Mercy's Willoughby

Those of you who know me, know how much I love my menagerie! Five years ago, I bought my first horse (since I was a child) and named him Willoughby, after the character in the Austen novel Sense and Sensibility. He was a rescued PMU foal from Canada and we had him shipped in at 3 months old to save him from slaughter. Well, he grew. And grew. And grew. He became a nearly 16 hand horse (for those non-horse folks, that's tall...and I'm not!). So, he was a bit of a pasture ornament as I was scared of his height! He's always been a big puppy dog, though, and my baby.

Well, when we decided on this adoption, there were sacrifices to be made. And Willoughby was one. The Amish man who built Princess's room wanted Will, so we traded- Princess's room for Will. I cried. A lot. But I also knew that it was the best thing for our finances at that time. So, Willoughby left in July, right before I left for Africa. Last week, Levi (our Amish contractor) called and asked if we'd like him back! Apparently, Will had a bit of a "tenderfoot" and he didn't want to injure him by overworking him.

So, this morning, Willoughby returned home pulling a buggy! Levi said as soon as he came to our hill, Will knew where he was going and ran all the way to our barn without any steering! I put him in the field with his old buddy, Skully, our Haflinger, and they stood with their muzzles pressed together for half and hour! I cried again! LOL!

So, Mercy's Willoughby is back on the farm, for good.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed that joy today...