What is this “personal space” that you speak of?

I think this whole personal space thing when it comes to animals and horses in particular is a bunch of rubbish started by people that are secretly scared to death of large animals or on a power trip. I have a twelve hundred pound quarter horse that thinks good odds are him and a herd of Texas Longhorns. You know the type, "one riot, one ranger". Being herd animals, horses don't get the whole personal space issue. Sharing breadth, close contact, being one is what they are about. Forcing them to be distant from you breaks the bond of trust and partnership that is a primal motivator for them. When my guy comes to me and invades my personal space, I give him what he is looking for. A hug, a long scratch in those spots he can't reach, a smell so he reaffirms the sensory perception that he and I are one and part of the same herd, the same family. I use it as the moment to check every inch of him and wait for his eyes to go soft. To me that is the reason why when I walk past the pasture or the woods where he goes to dream of being feral, his head rises like an old cavalry horse that hears the bugle of my footsteps. Your turn, tell me I'm crazy.