A Plea for the Four-Leggeds

The Sky Herd

Run free my brothers in hooves.
Once you were earthbound
and now not even the sky can hold you.
Clouds are the mountains you graze on
and rain the pools you drink from.
Your strong legs are flashes of lightning
as you dance across the earth.
I will never touch your warm body again
nor feel the sweetness of your breath;
but my spirit will always ride with you
on your journey across the heavens.

I wanted to share this lovely poem, written by a fellow "wild ones" owner, Carmon Deyo, and promote her jewelry website, Black Horse Design. Carmon has been a horsewoman for many years, and donates a portion of her sales to mustang and greyhound rescues, as well as other animal groups. Her Celtic designs are phenomenal. I first met Carmon through the Mustang-Burro list, a group of people who support each other through the challenges of adopting and working with Bureau of Land Management wild ones... she always has insightful information to share, and a great love of animals. Perhaps there will be something waiting at her website for gift-giving, to yourself or others, this holiday season.

Twice this year, I have turned to Carmon's site as the most readily available source of the Rainbow Bridge Poem... a comfort when my favorite little dog, Duncan disappeared, and when I experienced the death of another animal.

Here's Duncan, still with us last Christmas.. he was a loving dog, and a lot of work, like a high-maintenance friend that you love anyway, and I still find myself missing him.


I am lucky that my own five burros are doing so well. Here is the teenaged Assteroid.. our own little baby born from a wild mama at our place:

Assteroid enjoying the sun.


We are also entering the season where animals suffer from abuse and neglect, mainly as inappropriate gifts, but also because people don't want an "old" animal around during the party season, or don't want to locate care for their animals when traveling over one of the holidays. Perhaps you will be able to influence those around you to show greater compassion to animals this season, or perhaps you will feel moved to donate to animal charities... there is always a need, and with lots of other suffering and need throughout the world this year, in the form of natural disasters, these charities are hurting.