Pat’s Wildways: Equine neighbors

I can’t believe that Bucko and I have lived for 20-some years in Simmons Cove right beside a property with horses and I never talked to the owners. Well, this week when I saw the property owner on a riding mower, I impulsively stopped to chat with her. And so, I finally met long-term Fernandina resident Tonya from the Carter family, who have long made an impact on our community. We chatted about the palomino horse and its companion donkey and before long I had the contact information of their owner and made an appointment to talk to her.

Laina Roberts met me at the corral one morning, a hot steamy morning, like most have been these days, but the heat didn’t bother me. I finally got to meet her charges, the palomino “Zippo’s Gold Commander” (aka Commander or Mander) and his donkey friend Ollie. And what a treat it was!

The history of Laina and Commander is a long one, beginning back in Kentucky maybe 15 years ago when Commander was a stud stallion fathering a legacy of prized quarter horses, when Laina worked at the stable and fell in love with him. Eventually Commander became a gelding and Laina’s “heart horse” for all the years since. Laina and Commander traveled all around the middle part of the country when she moved, traveled to show him or just visited interesting places to ride him. Now at nearly 30 years old, Commander still holds a revered place in her heart and this love is evident. Although he is too old and his legs are getting too feeble to ride him anymore, Laina visits him twice a day, every day, year round, to care for his senior citizen needs and to give him lots and lots of love and a specialized diet of high protein — mostly mushy food that his old, worn-down teeth can handle. Now that Commander can no longer be ridden, to keep his mind active, Laina trains him to do a few tricks, like lie down, lift his feet, and he is now learning to “kiss.”

Even with all this human attention, horses are still herd animals and quickly become depressed and even sick if they are kept alone. For years Commander lived on the Carter property with a companion miniature horse, Lolly Pop, and for years the carriage horse Boomer was in his pasture on Simmons Road as well. Boomer and the other carriage horses were retired out to the Florida Panhandle, and sadly Lolly passed away. Laina didn’t want Commander to be alone and soon enough found Ollie, a donkey, who needed a better home. Poor Ollie, at the time, lived with horses who prevented him from eating, and he became skinny and miserable, needing a new home. When he was introduced to Commander, it was a perfect match — they soon became stalwart companions, most always seen grazing together at their fence right next to Simmons Road.

Ollie’s form has filled out now and he is a strong character, always alert to anything happening in their corral. I can hear his brays most mornings from inside my nearby home. When I stopped at the fence to see Commander, Ollie came over to check me out and performed his melodic braying in my honor. Nothing escapes Ollie’s attention. As Tonya told me, “Donkeys are great watchdogs,” and some people keep donkeys primarily for this purpose.

Ollie brays a greeting to me at his fence.

Donkeys may look like sturdy beasts but they do have some particular medical conditions, which sadly have now become evident in Ollie. He has an endocrine disease similar to diabetes, and this means that his diet must be carefully regulated, with excess sugars expressly prohibited or he may develop a debilitating, painful irreversible hoof ailment. This means forget horse treats like apples and carrots for this fellow. And, due to his senior medical issues, Commander is on a special diet as well.

For some reason lately Commander and Ollie have been hanging around the corner of their fence right next to Simmons Road. I’m sure watching the road activity and the passersby is interesting to them, but I’m wondering if anything else might be the cause. If you know anyone who is feeding “treats” to these two at their fence, please tell them to stop.

It is fun to still have a bit of Old Florida right in our neighborhood. The Carter family and horses have lived on Simmons Road for generations. It’s wonderful that, at least, a trace of their history still exists with Commander and Ollie peering over their fence in an area otherwise surrounded by developments. And from what I can tell after talking with Tonya, this little bit of country is here to stay.

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com