This is an Official Postcrossing card from the Netherlands! This card features the horses of Zeeland, a province in the southwestern part of the country. Zeeland horses, or simply Zeelands, are the only “pulling breed” in the Netherlands – meaning, they’re able to pull carriages. While they’re commonly found pulling carriages today, back in the 17th century and going on until WWII they were highly depended on for performing labor. I received this card back when I was living in Kentucky, so quite a few senders associated my state with horses due to the Kentucky Derby. I’m pretty sure I told many people that I was planning to watch at least one horse race before leaving… and I didn’t. Shame on me for that. Interesting fact: Zeeland is translated to “Sealand”, which is fitting as much of the province is composed of islands and peninsulas. There are some parts of the province that are below sea level, too – fortunately, the last major flooding hadn’t occurred since the 1950s. Thank you so much for this lovely postcard!
