In which the Dragon is not a robot, but she obeys robot laws

My horse is definitely not a robot.

Robots might make good aunties to young horses, but Aunty Dragon is the best.  
She even puts up with young Kobalt's shenanigans--note the half-mast "caretaking ears"

In the fictional universe of Isaac Asimov, robots are bound by the 3 Rules of Robotics:

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First Law

A robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human to be harmed.

Second Law

A robot must obey orders given by humans, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law

A robot must protect itself as long as this protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

                                                              ----------------

Fiddle isn't a robot.   Patty says that (in traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture) my horse has a "metal constitution."   

HERE is a link to details about the five elemental constitution types.  Some animals seem to take traits from more than one type, but Fee is metal to the center of the marrow of her bones.

Metal horses like to work hard, they like consistent rules and boundaries, and they are prone to internalizing stress and "shutting down" when things go sideways.  

My particular metal horse is good at making her own good choices about speed and gait, based on terrain and ease for the rider.  I've encouraged that a lot over the years, and I've been glad for her Team Sensible input on the trail.

Fee is Metal constitution...Hana is Fire.

Unlike some horses and dogs (and people) who spend endless time and energy in pursuit of Being Good, Fee doesn't give an overweight rodent rear end about goodness, badness, or pleasing anybody.

Fee believes in Rightness.  She believes in her Rules, which are very similar to the Laws of Robotics:

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Rule #1.  Take care of people, especially young people, little people, stupid people, and people who aren't young or stupid but for whatever stupid reason are doing stupid things.  Like, for example, me when I was riding while taking major pain meds prior to hip surgery.

Rule #2.  Do what she's told, unless following directions would lead to little or stupid people getting hurt.  Remember the time I didn't get a picture of the bear?   Fee said, very clearly, "OH HELL NO, we are not going that way, because you might get hurt."  She wasn't afraid of the bear.  She had (good) reason to believe that I would endanger myself if we went towards the bear.

Rule #3.  Take care of herself unless taking care of herself would cause harm to little or stupid people.  Like the time we got to the Mutiny Trail, and she refused to go down it.  "Not safe!" she said.  "Those rocks are lameness waiting to happen"  and of course she was right.

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Please note that there is no room in this world-view for goodness, or even for pleasing anybody.  

I tend to forget this stuff, because when Fee is following her Rules, she is almost always also being good and pleasing.   But that is incidental, because she really, truly doesn't care about being Good.

My horse: being Right, and coincidentally being Good.

A few days ago I got a reminder about the difference between Right/Wrong and Good/Bad.

That's when my friend lytha came from Germany to visit.

 We threw her up on the Dragon for a pony ride.

And Fiddle didn't do what she was told!

Why was my horse "disobedient"?  See Rule #2

lytha was nervous about being on my horse.  I don't blame her!  First off, she is used to riding dinky little Arabs, and my horse isn't any of those things.  She's huge.  

If she wants you to reach her ears, she will bend back so you can reach them.
Otherwise, they are too far away.

Also, the Dragon has a reputation for fierceness that is easy to misunderstand.   She pins her ears to tell you that you are Wrong (not to tell you that you are Bad, because she honestly doesn't care about goodness or badness), but her lower lip stays floppy--because it takes a lot to make her angry.  Usually she's just Right. 

lytha was nervous, and so she wasn't breathing.  Fiddle interprets not breathing as a sign of distress (she's not wrong), and when a rider is in distress, it would be Wrong (a violation of Rule #1) to move fast...or at all.

So, she didn't.  Even when she was cued strongly to move forward, faster, my horse stood hard on the brakes.  Because of Rule #2.

Fee wouldn't move until the rider was breathing.  Once she stopped thinking
and started breathing, my horse moved just fine.  If everybody breathes, nobody is in danger.

Finally, with me walking alongside and offering helpful suggestions and charming songs (I am my father's child, and I sing a lot, tunefulness being optional), the rider started breathing in and out.  And so the Dragon moved forward and even did a little lateral flexing.  

I think lytha thought I was kidding when I said that you don't cue this horse with your legs.  Or your hands.  But I'm totally serious.  

Fiddle is listening for the breathing.  

Because that is the Right thing to do.

What constitution type is your horse?  What about your dog?  What about you?