I met N9BFNY Sir Gruff, an 18-year-old bay stallion, for the first time on Saturday, September 29th. I had been wandering through the backcountry all day, stepping in the hoofprints of ponies that had either journeyed south or stayed concealed in the lush marshland. I walked over 20 miles in two days and, when I found him, he was navigating through the cars to where his band was grazing next to the highway. I locked eyes with him for less than a minute. He was killed by a car three days later.