I took Maria out to lunch today and passed by my friend, the now famous horse of Applegate, the horse I dared bring an apple to,  and found myself embroiled in a three-day battle over me, apples, horses, and the primarily wealthy people who give them special diets. We live in a nation of victims and the aggrieved, I guess that includes horses.

How did we ever manage to settle the West? I read recently about the horses on the Wagon Trains who lived on apples, many of them rotten, put in barrels for the trip; what those horses wouldn’t have given for a crisp, fresh, cold apple.

I thank the many farmers and horse owners from all over the country who rushed to my defense during Applegate and thanked me for befriending a strange horse on a nearby farm. None of them had ever given a horse a special diet or knew of one who perished from eating an apple in an open pasture. It looks like I won’t be the first to kill one in that way.

My friend is strong and proud.

The experience was surprisingly exciting, and I fell in love with this horse and will never forget looking into his eyes as he looked into mine, and we became friends. I live with animals and I know instantly if they like me or if they don’t. They aren’t shy about letting us know.

I went home after lunch, got an apple, and returned to give it to him. He looked at me briefly, walked down to the fence, and ate the apple I had sliced up for him.

After we ate, he edged closer to me a let me scratch his forehead and the side of his neck, the exact spots the donkeys like. Our friendship is limited, of course, it’s mostly about staring at one another.

Once again, we looked into one another’s eyes, and I felt the same wonder and connection. I’m pleased to have this guy as a friend, and I will make it a point to see him often. I’ve never had lots of friends in my life; this is a good one. Those eyes, those eyes…

When I got home, the vet called and said they had a big bag of premium dog food from a family whose dog was just euthanized; they asked if I wanted to bring it to the Amish dog – Tina – the one I am always telling them about.

Tina lives on the Amish farm just up the road from our farm and my friend Moise’s farm. I drove up to drop off the dog food bag – I’m the unofficial supplier of good food for Tina – and she came rushing out to see me.

I make sure she always has the best food on hand. Moise came out to greet me, and it was nice to see him.

He’s very much a friend to me; he was busy as always building something.

Tina and I  had a good scratch (under the neck) and hug and chatted. We were delighted to see each other.  She always comes rushing in from the pasture or the woods when she hears my car.

Tina had half of a leg chopped off in a sawing accident sone years ago and gets around on three legs. She has no trouble moving around.

It was great to visit my friends today. I have a strong connection with both of them in ways it’s hard to describe.

Thanks, Eileen and several other blog readers who have sent donations to me to feed Tina. I keep an eye on it.  I don’t need donations for the horse; he only gets apples. I’m permitted to take pictures of her and to bring her food.