Fluttershy's Nature Show

"Now this is more like it." As the screen flickers to life, Fluttershy is walking through a barn door. "Think about it, Twilight. Wouldn't it be easier to start off teaching the kids something they can more easily work with?"

"A bit disappointing for those who wanted to dive in, but I guess we can start off in easy mode. So, what do we have here?"

Fluttershy throws the door open. "Horses."

As the camera pans across the barn, not a single horse is able to be seen. "Where are they?"

"I... I don't know," answers Fluttershy, walking into the frame. "They're supposed to be here."

"They're down at the pasture," says a male voice. The camera quickly pans and zooms to a stallion in a flannel shirt. "It gives them a bit of time to run around. It was on your recommendation, Fluttershy."

The camera turns back to Fluttershy, whose face was suddenly pushed into realization. "Right, sorry. I didn't know that was today. Come on, Twilight, let's go down to the pasture and see."

The camera stays on for the entirety of the brief jog, totaling about five minutes of a shaky image and the only sound being their footfalls. This was clearly unedited footage, straight from the camera itself, and Twilight was obviously an amateur cinematographer at best.

After a long segment of nothing happening, they finally reach the pasture and see the horses. Some of the horses are frolicking, running back and forth or making wide circles, others are just grazing, and others still are just lying in the sun, simply enjoying the time outside.

"These are the horses," smiles Fluttershy, gesturing to them. "Let's go look closer, shall we?" Fluttershy opens the gate and walks into the pasture, with Twilight close in tow. "Horses are magnificent creatures. Strong, fast, and energy efficient, they're a great starting look into the world of animal care."

She approaches one of the stallions just lying on the grass. "This is a shire horse. The first thing you'll notice is his size. He's really big." The camera pans up and down his body, showing off his massive build. "He's one of the biggest breeds of horse, and he eats a lot. Fortunately, his diet is not particularly difficult to meet, consisting of generally fruits, vegetables, grains and hay." She reaches into her pack and pulls out a carrot. With very little coaxing, he begins to munch on it.

"Shires are workhorses," she continues, "or were, back when we used to use horses to power pretty much everything. They were often selected for their raw power, being able to pull a plow with exceptional ease, but as we've moved further and further away from using horsepower, which, as a side note, is exactly where the word horsepower comes from, the shires have fallen from grace, in favour of other horses."

Fluttershy gestures out to one of the horses running in circles. "A lot of horse owners now are looking for competition horses such as the appaloosa or the thoroughbred. These are the kinds you might expect to see in shows, rodeos, races and competitions. For those purposes, the shire is not as suited. He's not a fast-paced athlete, but a strong, hard-working breed, who will take good care of you if you take good care of him."

The camera pans back to Fluttershy, who is gently rubbing the shire's shoulders. "Fortunately, it's really easy to take care of these guys. First, you want to gain their trust. This can take some time, but after awhile, a good carrot is all it takes to show that you're not there to cause any harm. They will learn to trust you if you make an effort. It's just like making friends, except you can't talk as much."

Fluttershy moves her hands up the shire's neck. "Now, you can use this technique on just about any horse, not just your shires. I'm just using him as an example because it's convenient. But any horse would be glad of this. First, we brush out their mane. They have hooves, not hands, so they can't really do this themselves. Now, it may be that you don't need to brush out their mane, but if you do, long, easy strokes are the way to go. You don't want to accidentally yank out a wad of their mane; that would hurt. Be gentle and kind."

As she says this, she demonstrates how to do this with a soft bristle brush that she'd pulled from her bag. His mane was very clean and free of tangles, as he'd been brushed recently, but he certainly didn't mind the attention or the brushing.

"Now, if your horse's mane is too long, and they routinely push it out of their face because it's distracting, you can give them a trim. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're not that close with them yet, but if you want to help them without risking cutting them accidentally, you can braid their mane. Most horses are pretty okay with braids. You may want to take them out twice a week and redo them, though, just to make sure they don't knot up. As an added bonus, you can weave little flowers into them, but if you do, you have to replace them every day. No horse wants dead, rotting flowers in their mane.

"Now for the coat. You can brush it just like the mane. The big difference is that, rather than looking for tangles to brush out, you're looking for matte sections to shine. You're trying to remove the dirt. That's a lot easier when he's standing up, but for now, we'll just focus on what we can reach. You want to start behind the head, so you don't end up accidentally scraping his eye. Go down on his neck in smooth, even strokes, keeping a gentle but firm pressure on the brush. Slowly work your way back to the flank and down. Starting at the bottom and moving up means that everything you cleaned prior will be covered in dust and loose hair, and then you have to go over it again. He just wants to be clean and fed."

"Hang on," says Twilight, moving the camera around a bit. "I have to replace the reel. These cameras don't really capture a lot of footage before the film goes de--" The sound cuts out with a few small pops, and the video quickly follows suit as the reel comes to an end.