The care and keeping of souls

     Do animals have "souls"?   Technically, people and animals consist of the working parts of the body and the powerful mind. I've always marveled at what makes us  the essence of who we are,  though.  What gives us emotions and a conscience, or lack of one?  Is it the soul?  If you're religious and depending on who interprets it, the Bible implies all living creatures have souls.  Heaven isn't given an absolutely clear description, for how can anyone know it's truth until they have passed on...  but in the bible, animals are mentioned as present in the afterlife.  For me, Heaven would be no place to be if there were no animals.  Many would argue Jesus didn't die on the cross for the souls of the animals.  I say many animals are more loyal, loving and giving and worthy than some people walking this earth. Animals have been making survival possible for us humans in so many ways for all the years humans have existed, whether working in the fields, as food, as companionship, transportation and protection.  .... seems to me only fitting that a kind and loving God would feel they deserve the afterlife, too.   

      I have loved and taken care of animals since I was old enough to pet the family dog.  As a child, having the restraints of living in a suburb,  at various times I managed to tend to a pigeon, a goat, our dogs, our cats, a few parakeets, some fancy silk mice, a hamster or two.  My parents allowed what was reasonable at our residence but I knew as an adult I wanted to be able to do much more.  The logical career choice for a kid such as myself  would be  veterinarian. It was indeed listed on any school papers where we chose what we'd like to be when we grow up.  That all changed when I had to take one of our cats to the vet to remove bee bee's someone had shot into her hind legs.  I tried staying with them for the procedure but the excising made me nauseous and woozy.            Onward! 

     I landed in Connecticut at the age of 19 with an old abandoned race horse that I adopted on Staten Island. He was around 28 at the time and had two more good years in a pasture on my Aunt's horse farm just up the road from This Old House.  From there,  after college and while working in a law firm I met and married my husband and together  we built our first small horse farm and our family.  We currently live on our third farm, so I've been taking care of horses on a daily basis for the past 30-plus years. 

     While living on a farm can seen romantic, it's a heck of a lot of work and dedication to something you love. Every single day, without exception, regardless of weather,  the responsibility demands that you get up and out in the morning to feed and water the animals.  Their living quarters needs to be mucked and fresh bedding laid down.  They are turned out into pastures if they're lucky or at the very least, paddocks.  Then, whatever you've got going on during the day, you need to return to feed them again in the evening, refresh waters if needed, check for any cuts, scrapes, etc.   Horses need grooming, regular trims or shoeing from a farrier, they need exercise. It's a lot to take on and requires real dedication.. and love! 

   We have dogs and used to have cats too, most of you are familiar with their necessary care.  We've also got a coop full of chickens, something I decided to set up here about 7 years ago.  Chickens aren't as much work as the horses, but they still require daily care. Their feed needs to be replenished, their water cleaned out and refreshed. I clean out the coop about once a week, unlike the horses daily stall cleaning.  Their chicken yard needs to be raked to stay fairly sanitary - no easy feat with chickens, they are messy.   I let them out to free range occasionally, but not always. Coyotes and hawks  are a big problem around here.  

   Often I'm asked by family and friends... aren't you tired of having to do all that work all the time? Every. Single. Day?   The answer is complicated.  

 Yes.. there are days when I really don't want to trudge up the muddy or snowy or frozen hill in the early morning hours to tend the horses.  There are cold winter nights when I don't want to leave the warmth of the fire or the family holiday gathering to bring in and  feed the animals.  Having fibromyalgia means there are days when every muscle in my body aches and the last thing I feel like doing is mucking those stalls, lugging those water buckets, throwing that hay.  But these animals I have here on this farm have taken care of us over the years.  They have been my therapy in troubled times, they have been dependable, sturdy souls who did what we asked of them, and sometimes that was a heck of a lot.  We are all middle middle aged now, the horses and myself.  They deserve to be cared for properly, they earned it.  

     If you think animals don't have emotions, then you've never really spent time or developed a relationship with one.  Do you define intelligence as the indicator of the presence of a soul?  It's proven Dolphins have a language they use to communicate with each other.  Dogs can be taught an amazing array of communicating and they certainly display emotions such as happy, sad, frightened, lonely,  jealousy, exuberance, pain, even loss.  Gorillas have learned sign language to communicate with humans, and that they do.  These are just some example of what I believe are evidence that animals have souls, whatever that may mean. 

I call our little crew the geriatric ward now.. 

Coady and Lacey are mini horses, both have been used as therapy horses in nursing homes, rehab facilities, back in the day.   Lacey was a driving horse for myself and a good friend for years as well. Many a mile did we cover in our little carts, Lacey at the helm taking us through the meadows and woods.  The photo below was taken at a carriage driving demonstration. Most days our attire was tee shirts and jeans.  We're both a little chubbier now. 

    

 Lacey is aging well, but Coady has cushings disease.  He requires a daily pill to help manage the symptoms.

    

    Opie is my Steady Eddie.  He came to us at 8 years of age and is now 21 years old.  We've gone on many a trail ride, and when the going gets rough - like a big scary bridge to cross or a stream to get through, we can count on Opie to be the first to walk across and let the other horses know it's OK to move forward.  He can be a little stinker, not wanting to work more than he has to, but he's always honest and for the most part, predictable. I can put the tiniest babe in the saddle and walk them around the ring knowing he'll keep his head down and just do his job.  He's aging well, except for an eye condition that occasionally requires two sets of ointments to clear the cloudy. 

 Max, my daughters horse, is another Steady Eddie - with quite the accomplishments under his belt.  He didn't come to us until he was 18 years of age.. having already traveled parts of the country as a show horse for several other owners.  K had three great show years with him and then he colicked, bad.  We opted for surgery to save him and he did survive the ordeal, but it was clear retirement was the best thing for him.  So, we brought him home to recover and enjoy the good life here on the farm.

Since his surgery Max has trouble keeping weight on, so we keep him warm in winter and feed him plenty of good quality feed and hay and he grazes in the fields during the day.   It's the least we can do for all he has given us over the years and continues in his light work on trails and in the ring. 

  The girls in the coop aren't much trouble, and the fresh eggs they provide are wonderful. If you've never had fresh eggs off the farm, you're missing something. Go seek them out and taste the difference for yourself. Right now, in the middle of winter! go figure... some of mine are molting.  I have a cozy coop heater in their hen house, so they are able to stay warm when the temps get real low and their water doesn't freeze. 

  My little pack of dogs... they are my best buddies. They follow me around the house throughout the day, and if I'm up at the barn and they aren't outside in the dog yard watching me work, they wait for me to return at the side door.  When I'm working at the computer, they are all around my feet.  If I'm in the kitchen, they lay in the sun spots at the sliders and listen for the sound of wrappers crinkling or refridge door opening or treat jar cover clanking.  They mope when we are away on a mini vacation (which isn't often... because FARM) and they rejoice when we return even from a half hour errand.  They bicker among themselves but never harm each other, and are often found snoozing together  in a tight little circle. 

Ben, the largest by far, is not the boss.  No, the littlest of them all calls the shots.  That would be the white fluff, Bailey. 

 Miss Sally is my most recent rescue.  As she as matured her front legs have become extremely twisted.  It is a deformity, a result of either some very poor breeding or just crap luck. She manages well, runs like the wind and loves to go for walks.  But when sitting or standing still, her little front legs constantly give out so that she is usually laying down rather than sitting or standing.  The vet assures me she's not in pain, it's more painful for us to see than for her to live with.  For now, at least, that appears to be the case. 

     Frasier is a momma's boy - he's very jealous when I pay attention to any other creature,  his most favorite place to be is on my lap, and he is fiercely protective of me, even more so than the dane, Ben.  He gives me this face when I leave on errands....

 He is very definitely my best bud. 

     So, would I let the horses down at this stage of the game and try to dump them off at an auction or find that ever elusive "retirement" home and hope someone else won't use then and abuse them in a way that is so undeserving of all the service they have provided us?  Nope - it's not an option.  This geriatric crew is here to stay and as long as I'm able, I will trudge up the hill and out to the coop and tend the little  chicken flock and dog pack I have here because I love them all dearly, they are family.  I wish all people who took on the responsibility of a pet or livestock would understand and honor the responsibility and go the distance in caring for them throughout their life or at the very least, hand them off to someone who will. 

   Do these animals have souls despite the fact that their intelligence doesn't match our own (and with some people I question that very thing) ?  Their soul is as real as that of any human if you ask me.  If there are no animals in heaven, then heaven is not place for me.  

Till soon, friends -