Mail Time! Reconnecting a Reader With Her Horse

In last week's newsletter—yes, we have a newsletter; the sign-up box is on the right—I reprinted a few emails from a reader who, with the help of a story by our own Scott Allen, tracked down her childhood horse. It's a good story, so I'm re-reprinting those emails here on the blog.

We get lots of, shall we say, intriguing email. Last week a woman wrote to inform me that she had a large chicken-wire ram ("suitable for topiary planting or paper maiche") that she wanted to donate to a school with a ram for a mascot. Since we had recently posted a round-up of bizarre high school mascots on the blog, she figured we could help.

But every so often, we get a very touching email, and I'd like to share one with you today. Back in April, Scott Allen wrote a story about the surprisingly strict horse-naming process. People started weighing in with horse-naming stories of their own. Like Patricia:

A horse with no name is entered into the system as an 8*, so, my last horse became Eight Asterisk written out. I always found it clever. I loved Risky dearly.

A couple months later, Robyn found the post, saw Patricia's comment, and responded:

Patricia - I ended up with a horse who I later found out was named Eight Asterisk (aka Risky) and never knew much about his history. Can you tell me more about the horse you had? Bay gelding about 15.3 hands with a small star-stripe-snip by any chance??

A reply from Patricia:

I don't know if you'll see this, but that is either a very precise description of Risky or a bizarre coincidence. I'm in complete shock as I am fairly sure that we are dealing with the same horse through a very odd twist of fate. (We were separated in a bit of a hard way and I would do anything to know what came of him.) Please, e-mail me if you see this, Robyn!

After reading that comment, we put Patricia and Robyn in touch. Patricia just brought us up to speed:

About two weeks ago, you guys were instrumental in connecting me with Robyn. You will be happy to know that the horse we suspected we had both ridden as teenagers was indeed the same horse! As my father sold the horse during my parents' difficult divorce, I never had a chance to give him a good-bye and know where he went or to whom; however, your assistance in connecting us has allowed me to know my childhood horse's fate. I cannot express to you the comfort that this has given me, as Robyn took such wonderful care of Risky, even retiring him to a 40-acre hayfield in which to enjoy his golden years. Sadly, Risky passed away two years ago, but knowing that he was always loved, safe, and happy truly means the world to me.

Thanks so much for sharing your stories, Patricia & Robyn. Now if we can only find a home for that chicken-wire ram, our summer will be complete.

[Note: It turns out that schools with ram mascots are sorely lacking in chicken-wire rams suitable for topiary planting. Since this newsletter went out last week, we've received over 100 emails from people interested in the ram. I'm waiting to hear back from the woman who offered it to figure out the next step.]