I met Pilgrim in September of 2016, when Misty Meadows was transitioning to a non-profit horse center. He was a retired senior statesman, having lived on the farm long before it was donated. I joined the executive director Sarah McKay and other staff members to walk through one of the pastures and talk to the horses that were living there as a herd. As I approached Pilgrim and decided to connect with him first, he cut through all my preparations, and I heard his voice in my head as clear as day. “I’m already a wise soul and I’m sort of in charge.” I quickly asked him to tell me more. “I watch over everybody and am aware of everything that’s going on. I may not have my head up watching or appear anxious, but I’m quietly aware of it all. I love it here and I love the people taking care of me. I think the people and the horses here are on sacred ground, and there is an overall blessing that has allowed this riding center and myself to be here. I am part of why the Kenney family gifted this property. They loved me so much and they got so much from me, and other horses, but specifically me, that they felt they had more to give. I wasn’t a hassle, I was a pleasure.”

Noble extended his large, white, fuzzy head over the stall door and blew a frozen mist at me in greeting. It was a wet, cold afternoon in December of 2017 at the therapeutic riding Rising Tide barn, and a strong wind whipped down the aisle. Staff and volunteers from both Rising Tide and Misty Meadows were on hay bales and plastic chairs. The two programs were merging and decisions had to be made about which horses would move to the new facility and which horses needed new homes.