Raymond, Wild Horses, And One Poor Sunfish

Last weekend, Motor Man and I attended the Corolla Wild Horse Fund Open House at their rescue facility.

The organization hosts these events once or twice each year. They’re wonderful opportunities for their fans and supporters to meet the staff and volunteers AND see some of the horses who now call the rescue farm home.

This time the focus was on Raymond, the mule.  You may recall my recent post in which I shared that Raymond was removed from the beach because of concerns for his health.

Raymond presented some challenges to the CWHF staff members once he arrived at the farm. They realized right away that he needed a “Raymond-proof” enclosure, which they set about building immediately.

They are pleased to report that Raymond is now all settled in and adapting well to the domestic life.

During the time we were there, he completely ignored his adoring public and munched happily on a pile of hay.

Wagon rides were offered, so you know Motor Man and I bought a ticket. The horse was a Percheron named Angel.

Earlier in the week, I shared this picture of us in that cute wagon.

In the past, I’ve written about Amadeo, the wild Corolla/Carova stallion that was  blinded years ago during a fight with another stallion. One night, bystanders saw him wandering into the ocean. Thankfully, he was able to get footing on a sandbar, and was rescued by heroes from Ocean Rescue.  Amadeo is now living the good life at the farm and is quite the sweet, old gentleman.

After visiting the horses at the farm, we drove on to Carova to see their cousins still living in the wild. I took this with my zoom lens, and was tickled when she looked my way, right on cue.

For sale?  Yes, I’ll take it. (Just kiddin’, Motor Man.)

During a recent coastal storm, some disturbing “debris” washed up on shore. I’d seen a picture, posted by a Facebook friend who lives in Carova, of this dead sunfish. But it was amazing to see the size of it in person.

From Wikipedia, I learned that adult sunfish weigh between about 550 and 2200 pounds.

I was windblown and wearing no lipstick, but in much better shape than this poor fish

No indeed, I was not touching it, but look at the size of its face compared to my hand. (Something about its mouth looks almost human to me…..ick.)

From the beauty of the wild horses (AND Raymond), to the not-so-pretty of a dead fish washed up on the beach, our trip was definitely not boring.

~These Days Of Mine~