Cure for loneliness

Lonely Appaloosa horse, 27, poor vision, seeks companion for twilight walks, dining from the same bucket and nuzzling in a straw-filled stall. Floppy ears a plus.

Life was looking bleak for Misty the horse. Then she met Adelle, a goat who has become Misty’s perfect pal, despite being a Capricorn.

A couple of years ago, Misty was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease, caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland. Because of the tumor, the gray and black horse can no longer shed her winter coat. Her owner, Jennifer Suk-Mays, has to shave her every spring.

The horse’s vision failed in one eye and she eventually lost sight in the other.

Suk-Mays, a children’s counselor at Family Service Spokane, said Misty was terrified as she went blind. She would sweat and shake in her stall and was afraid to move.

Suk-Mays, 29, has owned Misty since she was 12, and feared she was going to have to put her loyal friend to sleep.

While researching on the Internet, she found articles about companion animals for blind horses. Last April, she found Adelle in the classified ads and brought her home to a 30-acre ranch in Valleyford owned by Suk-Mays parents.

Adelle, at a year and a half, may be a little young for Misty, but the Nubian doe is gentle, goofy and attentive.

Their first date, like many first dates, started out slow. Suk-Mays put them in stalls next to each other. Adelle cried and cried at first.

“She doesn’t like to be alone,” said Suk-Mays.

Once they got to know each other, she put them in the same stall and they became fast friends.

“That was the neat thing about it,” she said. “It was so natural.”

Adelle wears a bell around her neck so Misty can always find the brown and white goat with floppy ears. The two like to wander around on the ranch, but never far from the barn.

Like an old married couple, horse and goat enjoy their meals together, eating cozily from the same bucket. Misty uses Adelle to lead her to the bucket, and Adelle shares Misty’s equine senior supplement food, which Suk-Mays calls “old lady food.”

The buddies share a fondness for animal crackers, and Misty will let Adelle put her hooves on Misty’s shoulder to get the treats from Suk-Mays in the saddle.

They groom each other, sleep together, and Adelle likes to grab some shade underneath Misty on hot days.

Misty is doing well now that she has her seeing-eye goat.

“She’s the exact same horse,” Suk-Mays said, other than the fact that she’s blind.

Suk-Mays and Misty still ride the trails together, although not as fast as they did when they would gallop at full speed through rivers and over logs. With her sight gone, the horse relies heavily on the cues Suk-Mays gives her, while the new pal tags along with them.

Not only does Suk-Mays enjoy watching the two interact on the ranch, she uses their story as a learning tool with the children she counsels at Family Service Spokane. She shows them pictures of the horse and goat to teach them about trust and friendship.

“It’s a really neat story to teach empathy,” she said. “They just seem to be more interested in stories about animals.”