A couple of things crossed my mind:

I LOVE the Mule Day tag line: "Crossover to the true hybrid!"

I wonder what the Mule Queen looks like?

Erin's Reply: I like it too! Very clever! The newly-crowned Mule Queen has a profile page via the Miss Tennessee International pageant--here you go.

That's not what I had pictured.  You'd think they'd have a MULE beauty pageant...and the winner would be, obviously, a mule.  Kinda what I had pictured when I read about the article.  Then it hits me...wow, it's a person.  Big deal.

I see nothing wrong with the Amanda keeping Fancy in there garage, as long as the horse is being cared for what the big issue. I have a horse and in todays economy u have to do what u have to do for your animals. If i had no other choice my horse would be stabled in my garag. You need to understand people who love animals and this includes horses dont want to have to get ride of them, they are part of your family. My mare is 4 and i think of her as one of my kids. Im blessed i only pay 155.00 plus my own feed, glad i live in OR. I could not amagine having to pay that much in board. We all need to help one another out.

Good luck Amanda,

Sherry,Springfield OR

I agree with sherry.  You do what you can to keep a "member of your family" which this mare is to them.  

I'm sorry, but the neighbor who can't possibly raise her children next door to a horse is an idiot. Kudos to the owners for not just abandoning Fancy or hauling her to auction or a rescue for someone else to struggle to take care of. It may not be the ideal situation,especially with not being residents of the neighborhood themselves, but at least they are making an effort to fulfill their responsibilities.

Erin says: that was quite a quote! Did you see this one, also from a neighbor? "I couldn't believe in such a congested neighborhood and with such little amount of property and land he puts the horse right here. I mean basically that horse could walk right over this wall." (My question ... how tall is this wall? I have a mental image of the Kool-Aid man busting through ...)

How many horses in this country are boarded in box stalls? A lot. How is a box stall in a garage different than a box stall in a barn? It's not. Years ago, I boarded my horse in a box stall next to another horse who left his stall only to have his feet trimmed every 10 weeks; at least this pony gets out almost every day. (FYI, my horse was ridden or turned out 28 out of 30 days per month and I felt guilty as heck about the other two!)

But what you have here are people who a) don't know a thing about horses beyond the pictures they see of horses in pastures; b) people who are scared of horses (it still shocks me at how many people fall into this category - most of whom have never been within yelling distance of a real horse) or c) people who don't want their kids to start asking if they can get a horse and keep it in the garage... my parents might relate to this one - when I was 4, they put a sliding glass door in the dining room and a suggested it now be a fine place to put a horse stall...

To say you can't raise your kids around a horse is just. plain. ignorant. I can't think of a better way to raise your kids. It gets them outside, teaches them responsibility and compassion, and most of all... if they are focused on a horse, they aren't focused on drugs/gangs/whatever else!