Horse troughs were commonplace a little over a century ago, before automobiles became more prevalent. Following are some images of horse troughs, beginning with one on the campus of MSU (right) taken by East Lansing Daily Photo, as well as some additional knowledge about these days gone by. Ruth writes about her photo of this stone trough:

On the MSU campus, this horse trough sits on the green between Beaumont Tower and Linton Hall. It was a gift from the MSU class of 1900.

It's taken from a unique perspective.

Your Brother Kings offers a definition for 'calche', a horse-drawn wagon. Many are still in use for weddings, rides in central park, etc. I was surprised to find so many photographs on Flickr using keyword search 'caleches'.

Read 1900 stone trough by East Lansing Daily Photo
Read One man's caleche is another man's wagon by Your Brother Kings
And read Caleches for everyone! by Your Brother Kings
Take a look at these horse trough photos on Flickr from all over the world
Also look at caleches on Flickr