As I came from feeding our three horses this morning I began contemplating my place in Heaven in view of the difficulty of caring for our two mares with laminitis/founder, and one of Heaven’s most significant (to me) revelations, “As ye do it to the least of these, My creatures, ye do it unto Me.” That recalled my life’s, probably, most significant accomplishment: The care of Lady Jane, a grey mare, in the semblance of a normal horse environment from the age of five when we bought her, until the age of thirty when she died. That morning, I found her on the ground, breathing heavily, unable to get up, and unaware of her surroundings. My wife called the vet, to facilitate the process, and the handyman to direct the backhoe. With the handyman I left her double twisted wire snaffle bit, copper wire chewed flat over the years, and two quarters, one of the current year and one of the year of her birth, to place in the grave near her head. Then I left to make rounds at the hospital.
A normal horse environment requires room to run, something to chew on all the time, and a herd with a leader. A horse doesn’t care who the leader is. If none is present any horse will accept the responsibility until another demonstrates more talent for the job. Horses know that they must act together to survive. Lady Jane was lead mare until she was very old and sank to bottom position in the herd. But she always had a place.
When a herd is stalked by a pack of wolves, the leader does not lead the herd in a charge against the pack. The leader leads the herd at a full gallop in the opposite direction. They may go miles or tens of miles. That is their talent. Lady Jane once carried me fifty miles in only five and a half hours, and she was not first to finish.
Horses do not go back and try to reclaim their territory. They find a new valley, with fresher and greener grass, and mountains and forests between them and the predators. There they live happily with no thought of the next challenge, after all, it may never come. Could such a valley also be inhabited by people, every one of whom maintained a health care savings account?
Lady Jane after fifty miles in five and a half hours.
