These horse-drawn carriages line the streets around the cathedral and zocolo across the street. They are, of course, mainly for the benefit and enjoyment of the thousands of tourists who visit Merida each year.
Every time I am there, I always hear somebody feeling sorry for these horses. Lamenting how skinny they are and that the poor things have to stand around for hours doing nothing.
I know a thing or two about horses. These horses are not malnourished and not abused. In fact, they all have healthy coats and bright eyes. I think they are very well cared for. Consider that if they were not, there goes the family bread and butter. I think it is just the breed of horse.
I don't know which breed it is. It is unfamiliar to me. Much smaller than the horses to the north. The confirmation of most of them is nothing to take to the show ring. But they are not abused.
3 comments:
They certainly add to the atmosphere, don't they? I'd love to take a ride in one of those carriages. If I ever get to do that, I'll bring a carrot for the horse.
There for a moment I thought you were on a horse ;)
This one seems small in comparison to the cart. I would say this is a Pinto (small for that breed) or of the Medicine Hat variety. I used to own a Medicine Hat Pony and he was very small like this one. From what I can see from the picture, he seems to have a shiny coat which is a good sign. People just aren't used to seeing such a small horse pull such a big cart. Don't worry, in the states everybody complains about mis-treatment of carriage horses too...horses used to be our main source of transportation, they used to work alot harder than this!
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