There's an ostrich farm neighbouring the farm, and another neighbour thought he too would get into the ratite trade. This means that when birds escape, you expect them to be ostriches. But, as it turns out, both farms also kept (keep?) emus, and while a decently-maintained fence will generally keep an ostrich in, emus turn into liquid and just trickle through them. Which meant that for several years, it was a semi-regular occurrence for Abba and me to stumble across escaped emus while riding.
I should also point out that a male ostrich once jumped the fence and lived in Abba's field for a couple of months, back in 2016; he was a peaceable fellow, but I did have to revise what to do if an ostrich attacks, just in case. (The answer is to fall flat on the ground, face down, so he can't eviscerate you as easily, though he will break your ribs with his kicks and probably sit on you.) She and I also had to outrun an aggressive male ostrich, which took a huge amount of courage and obedience from her, as we had to canter towards him as he came down the hill under full sail, in order to reach the open gate into the field where her speed would give us a fighting chance.
So, next to an ostrich, an emu is an inoffensive and mild little creature, and eminently huntable by Abba and by cows. (Other horses think emus are horrifying.) What the emus do, you see, is they run away if you walk towards them. They also run up and down the fence line in a panic. But the running away is the important part, because it makes Abba feel ten feet tall, and so, after the first emu we met on the farm ran away from her, and was then chased by the cows, she filed them neatly into the category of "Creatures to Hunt", and every time we spotted a lost emu out in the fields, she would instantly change direction and walk after them, which made them run away, which reinforced her views.
The only time she has been unhappy about an emu was when we had to pass between a loose emu on one side and half a dozen ostriches behind a fence on the other side. The emu was running in erratic circles, as they tend to do, and several of the male ostriches were displaying, so Abba felt this was a little too much to deal with, and I had to dismount and lead her through the valley of the shadow of death on foot.
Past posts on ratites are below:
The feathered velociraptor and Why that tag.
The day Abba outran an ostrich.
gamechangershow
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
jimmyeatworldofficial
turnnoffyourmind
amandla
