Oh, how we love Boone, our neighborhood horse! And he loves us! He hears us coming through the city park when we visit, and he comes to the fence, ready to eat the organic carrots we have cut into bite size pieces for him to enjoy.

This nearly daily horse-feeding ritual motivates Zack to walk. It also provides an opportunity for me to teach him street safety, spend time together, give Gaby some exercise, and soak in the atmosphere of our lovely Mayberry-like neighborhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, Zack was waiting in the driveway with a carrot in hand when I got home from work. That can only mean one thing: it’s time to feed our favorite horse.

After about a week of overcast and cold weather, the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm. We went inside to cut the carrot, put Gaby’s leash on, said goodbye to Jay who was on his way to work, and started walking.

I love walking through the neighborhood of beautiful new houses with immaculate yards (unlike ours!) that is between us and the neighborhood park. It’s so relaxing to stroll at Zack’s pace.

We reach the park and head right for Boone’s house, which borders it. We’ve been going there for a while now, and he hears us coming. If we don’t hear the clippity-clop of his hooves as he comes to the fence, we call him and he comes. On the rare occasions that he isn’t home, there are two ponies who come for carrots that we poke through holes in the fence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who fret, I want to let you know that we’ve asked Boone’s owner if we can feed him and she said yes, carrots are fine. We will ask her about apples later this summer, because those are ripening on our trees and we want to share.

Yesterday, after feeding Boone, we headed to the other neighborhood that we walk through on our way back home–and as we rounded the fence to get there, Boone followed us! It was as if he was saying, “Hey, I haven’t had enough visiting with you yet!” We obliged and pet him some more, feeling his warm breath on our hands and commenting on his soft coat.

We promised to return soon and headed home, thankful for the wonderful town that we are blessed to live in.