Reply #2: Horses need contact ...

[Lizzie Borden]

with horses, or other animals as they are naturally gregarious. A horse alone is an unhappy animal. Sometimes horses will adopt others. I had a cat who always used to sleep on the back of a particular horse. Secretariat (that famous racehorse) had a cat named Scooter who traveled everywhere with him.The expression 'get your goat' developed from horse racing. Goats were often the buddies of race horses. If a particular racing stable wanted to harm it's competition, it would literally get it's goat thus upsetting the horse.