They didn’t know what to think when the woman approached Francesca Carsen and Steve Rother and asked them to take a two-year-old miniature horse that was obviously aggressive to both humans and other animals. The couple ran a ranch and had experience working with rescue animals, and as soon as they met Spunky, they knew he was going home with them.
Carsen said: “So we agreed. When Spanky first arrived at his new home, he made it clear that he would not give up his overbearing and aggressive methods without a fight. The original family persevered and finally, after a year of patience, love and training, Spanky became a very different horse.
Of course, he was still a bit naughty until he met Dally.
Dallie was a short cub from one of Carsen’s friends, and no one seems to want her. Carsen heard Dally’s plight and offered to take the little dog, so Dally was completely obsessed with Spanky from the start.
“At 4 months of age running, she would sit in a chair and watched me work at Spanky,” Carsen said. “He was very overweight, so I had to train him regularly. Wherever he was, she wanted also to be.”
At first, Spanky was indifferent to Dally. He tried his best not to step on her, but other than that, he didn’t react properly to her charm. This continued until one day Dally decided to ride the Spanky.
“About two months later, she got up on Spanky’s back from a chair … the two became inseparable that day,” Carsen said. “The next day we noticed that she was more excited than ever. She loves pony rides and feels very important. She no longer needs a chair. She rode on Spanky’s back from the ground.”
As soon as Dally got on Spanky’s back, he felt in love immediately and the two have been best friends ever since. They sleep outside together and hang out on Spunky’s ranch. Their mom decided to write a book about their delightful adventures, and 20% of the proceeds go to charity. Dally and Spunky moved and inspired many people just by being friends.
Despite the fact that Spunky initially resisted, Dalli quickly changed his mind, and now the couple loves to spend every possible moment together. Both wanted and started life out misunderstood, but now they have each other.
