Po-Tato Pony, A Solstice Story

23/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

Its finally, meteorological fall. Po loved this time of year. The cooler temperatures 🌡 and lower humidity 💧 made it a comfortable time of year for him. He was often extra spicy this time of year, much to our delight 😊. We made sure to keep him spicy by feeding him some of his favorite 😍 treats, which included these pumpkin 🎃 spice cookies with his daily requirement of spice 😉. It helped him maintain his beautiful coat color as well!

Have a pumpkin spice flavored snack or drink today in remembrance and honor of our favorite spicy Po-tato 🥰.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara
🎃🍉🥔🌈🦄💜🎉🌈🥔🍉🎃

22/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

I found this memory this morning and it made me smile. Po had such a larger than life personality when he felt safe enough to finally emerge. The arc of his journey is one I'll always be proud of, and he embodied everything we seek to accomplish at The Big Purple Barn, A Sanctuary 🥰.

Please enjoy these words from our beloved Po-tato Pony:

Good morning friends!

One of my humans was sitting on the bench by my turn out yesterday reading. She didn't quite understand that I should ALWAYS be the main focus of your time. Sheesh! And there she was, eating potato chips and not even sharing! How can I remain salty 🧂 😕 without adequate sea salt intake!? 🤭

After some overdramatic antics and desperate staring, she finally relented and shared 🙂. But I found out kombucha is NOT for me 🙃.

Love, Po
🍉🥔🦄💜🎉🥔🍉

📸 of me and Taylor 🤩

18/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

I know it's been awhile, but I'm still here with you! We are entering a busy season at the farm, a final push through the holidays and the end of the year. A time we run more events and programs as we work to build up the winter reserve funds to care for all of the animals in the colder, winter months. It gets hectic, and often overwhelming for me.

This time of year, especially, I'm missing Po. He seemed to love this time of year as much as I do. Cooler temperatures, lots of guests, extra cookies and inflatables! Once we broke through that tough, depressed outer shell, we found such joy and light inside of him. Po absolutely loved meeting people and the busy atmosphere of the holiday season.

He also loved 😍 inflatables. That winter we brought him home, we would let him loose for 20 minutes or so and he would always migrate towards the inflatables we had up for the holidays. Beginning with our Halloween decorations, moving through our fall festival and into our Holiday Lights celebration, he loved all of it. It definitely won't be the same without him 😢 💔 but I know he would absolutely want us all to celebrate him by keeping our joy and celebrating together.

While we can't change the world for every pony in need, we certainly changed Po's and he absolutely changed ours.

I hope to see you this holiday season at the farm, if you're local. Let's come together 💕for Po.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara
🍉🥔🌈🦄💜🎉🌈🥔🍉

11/09/2025

You can join our email list and keep up with what is happening at the farm that Po-tato called home ❤️

Sign up for our email list to get the latest news, events, and adorable animal updates from our nonprofit farm! The Big Purple Barn is a small, community based nonprofit horse and small farm animal sanctuary providing a lifetime of comfort and care to our resident animals AND offering access and opp...

11/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

The world sure feels heavy today and what we could all use right now is some love and a boop from our favorite Po-tato. While his body is no longer with us, his spirit sure is! We can all be sure his poignant wisdom lives on by sharing his wise words and the guidance he gave us.

I'll leave this here for maximum boops. 👉 👃

Sending hugs 🫂 to everyone because we honestly need more love in this world. And watermelon 🍉. I think we could all use a little more watermelon as well ❤️.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

09/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

Some days it is hard to fathom that Po isn't with us any longer. We feel him all around us in our everyday life here in the barn. So much still reminds us of his larger than life presence.

I don't have much to say in the way of comfort today, because the day feels heavy, even for me. But I DO know he's back with his girls, Mia and Sookie, and I'm absolutely sure they are running wild at the rainbow bridge and watching over us all!

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

01/09/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

It's Labor Day and the official end of summer as most of us know it. Meteorological summer has a few more weeks as we work towards the fall equinox.

One thing Po-tato was really good at was resting! He was definitely an energy efficient pony ❤️. I know he'd want to check in and see if you were relaxing on this long weekend. He'd definitely poke his little nose through the screen to see what you were up to! Beach? Barbecue? Poolside? Couch? As long as you were happy, Po would be happy too!

Im busy planning out the fall and holiday events, and I miss having Po here to help. He was such a great and inspiring partner and he really loved seeing people. The current climate in our country is so uneasy and troublesome, but I feel like Po would definitely want us to continue to offer a safe space, an escape from reality, and a bit of whimsy to balance out the heaviness. We've always been an organization that not only commits to the animals in our care, but also to the community we live in. So, with Po as my inspiration, I'll keep us moving in the right direction, and keep providing a place where we all feel welcome and can lift one another up.

Enjoy your weekend and take a moment to remember our sweet Po-tato today. We will keep him alive and here with us in our hearts 💕.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

27/08/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

I saw this photo of Po and Mia and I thought it was a really important reminder of the power of friendship. Po struggled so much at the beginning of his time with us, and some of that was just sheer loneliness. Horses are designed to live in a social groups and we don't know how long Po was without friendship. Mia had lost all of her friends by the time Po arrived and she was depressed. While Po seemed very against the idea of friendship, we knew Mia could crack his hardened heart.

What grew from their initial meeting was a deep friendship that honestly saved them both. It was one of the most beautiful and inspiring things I've ever witnessed and confirmed my belief in the power of the herd to heal one another. Now, as we work to integrate Honor into the herd, we hope for the same for him. Friendship is critical to emotional and mental well-being of each horse. You don't need to look any further than the most adorable odd couple to see the power.

And truthfully, Po transcended horse friendships and built friendships with humans and helped US build friendships! We rallied around him and in the process, formed a herd of our own. The lessons and love he left for us are just immeasurable.

Remember to continue to be a light for one another because that's what the world needs most right now. Po is watching, he is with us in our hearts.

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

24/08/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

We made it through a wild beach ⛱️ vacation that totally did not go as planned! What we expected was a few days of sun 🌞 and relaxing 😌. What we got was one beautiful 😍 day sandwiched between the effects of Hurricane 🌀 Erin with wind, rain 🌧 and monster surf 🌊. Despite the setbacks, we embraced each day, reveled in the power of nature and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest! One thing Po taught me was to live each amd every day to the fullest 💖.

Now that we are home, it is definitely hitting me that this was the first year of not having Sookie with me and looking forward to more adventures with her. It also hit me that we came home to no Po-tato. Reality sucks sometimes 🥲. But I know the pain will ease through the years and I have lots to look forward to in new ways. Honor is here now and continuing his integration. Sailor is still loving the beach and now Gadget gets to accompany us on adventures. Life will move on and it will just be different. But the love we all have for Po will always be wrapped into the present as he is such a part of us now and I know we are all thankful for having him for the time we did.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back to posting this week!

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara

19/08/2025

Good morning Po-tato Family,

Im currently at the beach ⛱️ experiencing the power of mother nature as Hurricane 🌀 Erin throws wind, rain and monster surf all the way up the east coast. One thing Po taught me was to live every moment and find the joy! So I'm out here doing just that!

I wanted to jump on here because it is National Potato 🥔 Day and I will never let that day pass without recognizing our beloved Po-Tato Pony! In honor of Po today, and always...

🍉🥔🌈🦄💜🎉🌈🥔🍉

Yours in love ❤️ and light ✨️,
Tara