Po-Tato Pony, A Solstice Story

01/01/2026

As we enter the New Year without you Po, we will always remember your spirit, your perseverance and the way you touched so many lives. You were not ours for long, but you left am indelible mark on so many people.

Wishing everyone a hopeful New Year ✨️

31/12/2025

Hello Po-tato Family,

I haven't been good about recounting Po's journey because its just overwhelming me with emotion. Today we should be celebrating five years of Po-tato adventures. But he's not here with us anymore 😔. Today marks the first day I saw him. I was so relieved to get my hands on him, to let him know how much we loved him and how hard we had been working for over a week to get him.

He had traveled from North Carolina to Broadnax Va to my good friend Cindy and her Central Virginia Horse Rescue. Cindy had ben pivotal in helping me spring him from the auction and arrange initial transportation and quarantine, as well as transportation from NC to VA.

He was so sick when he arrived. Cindy at CVHR suspected he had hyperlipidemia and pneumonia and that he needed urgent care. I didnt even know what hyperlipidemia was, but I was about to become an expert.

We abandoned our previous plan to wait until the new year and move him one step closer to Fredericksburg for a day or two and then pick him up there. Instead, we immediately headed 3 hours south to Broadnax and took him directly to Wolf Creek Equine Hospital to stay for evaluation and treatment. It was so hard to finally have him in our hands and then to turn around and leave him again. It didn't matter that he was in the place they could care for him the best, it wasn't with us.

I was so worried for him and so desperate to just sit with him and let him know how much we loved him. That would have to wait another full day, but he would absolutely get all of the critical care he needed. We didn't really know the extent of his condition for another 24 hours and retrospectively, we didn't think we would have very long with him, so the four and a half years we did get were such a gift.

For the upcoming year, I have committed myself to writing down Po's story with us and to include the photos I took over the years. I took so, so many. I'm so glad I did. Po was worth every single ounce of money and time we poured into him. I was determined that we would not fail him the way so many others had. At his age, and in the condition he was in, it was years of humans failing him. I know, deep in my heart and soul, that we succeeded in giving him the absolute best final 4.5 years of his life that we could.

I miss my little best friend, but I would absolutely do it all over again for the joy he brought us all. This is the photo Steven took, 5 years ago, when I first met Po and was headed to the trailer. I remember thinking then, and even now, how small he looked. We all know how absolutely enormous his personality was!

As we prepare to enter the New Year, a year without Po, I ask you to remember him and spread his love and kindness. It is the best way we can honor him. That, and enjoying something with watermelon 🍉 ❤️.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

27/12/2025

We may have lost Po to thr rainbow bridge in 2025, but its the support of our community that made the miracle we gave Po! Its the same support that will continue to care for the other animals here as well as open the door for future residents to get thr same loce and care as Po ❤️

Did you know that we provide a permanent home for the horses in our care? The current count in 2025 is 15 resident horses, ponies, and minis. We lost Po-Tato Pony, A Solstice Story, earlier this spring to an emergency colic, and because our mission continues, we welcomed Honor in the summer.

Did you know that the average amount of time that we provide care for a horse is TWENTY years!? That is a lifetime of commitment to care, no matter what changes in healthcare a resident experiences.

For over 30 years, we have dedicated ourselves to horse rescue and welfare. For nearly 15 years, we've been a nonprofit committed to these efforts, and equally committed to sharing our passion with our community.

Your donations help us provide food, bedding, electricity, water, medical care, farrier care, medications, supplies, treats, blankets, enrichment items, fencing, and more. You help us meet the day-to-day needs of the animals as well as providing us with the capacity to handle emergency situations and urgent changes to the care requirements of the animals. Powered entirely by volunteers, your support makes a real difference in the lives of these horses.

As we reflect upon the holidays and the New Year approaches, you can help make a difference with an end-of-year donation!

25/12/2025

Good morning Po-tato family,

While it doesn't feel the same today without our Po-tato, I know he would want to say Happy Horsey Holidays to all!

He was truly a Christmas miracle and the best gift of all. He brought so many people together from all over the world, a small community of Po-tato power that was full of love and hope.

I know he's leading the celebrations at the rainbow bridge 🎄🎁💜 and probably trying to convince someone he should lead Santa's sleigh. 🥰

I hope you all have a very Halpy Holiday, no matter what you celebrate. And if you don't celebrate, know that Po would have said that's OK too, you could just celebrate potatoes 😉.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

24/12/2025

Good morning Po-tato family,

It's the day of Christmas eve and I'm missing these two a little extra today. I hope they are enjoying Christmas together again at the rainbow bridge. They will forever be on the nice list and deserve everything thier hearts desire.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

23/12/2025

Greetings Po-tato family,

This was the first photo I received when Po was safely transported from the auction lot to the quarantine barn. It was such a relief to see his little face and the blue skies behind him. I had worried excessively about him and literally sat on my hands to keep myself from hooking up the trailer and leaving wirh Steven to go get him.

The drive would have been hard on us and brutal on him in his condition. No, I would be patient and trust in the amazing team that was working ferverently behind the scenes to make our Christmas Miracle happen!

I had posted a fundraiser which hit half the goal in the first 24 hours! We were well on our way to the initial $5,000 we needed to cover his initial intake expenses. While I was worried, I knew there was a whole community building to rally around this pony!

During the first 2 days we discussed his name. We didn't really feel like Pooh fit. My mother suggested calling him Po, like the main character in Kung Fu Panda! She said it was a warrior name, and that the character was an unlikely hero, just like our pony. So Po it was! It would later evolve into Po-tato, the name we all know and love, and his full name would become Po-tato Aloysius, " a classic name derived from Germanic roots meaning "famous warrior." I honestly didn't know what his middle name meant until I was writing this post! It was just a name that came to me one day when he was being particularly Po-tato like and sassy. It appears it fits his warrior theme!

It would be 3 more days of waiting until I got more updates and a new photo. The holidays are a busy time, especially around a farm! I knew Po's caregiver was on top of things and I just had to be patient. Meanwhile we were discussing his move from NC to VA which would be the next leg of his journey. I was also compiling cost estimates from our vet team for intake diagnostics and potential medications based on the photos of what we could see. I was also coordinating with the farrier and preparing to tackle those elf shoe shaped hooves.

It was for the better that Po had a slower journey north. It gave us time to prepare as fully as possible while not overwhelming his small body with massive stress. He had time to rest and recover if we completed his move in phases. I wasn't honestly sure how much his little body could take, and the conservative approach turned out to be the best.

I hope you are enjoying the retelling of Po's story, because it is one of the most important storiies I've ever told. Im honestly thinking of creating a book, complete with the photos that accompany the story. 💖

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

21/12/2025

Good evening Po-tato family,

We are preparing to celebrate Po-tato as the sun sets on this, the shortest day of the year. I'll post more photos of the vigil after we deed the animals and gather in the night.

Po's memorial includes so many beautiful hand made pieces of art made in his honor and sent to him when he was still with us. It was amazing to pull them all together to display them and share them with people who love Po as much as I do.

We are set up in his favorite field of inflatable holiday decorations, where he once found the first friends he had here. We will light up the dark as he did for us ✨️💜.

I'll add more photos and individual descriptions to the album in the coming days. Thank you for loving Po from near and far and celebrating him with us 💖.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

21/12/2025

To our Po-tato family,

Tonight we will be holding a vigil for Po at the farm. It feels right to honor him on the Solstice, the day I found him. I'm gathering up candles and trinkets and photos to put out. We will have his ashes with us as well and will be spreading some amongst the holiday inflatables that he so loved. He was such a huge personality and he has left such a void his absence.

I invite you to to pause around 6pm this evening and remember Po with us. Say a little Solstice prayer or recount your favorite Po memories. Or, just take a moment to be still and remember him.

He wasn't outlets for a long time, but wensre so grateful for the time we had with him.

I'll share some photos of our ceremony 🍉🥔🌙✨️

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

21/12/2025

On this, the Winter Solstice, we will always remember our little Po-tato and the light he brought to the darkness 💜✨️🌙❄️.