We Are Thankful This Boar and This Horse Are Friends

Dear Modern Farmer,

I have a happy farm story I’d like to share.

This story is about a baby wild boar who made his way onto a Horse Training/Boarding Farm in the town of Geneva, Florida. The farm owner, Maren, came across a rather large black lump laying partly under a pile of hay which belonged to one of her horses, Luke. Luke, at that time (over a year ago) was the resident babysitter and shared a large paddock with two recently weaned youngsters. I am sure the baby boar had a special intuition about Luke and knew he wouldn’t mind raising up a third youngster. And so, the paddock of three, became the paddock of four, and was the new home of…Wilson, the baby boar.

Initially, Wilson didn’t venture far at all. Actually, as I recall, he literally lived underneath Luke almost all day and night. He would roam a few feet away, but when he sensed danger, he quickly returned to the safety of Luke. He shared Luke’s grain and hay and enjoyed the company of the two weanlings. The first time Luke was taken out for a ride, Wilson followed him. He followed him up to the barn where he was tacked up and then out to the jump field where he even followed Luke over a small cross rail jump.

Day by day, Wilson made his way further and further from the paddock. However, he always returned for meals, which he knew were approaching by the sound of the UTV used to deliver the feed and hay. Eventually, Wilson moved from the safety of Luke’s paddock and started becoming friends with the other horses on the farm. He found as the horses were being tacked up, their legs made a great ‘scratching post.’ Wilson also enjoyed his mud hole which got filled with water each time one of the horses were hosed down on the wash rack. Some of the horses felt Wilson was a nuisance and were not happy with his company, others didn’t mind at all. When new horses came to the farm, they soon realized that this was Wilson’s home too and any fear they had quickly diminished.

I think this is an amazing story. I’m not sure there are any other horse training/boarding farms with a resident pig, who came from the wild. It is the perfect representation of ‘Harmony in the Barn Yard.’ And it all started with a horse named Luke.

BREAKING: Maren Foster, owner of the horse farm, says Wilson eats food scraps and leftovers from all her clients, which keeps him from rutting up the lawn (unlike his less polite wild cousins). His favorite food? Donuts!

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