American Interlude Part 3: The Horses

My mom has two horses (which seems like such a small number, compared to thirty-two cats and nine dogs), and they, of course, live out at her land. Her land as yet does not have electricity, owing to the fact that the power company will charge her roughly $10,000 to run electricity out there. The horses - and the cats that live out at the land - need water. No electricity means no running water... so my mom had a hand pump installed. I have a picture of her pumping water, although I did most of the pumping while I was home. My 'pumping muscles' had definitely atrophied during my thirteen-month absence, and boy did my arms hurt!

My mom, pumping water.
But you, no doubt, are more interested in the horses than in their water supply. So here they are:

They're not usually this energetic; something had scared them.
(I'll write about that 'something' in my next post!)

This is Honey. No, she's not pregnant, she's just fat.

This is Merlin. He's an old boy, in his twenties.
(And no offense to Honey, but he is far more photogenic.)
I was only in the US for twelve days, and I was ridiculously busy. I was, however, able to make time for one ride with my mom.

This was our route. According to Google Earth it was exactly two miles.
Not our farthest ride, but given how hot and humid it was, it was far enough for us - and the horses, who were soaked in sweat by the time we got home.

Heading out! These were all shot with my pocket Nikon. Honey's an incredibly well-behaved horse, but I'm not risking my DSLR on horseback.

Honey is also not a leader.
She's only content with her nose up Merlin's rear.