Shrimp fishing on horseback used to be common all along the almost 40-mile-long Belgian coastline, with records going back to the mid-1500’s. In 1950, when fishing on horseback began to dwindle, the city Oostduinkerke began to subsidize its mounted fishermen to preserve this ancient tradition and to attract tourists. Just as in 1500, the horses drag two large planks behind them that open out once in the water to reveal a net that scoops up the shrimps (and fish) in the surf.