March 19th 2014: Dogs & Horses.

I know that this is rather self-indulgent, but I've always been fond of horses and I hope that these two images are worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Not forgetting the dog.

A Labrador doing what Labradors do best...



A labrador lazes in the afternoon sun in Bruges, west Belgium. The dozy dog lives in a house along the city's famous medieval canals and is a well-known tourist attraction in the area.

And there's a bit more about him here:

Bruges' Most Famous Son is a Bit Furrier Than You'd Expect

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Originally Posted by Carruthers The native heavy horses, the Shire, Clydesdale and Suffolk Punch are magnificent creatures but they are rather scarce these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt I always thought they were unusual, but it never occurred to me that they are scarce, like we might want to keep some around as a resource in case we ever need them in the future. I'd love to see a graph of the world population of horses and also horse varieties.

The Amish community(ies) here use Percherons for heavy work, hauling grain wagons, plowing and such.

I love watching them work.

Farming has always looked for ways to make it easier, more efficient, and less of a gamble on what they'll eat next winter. Rare breeds are rare because some people decided they were not as favorable as some other breed, or they were cross bred shooting for the best of both.

There used to be dozens of breeds of dairy cattle, but today serious dairy farms herds are almost entirely Holsteins(black&white) because they made more milk for the feed eaten. The same for beef cattle, chickens, sheep, hogs and anything else that's raised commercially. More efficiency, more return on investment, no room for sentimental traditions, mo money!

The farmers around here who use horses, rather than keeping them for sport or hobby, usually have mixed teams. Pulling equipment that requires a 3 to 7 horse hitch, they'll often throw a mule or two in the mix. Not much interest in keeping the blood line pure, just looking at, and breeding for, performance. Only the guys raising teams for sport, for competitions, for show, are concerned about bloodlines and breed characteristics.

Sometimes the rarer breeds (more rare?) of animals which are eaten have been left by the wayside in the drive for bigger, faster, more. As in Ortho's Poultry Plant post.

Some rare pigs are now being bred again simply because when slower and more natural breeding and feeding patterns are used, people appreciate the quality of meat.
I know you're not criticising farmers for not breeding horses for which they have no need, but I think there is definitely a trend away from over-produced livestock.

Of course it could be that people are just splitting along the lines of what is important and/ or accessible to them to them - the masses will have their antibiotic-laced, fast-grown, concrete-enclosed animal paste, and those with money, the gourmands and the epicureans will be tended to by specialist retailers.

I can't count myself in the former or the latter camps, so I guess it would be leeks & lentils for me in the new world order.
Although a girl can hope for a side order of cock occasionally, right?

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Originally Posted by Sundae Although a girl can hope for a side order of cock occasionally, right?