Owner: "No Really My Horse is Not Dead"

Social media has a new equine star, a retired dressage show mare named Violet who drops to the ground, lies on her side and plays dead when she has to wear a blanket. Her owner, a Charlotte, North Carolina biology professor named Carly Anne York, posted a series of photos of Violet being a “drama queen” on Twitter.

York posted the first photo of Violet splayed on the grass on December 15 with the caption, “If you think having animals isn’t like having children, Violet just played dead because I made her wear a coat.”

Then in the next photo Violet is in the middle of getting up after her owner undid the blanket straps with the promise of removing the offending garment. The final photo shows Violet, sans blanket with her tongue sticking out with the caption, “Pretty sure this is the face of no regrets.”

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The Tweets have accumulated over 700,000 reactions including 55,000 retweets and over 5,000 comments. Some of the comments came with photos, including of another horse who also likes to lie down flat out, scaring its owner, and even a small dog who does the same, playing dead move whenever its harness goes on.

York told a reporter that Violet has always been quite the equine character. “She has always much preferred being covered in mud than treated like a prissy competition horse and would immediately drop to her knees and roll after a bath. She also loves to go ‘swimming’ in water troughs and will put both front feet into the trough and splash herself until all the water is gone.”

Violet, who according to York has survived a bout with cancer and a broken leg, is living the retired life on York’s farm with two donkeys for company. And, we assume, no blankets.