In Search of Ponies: Unorthodox relationship good for both parties

Ah, Moses and Jael, now their's was a love like none other.

It was an arranged relationship, born of necessity and convenience.

It didn’t start with a spark or a glance across the room that stirred butterflies into action.

In all reality, the dainty, leggy blond suffering from depression and the small dark misfit, a no niche extra in the cast of zoo life, might never have found each other anywhere else. But a touch of fate and a pinch of ingenuity brought them together.

It was near instant success, perfect enough to leave Internet matchmaking services green with envy.

They cuddled and played, shared their meals, lounged together and even preened one another with the utmost affection.

So seamless was their connection, audiences would gather to watch the odd couple and photos of their sweet nuzzlings made the papers, spreading out across the Internet.

But as great as the connection and bond was, their compatibility had a tragic flaw with unavoidable limitations.

Even though the scruffy African pygmy goat and the slinky giraffe at the Hillcrest Zoo were never truly meant to be together, no one told them such bliss was temporary, or that he was just a stand-in — a measure to get her through her depression and angst-riddled youth.

In fact, he had already been pulled out of the shot by the time an entourage presented her with her leggy leading man, a skilled Casanova with the looks to match.

It’s been a couple weeks; time lessening the adjustment pains for both of them particularly with the help of the distractions in their new partners, both randy virile males on a mission.

She certainly got the better deal, partnered with a suave and practiced fellow who knows how to play off her aloof skittishness and use her curiosity as a lure.

For Moses, reunited father, he certainly got the short straw and it’s been a little less pleasant. But he is coming into his own.

Letting go of the gentleness she brought out in him, the horns he never would have used against her he now levels against his dad, who has yet to grasp that he’s a boy goat, much less his son.

And he has figured out, to some extent, that as a bachelor he has to forage for his own food because she’s not there to share her delectable fare with him anymore.

But there are lingering effects too.

Because they bridged the language gap by communicating through actions, he still hasn’t found his voice.

He also stays by the fence, not pacing as in the first days, but still perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of her through the thin trees that separate them or maybe because he doesn’t know what to do with all the empty space in his new home.

Both are learning to fit in, just a bit later in life than nature’s design but their relationship was not a waste.

The crowds that once gathered to watch him with his beautiful lady are now split, half of them heading straight to her cage to catch a gander at her flirting with her new beau.

And thankfully, Moses hasn’t entirely fallen from grace, his role remembered when the other half asks “Where’s Moses?” and makes the trek to the back corner of the zoo where he now resides.

If there is indeed purpose to every interaction, there’s little doubt the purpose of their love, however fleeting, was to enrich each other.

Jael’s gift to him, a sprinkling of stardust a goat could rarely hope for, and for her, Moses carved a path, seeing her through despair to the doorstep of motherhood.

I know I, for one, would like to say, “Thank you Moses.”