Blue the blind horse
Blue
was a long-time veteran of the U.S. Forest Service, where
he had spent many of his 25 years hauling rangers, work crews
and supplies into the Bitterroot Mountains.
At the age of 23, Blue lost sight in one eye due to cataracts. Yet he was still able to join the pack strings on trips into the wilderness.
Then, two years later, cataracts overwhelmed his remaining eye. At that point the Forest Service rangers realized Blue could no longer do trail work.
They loved this old, blind horse and wanted him to live out his final years in retirement. They did not want him to end up in a slaughterhouse, which is what happens to so many no longer "useful" horses.
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So the Forest Service folks contacted us and we agreed to take him. This being the U.S. Government, it wasn't quite that simple, of course. But after working through the paperwork process, we hitched up the horse trailer and drove down to the West Fork of the Bitterroot to get him.
Today he's with several other blind horses, none of whom have to work for a living either.
Now he spends his days at this equine retirement center pondering the central question in his life: "Why is a white horse named Blue?"
We told him we don't know the answer. But between eating, sleeping, and playing with his new friends, he has plenty of time to think about it.
