This morning our much loved Arabian horse, Zim, left for The Great Herd in the Sky. His timing was impeccable. It was a Blue Moon in the sign of Aquarius, and from the time it rose last night to its setting at dawn today on Horses’ Birthday, it was exactly 13 hours.

Strong winds blew up after he was buried deep in his paddock to carry him on the way. His paddock mates stood on the mound, and then galloped around a last time for him. They know he is gone.

Zim came to us around 10 years ago from drought stricken Molong, on the other side of the Great Dividing Range, to the green grass of the Illawarra. I had been returning from a conference in Perth, and was talking to my friend Kerry on the flight about horses. On mentioning that we were searching for a horse for…