Barn Help

I decide to take advantage of the cooler weather and clean up the manure from the paddock area.

Lily offers to help.

As I'm scooping manure, I hear the rake fall. Then I hear crunching noises. Lily is chewing on the plastic tines. Not satisfied, she plops her front foot on the rake and paws it. I shoo her away.

She walks over to the muck bucket and mouths the rope handles. Soon she's swinging the bucket around. Again, I shoo her away.

She steps over to the area I've just cleaned and makes a deposit.

And I wonder about my animals, past and present, and their sense of curiosity and how they can't leave things alone.

Have I inadvertently trained them to do these things? Or, have I selected them and loved them for these traits?