How a discarded display horse found a home in a Modesto backyard | Opinion
His name is Horsie because my great-grandchildren said so. And he lives in my backyard — right here in residential Modesto.
He’s been here for three or four years now. Compared to his life before I adopted him, he’s got it made here. Surrounded by flowering vines and perennials bursting with color and fragrance, visited by hummingbirds, bees and butterflies, his days of hard labor for Gallo Winery are over.
I caught my first glimpse of Horsie one very early morning in the liquor department at the Safeway Supermarket on McHenry Avenue. As opening courtesy clerk, I arrive at 4:30 a.m. several mornings each week. But this particular morning, something majestic had happened in the liquor department overnight! There was a horse.
Rearing on his hind legs, he looked regal and perfectly at ease. And since he is life-sized, he dominated that entire end of the store.
Horsie was surrounded by cases of Dark Horse wine. Danica, our very capable liquor manager, was riding herd over the display advertising Gallo’s recent purchase of yet another winery. And our liquor department has never looked more impressive. A life-size horse will do that.
I was smitten. Never thinking I could actually own him, I gazed longingly at him every day. I had turned a weed patch into a beautiful oasis in my backyard, but I needed something one-of-a-kind to make it the original refuge of natural beauty I yearned for.
Eventually, I got up the nerve to approach Danica.
“So, what happens to the horse when you change out for Christmas?” I asked.
Danica shrugged her shoulders and said, “Funny thing. They don’t want it back. It goes in the dumpster.” I gulped, and found my voice. I looked at Danica beseechingly and said, “I want him. Don’t put him in the dumpster. I have a special place for him in my backyard. Please don’t throw him away. Give him to me!”
Looking at me intently (she’s all business when it comes to her department), Danica said, “Be here early on the day after Halloween. That’s when he’s out and Christmas is in. I can’t hold him for you. I’m busy. If you want him, be here.”
I arrived very early on Nov. 1. Rushing over to the liquor department, I gasped. He was gone! Christmas had already happened. Where was my horse?
Locating Danica, I asked, “Where’s the horse?” She replied, “Take it easy, Bunny, he’s out back by the dumpster. If you want him, take him.” Luckily, the Pepsi man was out back, too, and he helped me get Horsie into the back of my Mazda SUV, headfirst.
The rest, as they say, is history. He’s found his permanent home here. No feeding required. And no cleanup. Without effort, he’s in his natural element, looming majestically over his domain.
Our Safeway store director occasionally visits my home to see the yard when everything is in bloom. The spring after Horsie arrived, Lydia stepped out my back door, and, spotting Horsie — he is hard to miss — she said, “Oh my gosh, Bunny, you’ve got their horse! How did you get him?”
I explained that Gallo didn’t want him back, and Danica had allowed me to save him from an ignominious death in the dumpster. Looking intently at me, Lydia said, “The marketing reps may not have wanted him, but corporate has been looking for their horse for months. Every time they’ve called, I’ve told them I have no idea what happened to their horse.”
“Are you going to rat me out?” I asked, horrified.
“No way,” she said, “He looks happy, and who am I to interfere when a couple finds each other and ends up right where they were meant to be?”
Bunny Stevens lives in Modesto, her hometown, and has served on The Modesto Bee Community Advisory Board. She is the opening courtesy clerk at the Safeway supermarket on McHenry Avenue and an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church. Reach her at BunnyinModesto@gmail.com
This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM with the headline "How a discarded display horse found a home in a Modesto backyard | Opinion."