08/06/2026
Jimmy 2013-2026
Jimmy was only 13.1h’s. Technically a pony, but he didn’t know he was small. His heart, his personality and his lust for living were so much bigger.
Jimmy had a very hard beginning. He was born into a herd that was struggling to survive in a mustang rescue in So. Dakota. The rescue had run out of money, run out of hay and run out of compassion. He, and 900 other mustangs had been turned out on just 600 acres to fend for themselves. Left to breed and forage on their own, when only sticks were left to eat, and even the toxic water was scarce. It was the worst winter in 100 years when the disaster was discovered in 2016, and it took months to get the horses out. So many of the horses were lost that winter, but Jimmy was one of the strong ones. He made it. And at 3 years old, he left So. Dakota, squeezed into a a truck with 25 other stallions and they all began their trip to Sweetbeau Horses in California. Somewhere along the way, Jimmy got kicked in the face, so when he arrived, his entire nose was quite gashed and swollen and he struggled to breath for months, but it never stifled his big personality. After his long trip, this little dark bay horse with one wild eye, a big swollen nose with a long white blaze, and a tuft of forelock, stepped out into warm fresh air. At Sweetbeau Ranch, he found plenty of fresh hay and water and time to heal his body and spirit. And for the first time in his lifehe was showered with love.
From the very beginning, his manner was that of a little bull in a chinashop. Despite the challenges in his past, he never could contain his exhuberance for life. He was wildly athletic as a 3 year old and the Sweetbeau Trainer couldn’t wait to get on him. But he should have. The trainer, and the saddle were just too much weight for this little horse and he ended up with a permanently damaged shoulder. Yet this horse, even injured, didn’t want to walk, or trot, or even canter….Jimmy wanted to DASH. Everywhere he went he would take off in one direction from a dead stop and run as quickly as his legs would carry him until he decided he wanted to go another way and then he would instantly pivot at full speed. He would have made some fancy cutting horse if he hadn’t injured that shoulder but his fate was taking him in a more important direction. Jimmy learned that teaching children about horses and riding was his calling. He was able to carry up to 100 lbs easily. And when a wonderful woman named Taylor, who was running a kids riding program fell in love with the little dark pony, with the lump on his nose, it was his destiny. Jimmy joined BOK riding program in Woodside, CA where he fell in love with all of his kids. He had a plush little stall and big turnouts with grass for grazing. He gently taught the youngest of the to ride and gave the older kids a challenge. And fall in love with him, they did. He was showerd with love and cookies and baths and he thrived on the attention. But once again Jimmy’s past came to haunt him. His lack of nutrition and good clean water when he was a baby took it’s toll on his health. He started losing his eyesight. Things and places he new before now looked dark and unrecognizable and he would dash away in fear. It became unsafe to be ridded by the kids.
It was a terribly sad day when I picked him up and brought him back home to Sweetbeau. But in spite of the loss of the kids and the life he grew to love, he made the best of it. Turned out with the other horses, he could be seen leading the herd at full speed around the three acre pasture. He instigated many stampede’s in the pen and was always in the lead. Small and mighty, Jimmy found his joy once again in the next several years that passed. He was reunited with kids he had taught to ride in Woodside when they came to summer camp at Sweetbeau. He was especially happy when his favorite girl Daphne picked him to be her horse for the week. Now he could show off his tricks and talents with liberty work, and that worked very well in getting many many kisses and cookies from her. Jimmy was happy and content.
Time passed in the large pasture and Jimmy was now turning 12. His eye sight had worsened and we noticed he was less confident in his movements. His shoulder was bothering him more and more. Within 2 more years, Jimmy’s front feet and legs were terribly stiff and he was having a very hard time walking, yet he would still get caught up in the morning ritual of speeding around the pasture with the other horses, but no longer could he hold he lead and spent days later in severe pain. We decided it was best to separate him from the herd for his own good, but never was there a sadder horse than Jimmy all alone. Jimmy was meant to run, to fly with delight with his brothers through the cool of the morning air and now that was taken from him. The day came not long after when Jimmy could barely walk to his food and water. Arthritis had cruely taken hold of 3 of his 4 legs, making every step excruciatingly painful. On my visit to his turnout a few weeks ago, Jimmy hobbled over to me and though he happily sniffed out a few cookies from my pockets, he no longer tried to hide his pain. He let me know that I had to make a decision for him. I had to be his Wolf.
Horses don’t find themselves unable to fend for themselves in the wild. Nature does not let that happen. The circle of life is kinder than that. When an animal is suffering and unable to keep up with the herd, The Wolf or the Mt. Lion will quickly end its suffereing and constant fear. The predators will take the old, the slow and the weakest of them, leaving the herd young and healthy. Like all of us who have had horses that could no longer live a quality of life, we have the burden….it may also be our priveledge, but it for sure is our responsibility, of gifting them with their freedom from pain. Setting them free from a condition they were never meant to experience in the wild, is far more painful for us, but it is the emotional price we pay for having them. Our pain of loosing them is eventually rewarded with the beautiful memories of their spirit that could never be replaced.
Jimmy’s life, in spite of his hardships, had a purpose and a passion. He made a difference in his short time with us. This wild little pony taught many young kids confidence, responsibility, and the special bond you can only have with a horse. He was a gift they will never forget. They may even tell their kids about that little dark pony Jimmy, that would delightedly dash about, could sniff a cookie out of a pocket, and will now live forever, running wild in Heavens green and endless meadow.
