Please note:  Pokey was over 36 years old when she died.  The pikapet birthdate would not let me enter her year of birth which was 1966. 

What to say about good Old Pokey? She was a rescue, past her prime, and abandoned at a closed down amusement park.  A deputy sheriff friend of mine, with the help of the local animal warden, brought her to me.  She was in such sorry shape, bone thin with ribs and hip bones pertruding through her rough black coat.  But much love and a little time and this little old pony mare was quickly brought back to health.  My 3 year old niece had always wanted a pony of "her own" and she soon named the little mare Pocahontas.  "Old Pokey" seemed more fitting.  After all, this grand old lady was already at least 25 years old and showing her age.  She was quite gray in the face and her knees were terribly arthritic, swollen, and bent.  She never was a safe mount for my niece because she often would buckle at the knee, especially if she tried to move faster than a slow walk.  Pokey seemed to know she was now at her "forever" retirement home and quickly became the over-see-er of the miniature horses with whom she shared the pasture.  She provided comfort to many weaning foals through the years.   Pokey crossed the Rainbow Bridge in the autumn of 2004, 11 years after coming into my life.  I estimate she was over 35 years old.  She rests at the ridge overlooking her pasture. Her gentle spirit lives on.