All the horses belong to someone, but they aren't kept in pens or pastures, they roam completely free. The horses are everywhere, you have to keep your eyes out for them on the beach, in the park areas, and especially on the road.
I have no idea how people know which horse belongs to which person, or even worse - how do they find their horses when they want to go for a ride? One of the locals told us that if you try to ride one, the owner will find you in 5 minutes and tell you to get off his horse. They must have some sort of system, but I didn't figure it out. Horses are a big form of transportation in Vieques, it was not uncommon to pass a horse and rider on the street.
The first time we saw the "wild" horses I was so surprised I made Jim stop the car and I got out and tried to give one of the horses my apple core. The first one was not interested, he sniffed it and walked away. I was not discouraged. I tried again and the second one did the same thing! This is as close as the second horse got.
Some of the horses were very well taken care of, and others seem like they might suffer a bit for their free lifestyle. The small herd that stayed pretty close to our suite was a very healthy looking herd. The stallion took good care of his ladies, and was very protective. This is the stallion, he always let me approach and pet him.
It wasn't until about three days into the trip, with me petting the stallion every day that I realized what he was doing.
He would let me get as close to him as I wanted, but he never let me near his herd. He was so calm and nonchalant about the way he would walk to keep himself between me and his ladies, that it took me awhile to notice.
After I noticed what he was doing I realized that these horses aren't pets. They are a means of transportation, sure they are domesticated, but not like Josh's Mom's horses. There is no way one of these guys would come up and ask for a butt scratch.
That doesn't make them any less adorable though.
No comments:
Post a Comment