When watching friends foster pets in the past, be it horses, dogs or cats, I always knew that was one thing I would NEVER do.

I couldn’t understand how you could have an animal you have cared for, be taken from you.  My pets have a home for life with me; I couldn’t imagine having to give them away.

Well, just like Sean Connery learned when accepting the role to reprise his James Bond character in ‘Never Say Never Again‘, I can no longer, ever, say never.  Devon and Bubba both came into my life a day apart a few months ago, both needing help, more importantly their owners needed a safety net due to adverse circumstances beyond their control.

So, I get to care for these two precious lives.  I work with the owners to find the perfect new home, and I get to fall in love, if just for a brief period, with these amazing horses, trying to guard my heart for an end I know is coming.

While Bubba is still waiting in the wings for me to find just the right place for him, I delivered Devon to his new home this weekend.  Devon gets a family that is just perfect for him: a knowledgeable and passionate extended horse family which includes his very own four year old rambunctious little boy; the adventures they have in store for them!  Oh, to be such a lucky child to get a pony as amazing as Devon!

Being born with overactive empathy means you are burdened with sharing in the pain of others.  However, it also means you are blessed in sharing their joy.  How tears can be happy and sad at the same time, I will never understand.  Have a happy life Devon, you will always have a little piece of my heart!

Would I do it again?  Would you do it?  Never say never again!

There is a poem, “When I am an old lady I will wear purple…”.  Well, to heck with wearing purple!  When I am an old lady and can no longer ride, I am going to fill my barn to the brim with good ponies like Devon who need a forever home.  As an old lady, I will be able to safely brush and pet and care for them to my heart’s content when big horses become too much.  Thanks to Devon, in my distant future, I will have a pony haven: a farm full of happy ponies to love!