Rocky will be our pony in a couple of weeks – we are closing on the new house in late July – and are looking forward to caring for him. We visited him today. His family has given us permission to do some things for him – we are brush-hogging the pasture around him, bringing him a water tub so he won’t have to walk to the stream and once we own the house, will build a new Pole Barn for him as soon as we can. We will also empty out one of the stalls in the standing barn for him to use if he wants shelter from the sun or the rain.

He has lived in that pasture for 15 years, just as he lives now, and he seems healthy and alert. Maria is very attached to him, and he is a lucky pony, I think. We are committed to making his last few years as comfortable as they can be for a blind 34-year-old Appaloosa pony.

Isn’t life wonderfully strange? I never imagined when I pulled into his driveway more than a year ago that this pony would lead Maria and I to this new place. Magical helpers. He is no fool. If I were a blind 34-year-old pony, I would pray that Maria Wulf would come and love me. I made that wish myself once, and it turned out very well.