Your Soft Spot, Too

I read “My Soft Spot” ( From the Editor, February 2017) and agree—I, too, have a soft spot for senior pets. I’ve had my mare JJ (Johanna’s Joy) since she was born; she’ll be 31 this May. She was born on my grandmother’s ranch in Michigan in 1986 and has been the love of my life since that day. She’s now retired, but was the best trail horse ever and even won a few ribbons here and there.

She showed signs of arthritis the last couple years, so I have her knees injected, which helps her immensely. She’s unable to chew hay because she’s lost some teeth. So twice a day I feed her a mix of sweet feed, beet-pulp shreds, senior feed, rice bran, flax seed, rice bran oil, two carrots, and one apple soaked in hot water until it’s a mash. She loves it and eats up every bit of it. She also gets half a flake of chopped alfalfa to pick at. She looks amazing and was fat and sassy this winter. It’s a lot of work, but a labor of love. She deserves every bit of it. I keep her alone in the winter (easier to feed her), and she has a 28-year-old mule friend in the summer. I dread “the day,” but am prepared for it. JOHANNA APPELHANS, Montana

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