A lot happened here last week. Our beloved mare, Spirit, died suddenly, and we will be missing her for a long time. On a happier note, two days earlier, a new mare, Starlight, came from San Luis Obispo County Animal Services to live at Sky Ranch. She’s guesstimated to be about 30 years old. She was abandoned and left to starve. The other horses in the barn are fascinated by her, and she seems to be adapting well to her new home. As you can see from the photo, she needs to put on quite a bit of weight, and we’re working on that with soaked alfalfa cubes and senior horse food. Starlight has a good appetite and seems very glad to be among other horses again.
In Buddhism, it is said that life consists of 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows. I think they are onto something. Loss and its accompanying sorrow are inevitable, especially when caring for older horses. But then there is the joy that comes in getting to know a new horse and giving a her a forever home.
We are thrilled to have Starlight here.