Gone but not forgotten

In early 2007, I noticed horse rings at the edge of neighborhood sidewalks. Empty horse rings evoked days of yesteryear, when men tied up their steeds after dismounting on the busy streets. Or they got down from their delivery wagons to tie up those hardworking draft horses so that they could make scheduled deliveries.

Then, something different happened. I saw a toy horse tied to a horse ring and got curious about what was going on. Google helped me discover that there was a movement afoot to place as many toy horses as possible, all started by a guy who moved to Portland and found the horse rings fascinating--The Horse Project, Portland, OR. People participated and then people vandalized and/or stole the horses. Thank goodness I was able to see some of this creativity for myself, but I haven't seen any since last May.

Here's the first horse I photographed on March 31, 2007, on busy NW 23rd a few blocks from our apartment. What a lovely little toy horse, standing proudly.


And here's the second one I found, also on NW 23rd. I took this photo on April 5, 2007.


Neither horse remained there for more than a week. Have you seen anything like this in your city?

Update: Mama and Duncan are holding their own very well. She's got a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning.