Jamey wrote :

>
>The above would solve no problem.  The horse obviously adds to greenhouse gas
>problems just as the "exhaust" of human beings and all other animals do.  Hey,
>why don't human beings quiet trying to power machines and enslave animals to
>do their work, and get off their butts and do physical work themselves?  The
>typical brainless exec. who makes 100K, drives his sport utility vehicle 20
>miles from his suburban home to his metropolitan office, and then goes to a
>gym to burn off all off his bacon cheese burgers and T-Bone steaks.  Humans
>suck!

Hey Jamey, I think you're doing an injustice to the Clydesdale here ( maybe
even an injustice to John,who sounds like a cool guy to me, but only a mere
human, so inferior to a horse l->) because many horses really do like their
lives in association with humans, do really like their work even. They're not
at all like slaves who would run away given any chance. A good relationship
between human and horse is based on love, affection and mutual respect.
A lot like a good relationship between two people actually. I've worked with
horses pulling logs out of forests, and seen them keen to do it because they
enjoy what they do. And if you want to ride horses and do fancy tricks then
you'd better have a good relationship, because there is no way that a horse
can be forced, by fear, to give it's utmost. They can be like olympic athletes,
they like to see how high and how far they can jump, and they like to please
the rider and have their efforts appreciated.
What get's me going is the stupidity of people, who elevate some creatures,
like dogs and cats, into quasi-human babies, and yet allow others, like pigs,
that are just as smart and sensitive to be treated in the most brutal and cruel
fashion.
There are lots of interesting examples of relationships between humans and
animals that can't really be equated with simple slavery, for example, using
tame cormorants to catch fish, or falcons to catch birds. There are still guys
in Khirgizstan who hunt wolves from horseback using golden eagles that
fly from the fist.
I take your point re brainless execs, and all the rest who are obese and need
to do a bit of hard labouring. Trouble is, we get trapped into these situations
by the system we live in. The exec can probably make more money shuffling
paper in his office for half a day, than a guy with a Clydesdale pulling logs
can get in a year. So he takes that option, because his woman likes expensive
holidays, his kids like an expensive education, he wants a big pension when
he's old and so on. It takes some guts not to follow the path of 
least rersistance
that soceity lays out for us.
I agree, though. Humans suck. You ask every other living organism on the
planet for their opinion, I'm certain that they'd agree on that unanimously.

C.L.



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