Tiny Horses in Texas

I have noticed during my ventures through the country land in central Texas that people here seem to have an affinity for itty bitty horses. Not ponies. Tiny horses. I think I had previously seen a tiny horse about once in my life and my memory is placing it at some carnival. I never really thought of them as real creatures but more as an accident. Some genetic mutation gone bad. But here, they roam in pastures, on farms...and in neighborhood backyards. There's a farm that I frequently pass on my way back to Oohland and if I catch it at the right time, there are probably a good 50 petite ponies grazing through a large pasture. That, although it still catches me a little off guard, makes sense to me. This on the other hand, does not make sense to me...

For many weeks my boss has been telling me about her neighbors across the street, a woman and her brother with her two small children. The exact occupation of the woman is unknown, but there are clues that lead to a pretty solid idea of at least what general industry she works in. She typically doesn't leave for work until about 7:00 p.m. and although it's hot in Texas, it's not hot enough to account for the lack of clothing she sports each evening. Her children wander from house to house during the day looking for other kids to play with while mom's gone and the uncle sleeps. And they have a lot of money. Well, at least enough to have a pool, a trampoline, a few pitbulls and a tiny horse. A tiny horse which stays in their fenced in backyard in a neighborhood in a suburb of Austin. My boss didn't seem to understand why this was odd to me. Her exact words were, "It's like having a big dog that stays outside." No, no it's not. The stories about this family roll in every couple of days, but the most recent one was by far the best...

My boss was on her way home from work and came around the corner to find her neighbors sitting out on the porch while the children were in their underwear playing in the front yard. Fair enough, it is Texas and as we all know, it's hot here. The pitbulls were bouncing around through the flower garden like kittens after a few too many leaves of catnip which, okay whatever. And the tiny horse, apparently feeling a bit oppressed by his backyard fencing and needing some fresh air, was out front, tied to the corner stop sign.

I've never really had the best imagination which always seemed a bit detrimental to my love for writing. But seriously, who needs an imagination when you live in Texas.