Last weekend, while Jen and I attended the Girl Scouts “All About Animals” event, I had the pleasure of chatting with two members of the Albuquerque Police Department Horse Mounted Unit(HMU).
They were teaching me about some of the tactics they use to desensitize their horses to the crazy and unusual, and often dangerous, environments they work in. Of course I was fascinated.
We also talked about ACTHA and Competitive Trail Rides, and the NMSAR. It was a great conversation and they were very friendly and kind to spend so much time with Jen and I.
We also talked about how expensive gas prices are and how it would be great it we could somehow step back in time and start using horses for transportation and farm/yard work again. They told me it costs less than $5 a day to feed Officer Jake, that black Percheron on the right. And he can work all day policing the streets.
But it costs close to $5 for just one gallon of diesel. And we all know just how many miles we get with that measly little gallon, don’t we?
It’s kind of silly that most of us only use our horses for recreation purposes in this day and age, when we have the perfect low cost alternative to the high costs of fuel and pollution right in our own backyards.
Our government talks about electric and solar power for autos as an alternative and then spends money on more oil drilling. Why not spend some of that money on creating safe bridle paths to and from towns, so horse folks can do their errands by horseback?
Just the other day, while working at the Hug-a-Horse Thrift Store, I managed to capture a photo of one man riding his horse, trotting down the sidewalk, doing just that.
I’ve been seeing this more often over the past 6 months, people riding their horses into town to do their shopping and errands. It always makes me smile.
I’ve also noticed quite a few hitching posts in our town, too. Like this one in front of a shopping strip, beside the sidewalk (behind the horse and rider).
Even our Post Office has one right out front.
Have you ever considered saving money on gas and riding your horse into town to do your shopping?
