CNJ+ September 2026

WILD CREATURES I HAVE KNOWN AND LOVED Chapter 5: The Cherished Memory of White Diamond By Richard Mabey Jr.

When I was a boy, I just loved the televi sion sitcom, “Mr. Ed.” It was the fantasy store of Wilbur, a young married man who owned a beautiful horse, whom he named Mr. Ed. The key theme to this entire sitcom was that Mr. Ed could talk, but he would only talk to Wilbur. It was in the early Summer of 2008, at the age of 54, I had the most wonderful opportu nity to become friends with a horse, who in his own way, would communicate with me. My mom, my sister and I had just moved to this incredible gated community in Central Florida, known as The Villages. It was to be a new start, a chance to join different clubs and enjoy the warmth of the Florida sun. It was during this summer, that a miracle came to my life. I became good friends with a neigh bor’s horse. I named this handsome horse, White Di amond. Namely because he had a white di amond on his forehead. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was going for a walk in my neighborhood. There was this area, where there were open fields. Just a short distance, to one side of this big open field was an old wooden fence. And, on the other side of this wooden fence, would stand and slowly walk, a handsome horse with a white diamond on his forehead.

Yours truly with White Diamond.

One summer’s day, as I was taking a walk, this wonderful horse let out a series of loud neighs. As he threw his head back, he would look direct ly at me. He would stop neighing for a moment, then begin a series of neighs, while throwing his head back. He was definitely calling me over to him. I walked over to White Diamond and strangely enough, it felt like we were two old friends, pals, buddies, who hadn’t seen each other for a couple of years. I remember I did actually talk to White Diamond. Even more strange ly, he would neigh back to me, as if he was talking to me. On some level, he was saying hello to me. The next day, before going for my daily walk, I put a carrot in my pocket for White Diamond. Sure enough, when I reached the area with the open field to my left-hand side, there was White Diamond, standing all so proud and majestic. I walked over to White Diamond, petted him on his forehead and fed him the carrot that I had in my pocket. That Summer of 2008, I saw and talked to White Diamond every day. I would bring him a carrot, on every visit. We developed a true friendship. In early September of that year, I turned 55 and got a job as a Security Gate

Guard in The Villages. My daily afternoon walks were diminished to two or three times a week, on my days off from work. Then, in November, they began building homes on the open field. My en trance way to the spot where I would meet and greet White Diamond was cut off. I would do my absolute best, evenings after all the builders would go home, to take a walk, bring a carrot with me and visit with White Diamond. Looking back, I don’t know how it really did happen. But in December of 2008, my sister and I started our own little dog walking business. The busi ness soon flourished as the number of clients we had, grew and grew. My visits with White Diamond were now not as frequent as they had been in the early summer of that year. Now, 18 years later, I look back at my visits with White Diamond with great fondness and appreciation. A sprinkling of sadness looms in my heart, when I think of White Diamond. He was truly a dear and wonderful friend. I dearly believe that he was a gift from God. Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He has recently had two books pub lished. He currently hosts a YouTube Channel entitled, “Richard Mabey Pres ents.” Richard may be contacted at richardmabeyjr@gmail.com.

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