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Walking Judd the Rockweiler the other morning, when a horse and carriage clip-clopped by.  I love that sound and there are several of these carriages that do business in Victoria.  I love horses. I love riding them,smelling them,feeding them,grooming them and rubbing their velvety muzzles.  However, I always experience this personal conundrum when I watch them plod by.  Should we be treating horses this way?  I am sure these ‘tourist’ working horses are well treated, and  indeed they are bred for this and have been used for milenia as working animals.  But eons ago,they were wild before they were domesticated.  Should we just be enjoying their beauty and grace from the other side of the fence or in the wild?  Hopefully for the most part, horses are treated well on ranches, riding schools and tourist destinations around the world.  But what about the recent sad event at the Calgary Stampede’s chuck wagon races?  Or the several cases of emaciated horses being seized from owners by the SPCA?  I also cannot express adequately the condition of many of these animals I have seen while deployed in Sudan and Afghanistan.  The opposite of this are the many friends who own these wonderful creatures for several reasons, but with the common  underlying theme that all treat their horses as members of the family. I suppose for now I will watch these huge creatures pull the cruise ship passengers around as they show off Victoria, and enjoy the clip-clopping,snorting and neighing (From the horses,mainly) sounds and try to sneak in the occasional muzzle scratch . .. .