Everyday my eldest daughter always asks me, when we will be opening our rescue center. Since I shared my dream of creating one with her, she has shared that same dream with me. There certainly is a huge need for one, in this area, as every week we hear of animals in need or see animals that are being uncared for. But it is a huge undertaking and for now we make do with caring for the animals that live around us.
Every morning I wake up to the sight and sounds of these beautiful horses. This morning this beautiful mare was outside the window of my truck, grazing. Having her so close, gives us such a wonderful opportunity to experience what it means to take care of horses. This mare roams freely on the land and has gotten quite friendly we me and my girls. We make sure she has water and my eldest loves to brush her.
This is her daughter up above, she has to be tethered unfortunately, as she likes to wander and would get off the land quite easily if she wanted to. She was a lot more wary of us, at first, than her mother was, but now she looks for our attention and calls out to me and my girls in the morning. I love being around horses, they have such a beautiful calming energy. Having them around, has really helped my two youngest girls gain more confidence around horses and they both have no problems feeding and grooming them.
Our beautiful Rusty, who we rescued a month ago. is doing so well right now. After nearly losing him to Pavo, he has bounced right back and is super sociable and such a quick learner. My eldest has been training him and he catches on so quickly. She has already taught him how to sit ad lie down. She will soon begin to work with a local dog trainer, who will teach her in exchange for her helping him and his family on their land. Which is really a win win for her. She is super excited to get started.
Dog training is certainly a great skill to have, if you wish to open a rescue center, something I keep telling my daughter, when ever she expresses her desire to get things started. The way that I see it, we already have, because you need to have experience looking after animals of all sizes, before you can take them in and be responsible for them.
We have 2 cats, which have been with us since they were babies. This lovely girl above, is one of the most affectionate cats I have every come across. Anytime one of my girls are upset, she appears and sits with them, comforting them. She has really helped to shift the energy, when they has been arguments or disagreements in the truck. I love this shot of her above as she comes to greet me.
Both of our cats are black and this beautiful one above, is the mama cat, she is also very affectionate, but she has this very serious side to her as well. She generally does not like dogs, and hisses at Rusty all of the time. Which is good training for him, as he can be quite insistent, so I don't mind. He tends to keep his distance from her now, which is wise, because she will strike out if he gets too close. She was not impressed at all, when we first brought him home. But slowly she is getting use to him.
This beautiful Boy, come to visit us every few days. A couple of years ago, he arrived at our truck, he was half starved. I took him in and brought him back to good health. After a few weeks a friend came by and said that he recognized him, and that he could bring him back to his owners. But a few days later he turned up again, only this time he had been beaten. I was worried that they owners would come looking for him, as they knew I had cared for him before, so I called a friend who took him and subsequently found him a new home. Even so he still comes to visit us and he was here just yesterday, to say hello.
Who knows how long it will take until I can finance a piece of land to move to and use as a sanctuary for animals in need. But I know that the process has already begun, my daughter walks our dogs every morning and always brings food with her for the mistreated dogs she passes along the way, something I do whenever I walk into town, as there are a few dogs that are not being fed enough. But it is in the pipeline, that is for sure.
