![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/RSF-L-SUGARPLUSHIE-1106.jpg\")
When children join the RSF Library, they receive a lanyard and a backpack with Sugar\u2019s image, as well as a stuffed animal in her likeness (above).\n(Stacy Snyder)<\/p>\n
It takes a special soul to charm children, befriend other animals, and motivate everyone to read. Sugar, the mini horse, was a beloved friend of the Rancho Santa Fe Library, who, along with her human and canine family members, served as a library ambassador. She spent a decade bringing smiles to the faces of kids at the library, as well as people all throughout the community, from gardeners to police officers, to families on walks.<\/p>\n
Sugar was the mascot of the first-grade class at R. Roger Rowe School and inspired four creative books, My Name Is Sugar, The Sugar Shack, Sugar\u2019s Journey Home, and Home Around the Campfire. She was the beloved equine daughter of Stacy and John Snyder, and sister to dogs Charger and Charlie. She died in September, a loss felt deeply by everyone who knew her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is truly missed every day,\u201d said Stacy. \u201cShe inspired empathy, compassion, curiosity and conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
When children join the RSF Library, they receive a lanyard and a backpack with Sugar\u2019s image, as well as a stuffed animal in her likeness (above).
\n(Stacy Snyder)<\/p>\n
The Snyders adopted Sugar in 2016 after she was fostered by Heart & Hands Animal Rescue in Ramona. She was skittish and a bit of an escape artist at first, but they nurtured her and paired her with their dog Charger. The two flourished as library spokespets and after Charger\u2019s passing, Sugar was teamed with Charlie, which proved to be another successful equine-canine partnership. And though Sugar is gone, her legacy remains. When children join the library, they receive a lanyard and a backpack with her image, as well as a stuffed animal in her likeness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am incredibly grateful to both John and Stacy Snyder for bringing sweet Sugar to our library and sharing her inspiring rescue story. Our final \u2018Sugar Storytime\u2019 was a beautiful and heartfelt send-off to our beloved Sugar. With over 150 people in attendance, it\u2019s clear just how deeply she was loved by our library community,\u201d said Nora Kaiser, youth librarian.<\/p>\n
Stacy is a retired special education teacher and recognizes the value of animals to enhance kids\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing with animals creates peace and calm. You learn so much from their behavior and how they interact with each other,\u201d she said. The interaction between Sugar, her dog friends, and all those in attendance at their many library visits was nothing if not extraordinary. The horse, dogs and people didn\u2019t speak the same language, but they communicated beautifully. And now, Charlie will carry on at the library in Sugar\u2019s hoofsteps.<\/p>\n
Stacy encourages all to adopt animals and donate to humane nonprofits. She cites Helen Woodward Animal Center, Rancho Coastal Humane Society,\u00a0Hearts & Hands Animal Rescue, Lions Tigers & Bears, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It takes a special soul to charm children, befriend other animals, and motivate everyone to read. Sugar, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":345469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,7356,9866,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-345468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-rancho-santa-fe-review","12":"tag-rancho-santa-fe-review-news","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115468626587718182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}