I don’t remember sitting on Blackie’s back. I don’t remember seeing him stand in the same spot day after day, year after year, in a field now known as Blackie’s Pasture. What I do remember is visiting his grave at the end of the bike path in Tiburon, California, and hearing stories about the love for this gentle and swaybacked horse.

Although he died in 1966, children can still sit on his back.

In 1995, the Tiburon Peninsula Foundation erected a life size statue in the same spot where Blackie spent his last 28 years. In 2006, Christopher Cerf and Paige Peterson published a children’s picture book, Blackie, the Horse That Stood Still about Blackie.

The next time you visit San Francisco, consider making a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to visit Blackie. He stands alongside the bay in Tiburon among the many cyclists, joggers, kite flyers, and walkers just out to enjoy the view.

If you want to learn more about Blackie’s life, click here.     If you want to visit Blackie, click here.