People here buy horses because they can - sort of like having a boat moored at Stanley Park, I think.
Then they "half or quarter" lease them so they can stay wealthy and have horses.
If I even attempt, gently to question this, I'm treated like I should be locked up - OF COURSE people should fill their yard with animals!

And then there's 4H - encouraging kids to have a backyard filled with the dog, cat, multiplying rabbits, a goat, a lamb that cries all the bleeping time, and a flock of chickens. Some of them sit in enclosures, some out in the rain, but once in a while they get taken to a cage for a "show", or the Fall Fair, or something.
It's good for the children, don'tcha know?