I read a story today posted online by our local newspaper.  It seems two neighbors are at odds.  One is a horse owner in violation of city ordinances, the other a resident who moved in after the horse owner who already had the horses.  The new neighbor wants the horses out of the neighborhood.

In my opinion both are in the wrong since the horses were already in the neighborhood when the complainer came and the city ordinance is very clear about the amount of acreage required per horse and the horseowner is violating that portion of the ordinance (she should own 2 instead of 3 which still puts things leaning her way in my opinion since one of the horses is a mini and doesn’t really need the same acreage – some dogs are the same size).  The article does not say which came first, the horse ownership or the ordinance – that would change my view if she already owned the 3 horses before the ordinance was put into place.

Anyway, it does make an opportunity to discuss something that has always surprised me.  That there are people in the world who don’t want to be anywhere near horses.  I never viewed horses in the same light as other livestock but it seems non-horse-people sometimes see them as just the same as cows and pigs (this neighbor who doesn’t want the horses there seems to equate them with cows).

After the stunning victory by a 50:1 odds Mine That Bird this past Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, my passion for horses is again invigorated.  I believe they are the most beautiful of God’s creation next to the human race and cannot imagine anyone not wanting to be near them.  The horse racing industry has plenty of warts and issues I don’t agree with but it was still thrilling to see an “average Joe” kind of horse win the most popular of all horse races.  For many, this is the only glimpse at horse ownership they’ll ever see, the examples of equine masterpieces that parade across the television screen leading up to the race. Who could dislike them?  Who could not want to be near them?

So how do you view horses?  See them as livestock like the complaining  neighbor referenced here?  Or do you not notice the stinky business associated with horse ownership and just see the sheer beauty of the animals?  I admit, I catch a whiff of unpleasant odors occaisionally in the summer time around our place but I go out and busy myself cleaning up a little after them and that seems to remedy the problem for the most part.  It only happens occasionally when the temperatures are very high (it gets in the high 90’s low 100’s here with maximum humidity – even many people stink then ).

Just sharing some observations.