Snowflake

We sometimes speak of 'horse sense' and in this context I read of a pony called Snowflake.
Unusually for her, she had continuously refused to move from her position standing diagonally across the corner of her stable.
Her owner later discovered the reason.
A family of new-born kittens lay buried deep in the straw in the corner of Snowflake's stable.
The animal had realised that the tiny creatures  were in danger from the farmer's pitchfork and she had been standing guard over her new-born friends.