About a month ago, one of our neighbors, a retired farmer, put a horse in the pasture that adjoins ours. I know virtually nothing about horses, but as far as I can tell, this is a brown gelding of unknown heritage. I don't know if horses are social animals, but it seems to me that this guy is lonely. He has a big pasture with trees and plantlife and hills and valleys...but no other critters (except when our kitties and outdoor dogs venture out there).
Of course, Mr. Parker immediately started a horse friendship campaign, offering Mr. Ed a variety of treats like corn stalks, turnip greens, tomatoes, bell peppers, and other items from our garden. Mr. Ed was not impressed. A week ago, Mr. P.. declared loudly that he was NOT going to give Mr. Ed any apples, but yesterday he gave Mr. Ed a few apples with such great results that we are now feeding Mr. Ed apples several times a day.
After munching his requisite apples, Mr. Ed is willing to let us pet and admire him. He seems like a fine man to me, but Mr. P. says his hooves are split and there are other signs of neglect. Why would a horse owner put Mr. Ed out to pasture like this? Mr. Ed sure seems like a great guy to us. Of course, we can afford to feed another critter about as well as we can afford to re-build the Brooklyn Bridge. But it's pretty nice to pet Mr. Ed's fuzzy muzzle as long as you don't look too closely at the discolored teethb covered with foamy saliva and partially-chewed grass.
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