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This weekend the Yonder editors attended a rodeo in Bulverde, Texas, which is not as Yonder as it sounds. Bulverde is a small town just outside sprawling San Antonio. The folks at the Tejas Rodeo [2] put on a rodeo every Saturday night through the summer and fall. It's kind of a mini-tour for the big professional rodeo. Lots of kids and horses and barbecue and beer. It was a reminder how life can be tied up with animals in a way that's healthy, fulfilling and fun.
Then late yesterday we received a note from John Killacky of San Francisco. The newspaper there interviewed him [3] about how he has revived a "youthful passion" for Shetland ponies. As Killacky tells it, he was the son of a cattle raiser in Illinois. In 1962, he says, "I witnessed a Shetland pony mare give birth to Raindrop, a beautiful roan filly. I had never seen anything so miraculous. For years afterward, I ran with Raindrop in the fields, groomed her in the barn, and rooted for her at county fairs. She became the best friend I never had."
Killacky grew up and left his love for Shetlands behind, only to rediscover the animals three years ago. He found Fog Ranch [4] in Moss Landing, California, where he learned how to harness and drive a pony cart. Now Killacky (above) is entering competitions, which isn't easy for him. Spinal surgery 13 years ago left him a paraplegic. Shetlands don't care, of course, and Killacky has been accepted by ponies and those that raise them. "There is nothing like pony breath and velvet nose nudges," Killacky says — which is true in California and Texas.