ABC Wednesday: E is for equine exercise

Recently I decided to follow a street above the 580 freeway to its terminus at Skyline Blvd. At the end of the road I found this private property where the rancher was putting his horses through their paces.  He gave me a "howdy, m'am" nod, and continued to work his horse.  I love the fact that he was wearing chaps and a big hat.  Who knew there still are cowboys and ranches in the Oakland hills?  Then, yesterday's newspaper had an article about a problem with cattle rustling in the East Bay hills!  It looks like the wild west still exists in decidedly urban/suburban Alameda and Contra Costa counties.  I also learned that these two counties have 400,000 acres of ranch land still in operation.

The second photo shows you how rugged the Oakland hills can be.  Much of this area is preserved by parks and watershed land.  And grazing rights, of course.  For additional "E" photos from around the world, visit ABC Wednesday.