When you live in Florida, you expect to have the occasional run in with some large reptiles, right? As surprising as it can be, Floridians are use to it.

But what a shock it would be for you and your horse to run into an alligator while at a show! And that’s what happened earlier this week at the AQHA Region 10 Championship Show in Jacksonville, Fla.

I wouldn’t fault a horse for spooking at this!

Photos.com

According to the Equine Chronicle, an alligator was discovered in one of the horse stalls at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center as competitors arrived at the show. He seemed to have tucked himself away in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, ready for a nap.

The facility is picturesque–on 1,000 acres with many trees and some waterways surrounding the grounds. The trapper who removed the alligator believes the 5-foot creature might have come from one of the retention ponds.

One of the competitors, Linda Landis, wondered what might have drawn the alligator to the stalls: “There was a Baker horse blanket lying in the stall and he was laying on it,” she said. “I don’t know if so