In April I blogged about "Shorty" the knee high Welsh Pit Pony which miraculously survived the Black Saturday bushfires.

Because the property of his owner was wiped out, he was being 'pony sat' by volunteers around Melbourne.

And in fact now I've put my backyard where my blog is .."Shorty" is spending four weeks at our place in suburban Melbourne.And the little fella provides magic moment after magic moment.

Much to the delight of my 16 year old son, "Shorty" is a chick magnet! Teenage girls are queuing up to come to our place to meet the little horse living in our backyard. Indeed when I took him for a walk in our local park, the hairdressing class at the nearby TAFE College disrupted into chaos when the girls ran out to meet and pat "Shorty" and hear his story.

During the recent school holidays my 14 year old son and his mates took "Shorty" for walks down the busy main road near our home.

They revelled in the toots and laughs they got from passing motorists. They thought they were sooo cool!! That is, until a police car pulled up and a young officer wanted to know what was going on! My son explained the improbable story of "Shorty's" survival and celebrity at length. The officer looked at him disbelievingly,then took his name, address and telephone number and left. My son now thinks he has a police record!!

"Shorty" has a unique ability just to make people smile. When you take him for a walk around the block, people just stop to talk, to find out what the hell a little horse is doing in suburbia. They're quite taken aback when they find out what he's been through. It gives them a new perspective on the fires.

But it was only after a photo of "Shorty" being taken for a walk in our street by my sons featured in the "Herald Sun", that I discovered the impact of this unlikely inspiration, whose main care in life appears to be where the next carrot is coming from.

I received a phone call from a woman who had seen the photo. Her Black Saturday story was horrific. Her brother, his wife and their son died in the fires in Gippsland.

She has spent the past five months trying to cope with losing her family members, while clearing their farm, winding up their business interests and caring for her brother's surviving son.

The whole process will take years. You could hear the pain and exhaustion in her voice. She and her family saw "Shorty" in the paper. Because he looks so daggy he made them smile. They just wanted to see something, anything positive from this horrible tragedy.

She and her two teenage kids came to meet "Shorty" in the park and he excelled himself. He looked up, snorted and returned to chomping grass. He muzzled up to her 14 year old daughter ..he let her 16 year son scratch his tummy.

They now want "Shorty" to spend a week or two at their place. He'll be a much needed diversion.

When I told his owner Graeme Kurzmann he was overjoyed. He loves the idea "Shorty" can in a small way help ease the pain of Black Saturday. That helps him as he too recovers from the fires.

I'll miss the dopey little fella when he leaves our backyard ..but more, I will miss the goodwill and hope "Shorty" inspires in people.