do this.
            I've read that as well, and it makes sense.

            The mistake we make is to believe we understand how animals think, based on how we think.

            Imagine advanced creatures from another galaxy observed us. They see us go to the grocery store. What reason do you think they would attribute to that behavior?

            We put on clothes. What theory would they come up with for that behavior?
            They may be quite certain that we wear clothes because we kill our enemies and wear their skin as an indicator of social status. Or that there was a war between humans and plants, and humans won, and plants now have to keep us warm as a form of tribute.

            The cat getting its tummy rubbed.....Think about this.
            Does the cat enjoy the rub? Is it submitting to us as it's superior?
            Is it surrendering to us? Is there a sexual component to prostrating itself in front of us?

            I'm convinced that cats love their newborns, at least on an instinctual level. But can they feel the same way toward us? What do they think we are? Giants? Giant cats? Another animal? The cat rubs up against my leg, so the cat loves me. But it does the same thing to the furniture. Does it love the furniture?

            So....in conclusion, my Friend....

            Why does the horse bob it's head when the music plays? There are tests to work out the truth, as you mentioned. I wonder if the horse would bob its head in exactly the same way without any music at all, if it's owner was listening to music through her ear buds, and banging her heard in front of the horse.

            When we talk to them, what do they think these sounds we make mean?

            Questions like this haunt my brain all the time.

            Asking these questions is why I never get invited to parties. That, and the fact that I slobber when I talk....or when I smile....or sleep....or inhale.
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            • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
              Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

              I've read that as well, and it makes sense.

              The mistake we make is to believe we understand how animals think, based on how we think.

              Imagine advanced creatures from another galaxy observed us. They see us go to the grocery store. What reason do you think they would attribute to that behavior?

              We put on clothes. What theory would they come up with for that behavior?
              They may be quite certain that we wear clothes because we kill our enemies and wear their skin as an indicator of social status. Or that there was a war between humans and plants, and humans won, and plants now have to keep us warm as a form of tribute.

              The cat getting its tummy rubbed.....Think about this.
              Does the cat enjoy the rub? Is it submitting to us as it's superior?
              Is it surrendering to us? Is there a sexual component to prostrating itself in front of us?

              I'm convinced that cats love their newborns, at least on an instinctual level. But can they feel the same way toward us? What do they think we are? Giants? Giant cats? Another animal? The cat rubs up against my leg, so the cat loves me. But it does the same thing to the furniture. Does it love the furniture?

              So....in conclusion, my Friend....

              Why does the horse bob it's head when the music plays? There are tests to work out the truth, as you mentioned. I wonder if the horse would bob its head in exactly the same way without any music at all, if it's owner was listening to music through her ear buds, and banging her heard in front of the horse.

              When we talk to them, what do they think these sounds we make mean?

              Questions like this haunt my brain all the time.

              Asking these questions is why I never get invited to parties. That, and the fact that I slobber when I talk....or when I smile....or sleep....or inhale.
              If you jumped of Riffle they would would give you a Russian name: "Slobberdan"

              Well, in was interesting to hear that the horse quit bobbing as soon as they switched to country and western, something I would agree with the horse on. Does the horse recognize the beat and only respond to that, given that it's being filmed with no one around to prompt it and is doing it.

              As to aliens, well I'm sure they have to eat, but perhaps they pull stuff off available trees and don't bother with grocery stores. As to clothing, It's something that they may need to wear given the variability of climate on their planet. I think that when they see what we get out of visiting stores would not be a mystery as to the result, only the methodology of how we get it.

              Cats with long term contact with us also get a protective stance and sometimes will attack anyone coming near us.

              Their is probably a mix of thruths in what we are both saying.
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              • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
                Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

                If you jumped of Riffle they would would give you a Russian name: "Slobberdan"

                Well, in was interesting to hear that the horse quit bobbing as soon as they switched to country and western,
                My guess is that the people playing the music also didn't bob their heads to the country music.



                Originally Posted by lanfear63 View Post

                As to aliens, well I'm sure they have to eat, but perhaps they pull stuff off available trees and don't bother with grocery stores. As to clothing, It's something that they may need to wear given the variability of climate on their planet. I think that when they see what we get out of visiting stores would not be a mystery as to the result, only the methodology of how we get it.
                After I posted my last post, I realized that I was still assuming that aliens would think in terms of human references. And you're doing it as well.

                For example, insects breath through their skin, fish through their gills, and mammals (and others) through their lungs.

                But what if we had never seen a fish or insect?

                We would only be able to try to understand how they got Oxygen...through the lungs. We would try to figure out where they had their lungs, what shape they were in, how many were there?

                Breathing through the skin would be alien to us, and we would never figure it out without direct knowledge by observation. And even then, we would assume that there was a need for Oxygen.

                What I'm saying is that we cannot know something that is outside of our understanding.

                I have a blind friend. Blind from birth. I ask him questions about his perceptions. Does he know what light is? or blue? or how we can tell distance or see through glass...or drive in traffic.

                it's impossible for him to understand what I even mean by using many of these words.

                And aliens (assuming they exist) would not have followed our evolutionary path.

                So to them, my guess is that humans, cows, and cats...all look like the same thing to them, because our features are actually very similar, if you don't have those features.

                Have you ever wondered why aliens (in accounts of abduction and photos) always look humanoid? Because that's how we imagine them to be. It's our need to make our imaginary beings have human characteristics.
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                • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
                  Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

                  My guess is that the people playing the music also didn't bob their heads to the country music.





                  After I posted my last post, I realized that I was still assuming that aliens would think in terms of human references. And you're doing it as well.

                  For example, insects breath through their skin, fish through their gills, and mammals (and others) through their lungs.

                  But what if we had never seen a fish or insect?

                  We would only be able to try to understand how they got Oxygen...through the lungs. We would try to figure out where they had their lungs, what shape they were in, how many were there?

                  Breathing through the skin would be alien to us, and we would never figure it out without direct knowledge by observation. And even then, we would assume that there was a need for Oxygen.

                  What I'm saying is that we cannot know something that is outside of our understanding.

                  I have a blind friend. Blind from birth. I ask him questions about his perceptions. Does he know what light is? or blue? or how we can tell distance or see through glass...or drive in traffic.

                  it's impossible for him to understand what I even mean by using many of these words.

                  And aliens (assuming they exist) would not have followed our evolutionary path.

                  So to them, my guess is that humans, cows, and cats...all look like the same thing to them, because our features are actually very similar, if you don't have those features.

                  Have you ever wondered why aliens (in accounts of abduction and photos) always look humanoid? Because that's how we imagine them to be. It's our need to make our imaginary beings have human characteristics.
                  I understand what you are saying about aliens, but I would still conceive the Idea that any biological being would require some form of sustenance (ie food) It's just a matter of how they get it. As well as that, they may need warm or protective clothing depending on their climate circumstances.

                  Lets imagine an advanced alien civilization that is spacefaring and had somehow developed the ability to travers light speed many times over so they would be visiting other planets.

                  So, what would be their motivation to do this.

                  1) To explore and scientific investigation
                  2) To take over other suitable planets to expand their Prescence
                  3) To make contact with other civilizations.

                  their may be many other reasons.

                  So lets say that perhaps they go to explore to plunder some desperately needed rare minerals from planets but find on the first one out of many failures, an advanced civilization that has it who equally match them and don't want them taking it. They know that fighting them for it would be detrimental for them, so perhaps for the first time, they learn to trade or barter for what they want. For the first time ever in their history, this concept of trade and commerce is introduced to them out of necessity.

                  So outside their home world, they learn to compromise.

                  If they visited Earth later, then they would better understand this concept.

                  Can probably only talk about advanced civilizations here as if it were only aliens who perhaps led a perfectly suited life living in oceans or on land (perfect conditions etc), then none of this would be applicable.

                  One things for certain. I suspect most planets are like Earth in at least some ways and all will suffer from climactic changes over time from quakes and ice ages etc. So any advanced aliens would have to find ways to adapt and survive.

                  So, I believe there may well be "some" commonality between species.
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        • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
          [QUOTE=Claude Whitacre;11785806]
          I've seen cows play with inflated balls. /QUOTE]

          Yeah, for sure I done that -- but I would nevah describe musself as a cow.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
      Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

      Has it occurred to anyone that the head shaking is because the sounds are irritating?
      I'm doing that just reading your post.
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      • Originally Posted by Dan Riffle View Post

        I'm doing that just reading your post.
        That is so bitchout I jus' near wet musself.

        Thing is tho, our whole Scenario Of Wondah so far presooms the HORSES make out OUR WAY.

        Which means kinda yeah we can ride 'em an' shit -- evin historically -- an' anthropomorphise out on' their crayzee MUTTALICKER pseudo-poochstuffs ... but what if'n we all playin' along to sum kinda equine humor trip, the like of which we cain't evin realise bcs they so smart an' we so dumb?

        As a Sagittarius, I gotta ask evrywan here in total sincerity of whatevah!

        Bcs if'n they playin' me for a moron, likely evrythin' I evah said here could easily be shit.

        An' I would nevah wish that kinda content to sit center stage on a world beatin' marketin' platform for world beatin' marketin' stuffs -- howevah shiny the stirrups (or toned the cowhands).
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    It is possible the horse liked that beat...I've seen stranger things with animals.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    IDK whether Pretty is rocking to the beats or displaying signs of irritation.

    But I am a worrywart and I wouldn't want my horse hitting her head against
    that metal gate, so I would not play the music while she's cooped up.

    I would also like to know if Pretty can dance.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    Not arguing with anyone here, kind of interesting in each of your different opinions.
    If I whistle different tunes while out of site from my Cockatiel, it reacts differently to each tune. So are they mating tunes to him or is that fact I'm a lousy whistler and he is telling me enough already? Just something to ponder. "Avian experts say they possess the intelligence of a two-year-old child"

    While on the subject there are plenty of training videos to train birds. Just the basic beat of the Adams family gets him to instantly start whistling the tune.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by DWolfe View Post

      . "Avian experts say they possess the intelligence of a two-year-old child"
      Maybe in one specific area of intelligence.

      A 2 year old human's brain may be 150 times as large as a crow's brain. A crow is often used in these comparisons, because a crow really is a very bright bird.

      Maybe a crow can use simple tools as well as a 2 year old, but there are most areas where the bird, even the most intelligent bird, would fall very short.

      We read these kind of comparisons and assume quite a lot....like that a bird is equal in every mental area...to a human baby.

      But a two year old human can understand sentences, already has an imagination, and can play simple make-believe games, can follow two-step instructions.

      I've read that an adult crow has the intelligence of a 7 year old human.

      But what does that mean?

      It probably (but I don't know for certain) had a task that it could do as well as a normal 7 year old person.

      But what can a normal 7 year old do?
      They can read. They can associate words with pictures. They have an imagination that allows them to understand jokes. Usually, they can write, or at least print.

      They can have developed imaginary friends. They know what a lie is. Some can play musical instruments well. They can count by twos, fives, or tens.

      My guess is that a crow can perform problem solving skills, like how to get a cherry out of a bottle, as well as a 7 year old.

      Heck, I've seen chimpanzees solve problems like that that confounded me. I'm not joking.

      But just because one small section of a brain is as nimble as a member of another species, doesn't mean the whole brain is as developed, or is as developed in the same way.

      Give a crow an IQ test, and it will stare at the paper for a few minutes, and then tear off a piece to help build its nest (I'm guessing). At least a 7 year old will know to copy the answers off another person taking the test.



      My pomposity knows no bounds.
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  • Profile picture of the author art72
    A horse that likes Slipknot... interesting, and I find it rather awesome... she seems to stay in time!
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