There’s an old pony in a big pen by the barn.
He doesn’t really serve a purpose. No kids ride him, and he doesn’t have a horse friend. We don’t have any special memories together. He just happened to come into my life by chance. I don’t owe him anything. But every morning, when I step outside, he nickers at me kindly.
He eats special food and has a big round bale of grass that’s the best the horses could dream of. His water is always fresh and even warmed in the winter. I make sure he has food late at night, and he’s the first I care for after my morning coffee.
So, why do I do all this? Why not just send him away, where someone else might want him? He’d be sold for a small price, and maybe he’d end up being someone’s dinner or even dog food. He’s old, and his knee is bad, so he might fall and get hurt on the way there.
There’s also a small, sick calf in our scale house tonight. He’s weak, with a runny nose and some mess on his backside. We keep him warm, and tomorrow I’ll feed him warm milk and try to get him to eat the pony’s special food. Bob, my partner, will clean his little home and add fresh bedding. It would have been easier to leave him out in the cold with the bigger calves to fend for himself, but we can’t do that.
And there’s a wild kitten in the barn, too. We think it jumped off a truck a while ago. We leave food out for him and make sure his water stays warm. He doesn’t have to drink from outside, where it’s cold.
Maybe we sound soft, like we’re not real ranchers. Maybe we are. But as we get older and deal with our own aches and pains, we’ve realized that kindness is important. Our purpose is to care for the animals, not just the ones that bring us money, but all of them. We care for the ones that need extra help, the ones that didn’t choose to be here, just like us.
We didn’t go looking for these animals. They found us. But now they’re here, and we do what we can for them. We work hard to buy the things they need, like special milk and hay. Maybe there’s some karma in this, or maybe not. But we know we’re doing our best to help those who need us.
Peace.