Stephen Malone looks like he belongs in 19th century London, but his accent makes it clear he came from Queens. Unlike some of the drivers, he does not waste too much time yakking between rides, he brushes Tyson and gives him  his oats and polishes the harness. I was taking photos of the other drivers and saw him bent to the ground with a small brush painstakingly polishing Tyson’s big hooves. Is that a seal or something to protect the hooves?, I asked.

No, he said, smiling, “it’s just polish so that his hooves will look good.”  That is not surprising from a man who has worn a tuxedo to work for the past 17 years. I don’t care to dwell on the abuse thing because it’s so ludicrous even the animal rights groups pushing to ban Tyson and other horses are mostly dropping it, although the accusation remains prominent on all of their literature and on all of their websites. Still, it’s interesting to note – many people come to my blog every day for the first time – that large animals that are hungry, exhausted, mistreated or abused do not sit calmly while big men lean over and paint their hooves.

I get e-mail every day from people – pet owners, mostly – who say they never thought of it that way, and those are the messages I value. Photos do not lie, they do not always tell the whole truth, but they tell their own stories, and animals have no guile. If they have been mistreated, there are all kinds of ways they have of letting you know. Tyson has no complaints.