also every time we drive by them

[cimorene]

Do you ever just sit around thinking about how around you are tens of ponies, horses, and cows - INCLUDING HEILAN COOS! - who have tons of time where nobody is paying attention to them and probably don't get petted and scratched as much as they would like, yet here I am just sitting here NOT PETTING HORSES OR COWS OR PONIES, even though I would be happy to, and what a tremendous waste it is?

I think about this at least twice per day.

Comments

[spark]

Pretty much everyone I know who has a horse or pony feels guilty that they don't get more attention and would be very happy if someone local wanted to make up the deficit, once they were vetted for good sense and basic horsey dos and don'ts. Less so sheep and cows because they will be in a flock/herd and get their social needs met that way, but most horses are lucky if they get to have even one horse companion.

Although I would welcome some more people to hang out with the flock when the lambs are young, as it's useful to get them comfortable with human proximity and touch during that window.

[cimorene]

I have actually thought about introducing myself like this too but I'm pretty shy with strangers. So my actual thought is more like introducing myself to owners at the local county fair when people bring animals in to be petted, and possibly trying to find people with livestock via local engagement (I am still hoping to find a knitting circle, like).

[spark]

I don't know if there is anything like this where you are, but here there is both a community Facebook group and a community swapshop email list, and on both I have seen people post for this sort of thing (and from both sides).

Failing that, your thoughts for the local county fair and other engagement sound sensible to me!

[princessofgeeks]

I lived in an exurb when my kids were little and sometimes we would take a back road to school in nice weather, and we would pass a horse almost always standing in the same place looking over the fence.

It became a tradition to get out and pet him when we weren't in a hurry. We even named him.

It's a great memory.

It was a large pasture quite far from any house; I couldn't figure out which house was associated with that field, so I never saw his actual people, but it was fun.