Category: News and Views
Tabitha Darling has an unusual roommate: it's her 12-year-old pony, Trixi. Darling says Trixi is like a seeing-eye dog and wheelchair combined – something
Darling needs because she's legally blind and has physical disabilities.
"Anything by itself would not fulfill what I need in getting around independently and freely," Darling told FOX 4.
Darling believes Trixi is protected under federal law as a service animal --- not unlike a big dog. The pony and her owner share a one-bedroom apartment
in the 7000 bock of Emerald Crest Drive in White Settlement. They've been there since December.
"She'll wake me up in the middle of the night when she runs out of food or water," said Darling. "She'll rattle the door knob. She knows how to open the
door."
Each day, Darling rides her pony out the front door, under overpasses, and across streets to her job at Walmart, which is several miles away. The Walmart
managers accommodate Trixi in a specially-built pen behind the store.
But Darling says she's gotten static from her apartment complex managers. She claims she got a visit from police, and the complex says Trixi's presence
is driving away renters.
Police told FOX 4 they've not opened an investigation, and the apartment complex management wouldn't comment. Darling says she hopes to move to a house
soon.
In the meantime, she's used to the objections. Darling told FOX 4 she's been with Trixi for seven years, and got similar hassles when she lived in Idaho.
Aw, that's awesome. I love horses. Well, actually, I love animals in general. That's a nice story.