I decided this afternoon that I kind of like miniature horses. I wouldn't say I was ever against them, but I was never a big supporter nor enthusiast. There are several horse farms around us here and there are some pretty looking full-size horses out in the fields. Saw some folks riding this morning as well.
About a mile and half from our house there are a couple newer homes that have big fields full of about 8-10 horses. There are a couple babies wandering about, lanky and wild. There are also a couple miniature horses amongst them. I'd say a mini-horse is about my speed. I've only been around full-size horses a handful of times in my life. The most recent time, I was walking one from a barn to a fenced in pen. About half-way to our destination it went a little wild and took off. My first and only rule of horse handling is as follows: 1. If a horse takes off, I let go. It didn't get away, no thanks to me. His name was Chester. His name is still Chester.
It would seem that Louis XIV was into miniature horses and had some at his personal zoo at Versailles. He was a fan of the oddities of nature. This is one strike against the mini-horse, though not its fault. Really nothing about the mini-horse can be blamed on the mini-horse. They were bred for dwarfism which logically leads to some dwarf-like traits on most of them - disproportionate head and what not. What I did not know was that there are miniature guide horses, similar to guide dogs. They serve some different functions, but these mini-guide horses have the same stiff collar/handle setup to serve blind people and are trained to work indoors and out. They're not bred for this, but some are trained to help out. They have a longer life span than dogs which is an upside. I saw where blind equestrians that ride full-size horses use these mini-horses as guides. Very cool.
Yet again, there are a collection of worlds that I know nothing about. There are a collection of worlds that I don't want to know about... but like the mini-guide horses, some are pretty remarkable and unexpected. If I someday learn of guide cats, then all of my understanding of domesticated animals will be blown apart. They're nice and all, but they haven't got a serving personality... I have yet to meet a cat that would intentionally help a person. I've met some people that wouldn't intentionally help a person, either.
In a great show of unity, brown dog and black dog are both relaxing under the same bush to stay cool. I can't think of too many other places where they could be so close together in harmony. Black dog has requested that we all go inside for cool drinks and cool air. She makes a good case. It's 92 degrees in the shade, and we're not in the shade right now.
Back to the Musee de Photographie (excuse the lack of accents)
Self-Portrait - flash face - 2009 ________________________$2,300
Self-Portrait - camera-face-shirt-head - 2009 ____________$4,200
1 comment:
If you like horses, you should read All the Pretty Horses, which is about a guy who likes horses. And rugged individualism.
And prostitutes.
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