But
as we have come to do life here, it didn’t take much coaxing on our part to
want to provide these horses with some special treats, now and again. However, as I began to take some sugar
cubes over, I found that the horses would just not know what to do with this
treat. In fact, they often refused
the offer and spit it on the ground!
My reaction was “no problem” … they will love an apple. To my surprise it took some time for
them to realize what to do with that even!
But
then, as we began to watch what other people did around us as they stopped to
greet the horses in their pens, we realized that they brought something totally
different than what we considered a delicacy. Instead of giving the horses the delicious treats that I thought
were universal, can you guess what the local Frenchman or woman would give to
their horses? You got it! ….
Baguettes!
The
baguette is still an everyday necessity (or at least a desire) for people here
in France. Because of French
history, the price of bread is actually regulated nationally so that everyone
can at least afford to buy bread.
And once you taste a warm loaf of fresh bread, … trust me, you will
never go back to anything else!
But
the dilemma then arises on what to do with the leftovers? One can only make so many croutons or
bruschettas with the dry bread. So
instead of throwing the remaining bread away, the people will collect them in
bags and take them to the horses for a very special treat! So we have decided that “when in Rome….” (or France, even), do as they do! So each day, you will see John taking his walk to the horses. The horses recognize him straight away and come running to have “first dibs” on their special baguette treat. No longer do we try and convince them that sugar cubes really are delicious. We now know from experience that there really is no better treat than French bread … even if it is a little old!
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| John on his daily "treat" run! |
