The Right Thing to Do

It isn't always easy to do the right thing, especially if you're me, but this week I ran across two examples that I just had to share with you.

One day last week, while driving to my barn, I spotted a horrifically smashed black cat on the side of the country road. I glanced at the cat and then stared straight ahead. I sure hope that's not our barn cat, I thought to myself.

I got to the barn, tacked up Tango, and had a very nice ride. When I was done riding and Tango was in cross ties, Craig (one of the boarders) came in. Have you seen our black cat today? he asked Jeremiah (a terrific barn worker).

Jeremiah answered that he had indeed seen the cat just moments earlier. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then Craig said, Well when you get done here, let's go bury that cat on the road.

That's really nice of you, I told Craig.
Craig's response was simple. If it was my cat I would hope someone would bury it, he said.

I was humbled. It had never occurred to me to do such a thing and it should have.

And then yesterday, I ran into my neighbor Kelly. She was out walking her beautiful dog. We had rather traumatic morning, she said. I was about to let the dog out back when I noticed a squirrel lying on it's back but still alive. Mary Beth and I think it fell out of the tree.

What'd you do? I asked.

Kelly paused. It was so hard, she said, but it was clearly paralysed and suffering. I got a shovel and hit it in the head. I sobbed and sobbed while I did it, she said.

Now the normal me would have been freaked out about killing a squirrel with a shovel. But somehow this act was no different than Craig burying a cat he didn't know. Kelly's act was an act of kindness.

I guess loving kindness doesn't always mean just rescuing, finding homes, or even enjoying our own dear animals. Sometimes it means doing something very difficult that no one else wants to do.

I hope the next time that I encounter a situation like Craig or Kelly I am able to push my horror away and take action. Somehow I doubt it, but at least their examples will remind me of the right thing to do.

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Happy New Year, Friends!

Annabelle would like to wish you a Happy New Year, but as you can see, she's chilling out from all the Christmas activities. In this photo, she's sitting with...or rather on...her Aunt Dee. The girl is plumb tuckered out!

And Maddie's beyond tuckered out she's pretty much unconscious! I know she's dreaming about all the stories we'll have to tell you in 2010 and all the stories that you'll share with us.

Getting to know all of you has been so much fun and we can't wait to get back to our regular blogging routine. We've laughed with you, we've cried with you, and we've become friends with you. Thank you so much.

Tango probably would like to say Happy New Year too but he's in deep doo doo. On Christmas day he took his girlfriend Tantra and went on a jaunt off the farm and down some country roads. I'll let Tango share that as the first story of the New Year. For now, he's in time-out!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us!!!

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Bella's Story

I had so much fun the past few days learning more about your guys and how they were named. Every comment I read was like an "ah ha" moment for me. Thanks so much for sharing more about the loves of your lives.


Today I want to let a guest author tell you a story about a cat who changed her life. I've introduced you to Jaydee before. It's an honor to know Jaydee and the work she is doing.




Scraggly Bella at Her First Week With Us!


Bella’s Story　
　
This is the story of how one special kitten named Bella changed our home.
　
Jim and I moved into our house in east/central Cincinnati in February 2008.　 It wasn’t long before we noticed our front porch chairs had become sleeping spots for a pair of homeless cats.　 I would often watch them snatch food from trash bins and dart into a neighbor’s shed in the cold.　 After a heavy snow that winter, only one of the cats emerged.　 How terribly sad.　 I took notice, and occasionally saw other cats around the street, but didn’t know what to do to help them.　
　
In June that year I was taking a walk in the neighborhood with my husband, my sister, her husband, and a puppy they had found.　 And there she sat – tiny little scrawny mess of a stray kitten – practically waiting for death to come. 　My brother in law said "well, hello…" and we scooped her up. 　My sister and I laughed and cried at the same time watching her dive into a dish of food.　 Bella was only 5 weeks old, starving, dirty, spotted from ringworm, covered in fleas, and happy as ever to have a bed and food and someone to play with.　 We kept the little grey and white kitty in her own room until she grew healthy, and although we were crazy about her, our two older cats were not thrilled at all.　 In spite of them she still made her way into our home and hearts, teaching us about the joy of seeing a sick helpless creature recover and thrive.　 She found her forever home in September when she was adopted by a family member. I was really sad to see her go.
　
Around the same time that Bella was adopted, the black and white cat that had survived the previous winter presented 5 scrawny little kittens.　 I discovered them playing under the neighbor’s bushes and started to sneak food dishes over to them.　 I wanted to catch them but had no idea how to do that.　 They ran away every time I brought food.　 I spent days on the phone, calling shelters and vet offices and pet stores, and no one could help me.　 I had coaxed the mom with food and often found her nursing the babies in the backyard, but they were all still so skinny.　 I don’t think that poor mom had much to give them.　 Some days she’d show up with a leftover chicken piece to share with them and they would all fight over it.　 I wish I had known how to help them.　 The day after the big wind storm last fall was the last time I saw the kittens.　 After that the mom sat in our driveway and cried loudly for about two weeks.　 It broke my heart.　 Then we never saw her again.　 I have no idea what happened to those scrawny kittens and their mom. 　
But I was determined to not let that happen again.
　
Sure enough, 3 grey kittens and their friendly stray mom made their way to our back porch.　 I made a bed in a box and planned to just carry the box in with the kittens inside, but the day I was ready to do that they disappeared.　 Eventually I saw them again, playing across the street.　 I did some research and found out that kittens could be trapped….so Jim and I set out one evening with a borrowed trap and some twine to pull the door shut from a distance.　 It was cold and drizzly and we hid behind a tree while the sweet mom hung around our feet.　 With her so close to us, the kittens soon got brave and came out to check out the canned food treats we left in the trap.　 One ventured in, and Jim pulled the door shut.　 We had one!　 I felt so bad taking it away from the mom but what a good feeling knowing we were saving that kitten from such an awful life.　 The next week we got another, and we thought the last one was gone until a few weeks later.　 He was snuggled up in the early winter snow one evening with his mom on our front porch chair.　 I knew my husband was supportive of all of this when he said "that’s not right"…and snuck out to the chair and grabbed the baby.
　
I looked up how to tame feral kittens and by Christmas had found homes for all three grey kittens.　 We found a home for the sweet friendly mom, too.　 By then we had caught another starving little one, whom we decided to keep.　 He is a beautiful and affectionate russian blue who happens to be terrified of everyone but us.　 Yet while he is terrified of most people he happily greets each shy cat or kitten that comes into our home and helps them to adjust.
　
All winter long there were cats that showed up near our house, since by this time I just left food dishes by the porch all the time.　 Most of them were feral and most of them had bite marks and frost bitten ears.　 Such harsh lives.　 And I still didn’t know how I was going to stop the kittens from coming in the spring.　 I just knew I couldn’t handle seeing so much suffering.　 I had found cats hit by cars, and a few of the cats never came around after the winter.　 It was heart-breaking to think about them dying alone in the cold.
　
In January of 　'09 I finally got in touch with a local cat rescue and learned that I was not alone.　 I got connected with a woman doing some trapping on the west side, and she told me about SCOOP’s voucher program.　 It is a program designed to assist people like me.　 Just in time, since spring was right around the corner!　 One of the cats we had seen for awhile, a grey bobtail, showed up with a bad limp.　 I was so happy when I caught him on the first try.　 I felt so hopeful that things on our street could change for the cats.
　
I continued to use SCOOP vouchers and OAR’s low cost spay/neuter clinic, and could never have done this without the support and encouragement that I found in Barb Wehman of SCOOP and the volunteer staff at OAR.　 One of them would often have just the right idea or tip to keep me going.　
　
There were still kittens this summer, and some didn’t survive.　 But I was able to trap or find homes for over 40 cats over the last year.　 10 of them were kittens who got a fresh start as family pets.　 Some were friendly strays that found great new homes, and some were ferals that are now fixed, vaccinated and returned.　 A couple of them are part of our family now because we couldn’t let them go.　 ALL are special and beautiful and have their own stories.　
　
Things are different on our street now.　 Last summer I was literally checking under my car for kittens each time I left the driveway.　 Now, there are only three feral cats that feed by my house every day.　 They are healthy and have warm beds and best of all they won’t re-populate the street.　 It’s sad to think about the ones that suffered but such a good feeling knowing the ones that have better lives now.　 I always knew that one person could make a difference….but the real difference is made when we work together toward a common goal.　 I have since found others in the neighborhood that care enough to provide food and have needed help and encouragement to start TNR.　 I love being a part of the compassionate solution and knowing that we can stop the suffering, one cat at a time.
　
I still miss little Bella squealing around our house…..but what a difference she made

when she taught us that change was possible for the cats in the neighborhood.


Bella Settled In!



Please visit two of Jaydee's favorite rescue groups!

http://www.theanimalrescue.com/http://
http://www.scoopcat.org/

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Cats and Computers

This post was written by my sister-in-law, Sandy. She thought I'd be tired after my long horse show so she surprised me with this scheduled guest post while I was gone.

Hello, my name is Brewster. I got my name from a little town my parents visited in New England. Did you know that cats like computers? Some people might not know that; let me explain. Here I'm doing what I can to help him out. See, he's on the phone and I'm sniffing out the problem we were reviewing on the computer screen. The picture had to be taken in such a manner you couldn't see our private information. He and I are working on the family bills. I was vacationing here for awhile since the folks went away. I kept quite busy because they have 2 computers in two different rooms and often needed my help. I traveled around alot, from computer to computer, to the basement with all kinds of new places to explore.

My favorite thing though was looking outside. They have nice big windows with wide window ledges for me to lay on, this big glass door where I can really keep an eye on things. I don't have those at my house. I've already booked myself a 2nd vacation here. Can you blame me? Do you get to go on your "own" special vacation?

Sometimes I need to take a nap, after all, I am on vacation.

** I am Jan's sister-in-law, Sandy. I have 3 blogs and invite you all to visit:
Sandy's Space where you can Brewster napping, and lots of other items
Traveling Suitcase where you can lots of virtual vacations
Bridge and Beyond where you can read about how homeless benefit from homemade knitting and crocheting and the goodness that comes from many caring hearts.

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Tango's Almost Ready - Almost!

Just a quick post to let you know that Tango and I are leaving for another horse show tomorrow afternoon. I'll give him his bath tomorrow morning. Then I'm going to splurge and have someone who is much better than me braid his mane. After that, it's on the trailer and off to the show.

I don't know who's more excited, Tango or me! Wish us luck. I'll let you know how it goes on Sunday night when we get home.

By the way, this is a very special show. I'll tell you more about it on Sunday!

Also, thank you for all the nice comments on this blog. It's so nice to connect with other animal lovers. I look forward to hearing from all of you and I'm anxious to get to your blogs when I get back. You have such good ideas and information and FUN!

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"Someone Almost Died and He Wants Us to Do What?!"

Thank you so much for all your thoughtful comments about adopting a cat into our family. After reading what you had to say, it occurred to me that every summer I usually foster a litter of kittens or two. In the past, I've had to find homes for all of them. This summer will be different. I'm going to sit back and wait to see what happens. If I foster a litter, two kittens will already have a very good home!

Okay. Now I'm going to switch back to horses. Most of you know how much I love Tango and most of you know that I show him dressage. Tango is a very versatile guy. I rescued him from an Amish background and driving is in his blood. He moves like a dream and loves every minute of it.

I thought I'd share a pleasure driving story for you. Yep...that's Tango and me in the photo above. The judge was actually offering high praise. Below is a partial article that I wrote for an equestrian magazine. There's never a dull moment when it comes to animals, and a day without just a little excitement could even be called boring!

Here's the partial story:
The last show of the season was...let's just say more than competitive. What I had always believed to be true, was. Tango held up under pressure. He was better than good, he commanded calm and exhibited his true nature.

We were in the show arena and had just switched from a walk to a park trot. Tango was responding with ease. We had just rounded the first turn in the arena when I heard a banging commotion from behind us. A young woman had lost control of her horse, fallen to the floor of her cart, and was wildly flying back and forth and around and around the arena. It seemed there was no stopping her horse.

The second time the runaway cart went by us; it clipped the back of our cart. I asked Tango to move forward and stand. He did.
Three minutes of chaos seemed to last forever. Other horses in the arena were clearly upset and unruly. Who could blame them?

Tango's calmness kept me calm. I remember thinking, "Should I get down and try to help or just stay here?" But by that time, lots of other people were in the arena. Common sense took over. I decided I'd do the runaway driver and horse more good if I just stayed out of the way. That's what I did. Rather, that's what Tango allowed me to do.

Finally the out-of-control horse was stopped. I was shaking from the inside out and ready to leave the arena when the announcer barked, "Resume park trot...resume park trot."
"He's got to be kidding," I thought. "Someone almost just died and he wants us to resume park trot???? "

The saying "The Show Must Go On," applied here. The show went on. I was numb but not Tango. His extended trot was more beautiful than I've ever seen it. I felt like we were floating through the air. The only thing that took away from our first place finish, was concern for the driver of the other cart, who luckily was not hurt.

Our win was the icing on the cake. That day...that moment....the bond between Tango and me grew even stronger. He trusted me and I trusted him. Yes, Tango was and is a winner for sure...in more ways than one.

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Should I Rescue a Cat?

Here's the question. Should I or shouldn't I? Up until Kelly came, I always had cats. I love anything with fur and kittens are no exception. My cat, Sophie (18) had just died when I rescued Kelly. Kelly is/was the only dog I have ever had that chased cats. Of course Kelly chased anything that moved (with the exception of the other dogs). So, since I was fearful of what might happen with a cat, I got Maddie then rescued Annabelle. Our house was more than full. Now it seems quiet and slightly empty. So....do I or don't I? That's the question of the day. Help!

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Tango

I decided I should introduce you to my pets before I start posting old columns from equine magazines. Tango seems like the perfect place to start since I already have photos of him on my other blog http://ignitetowrite.blogspot.com/

Some horse owners don't consider their horses as pets, but I sure do. I adore Tango. I have to remind myself that he's not a dog on a routine basis. Let me tell you about Tango's beginning. Five summers ago I rescued Tango. I got a phone call while I was on a family vacation in the mountains of Tennessee. "There's a horse who's going to slaughter tomorrow if you don't commit to buy him now," the caller said. Being the sucker that I am I asked for the rest of the story. It seems that an Amish man purchased Tango's bay mother when she was pregnant. She was expected to deliver a bay foal but instead Tango came out about as black and white as they come. This Amish man could not drive a "flashy" horse, so after keeping him for his kids to play with for a couple years, he was ready to sell him one way or another. I bought Tango by the pound and brought him back to the farm where I was boarding an elderly thoroughbred. The plan was for someone (not me) to train Tango.

Unfortunately that didn't happen, so being overly confident and eternally optimistic I managed to test fate. One beautiful summer evening in August my friend and I went out for a trail ride. "Tango's calm," I said, "He'll be fine." I guess the sweet smell of summer and a new horse took the place of common sense. Tango hadn't been under saddle much yet and before the evening was over I managed to end up on the ground. When I fall it looks like Barney the Dinosaur in a train wreck and this time was no exception. There was no gracefulness in the way that I ruptured my spleen.

That was then and this is now. Tango is amazing. He moves like a dream. I can show him in pleasure driving classes and dressage.Tango is also Houdini. Want to know why? One winter when Tango was slightly off (lame) I couldn't ride him much. So instead, I taught Tango tricks. I taught him to push a ball. I taught him to pick up cones. I taught him to bow and give kisses. AND I TAUGHT HIM TO USE HIS MOUTH TO PULL THE END OF A ROPE.So, Tango pushes. He pulls. He gets out. Dumb me. Smart Tango. He knows where the grass is greener!

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Nothing Better!

I can't think of a single thing (aside from my faith, family, and friends) that makes me happier than my animals.

I have three dogs...Kelly, Maddie, and Annabelle. With the exception of Maddie, all my dogs are rescues. Later on, I'll go into greater detail about my dog rescues!

I also have a horse, Tango. I rescued Tango when he was a little over a year old. Tango was small when I got him but he's not now. Turns out, Tango is part draft horse. He's awesome! I show Tango pleasure driving and right now, Intro level dressage.

Journaling is therapeutic to me. I decided it would be fun to journal about my animals with other animal lovers. I use to write a column for a horse magazine. Maybe tomorrow I'll share one of those columns...maybe I'll write about something else!

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