My neighbor just put down two of her horses.  Both older with many problems.  She’s hurting.  I’ve been there many times.

The question in your mind is always the same.  How long is it going to hurt this bad?  Can I really go out tomorrow morning and see their empty stall?

When I put my first horse down, I really believed that I couldn’t go to the barn in the morning to feed the others.  However, when I woke up the next morning I thought, this is the first day in years that Lady isn’t in pain.  I think it’s always hardest losing your first.  It’s the horse you always dreamed of owning.  It’s your best friend, your therapist, a shoulder to cry on, and now they’re gone.  Your life is altered forever.  That special nicker you would hear when you approached the barn, the bright eyes with ears pricked forward as you came within sight won’t be there tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that.  It leaves a big hole in your heart.  I know, I’ve buried 18.  Each one was special in a different way.  Shadow celebrated life everyday.  Desert could always make me smile with his silly ways.  I could go on, but you know what I mean.

So how do you go on?  Well just take it one day at a time.  Sure, for a while, every time you get to that day of the week that you lost them, it will all come flooding back.  They were a gift from God that you got to love, enjoy, and learn from for just a little while, then He takes them home.  They were always His anyway.  I truly believe that we will see them again in Heaven.  It doesn’t necessarily say that directly in the Bible, but there are many hints.  Jesus on a white horse and the saints who come riding back, is a good clue for a start.  I just can’t believe that a God who created these beautiful creatures, who knows every sparrow that falls, would not include them in Paradise.  If He created them to live in the Garden of Eden, I know that all our faithful animals will be there to greet us on the other side.  The morning of the day that I lost two, Bob had been watching the movie “Heaven Is For Real.”  It’s a movie about a little boy who died and went to heaven (true story).  The little boy told that he had seen Jesus and his horse.  That evening when I lost two, I remembered that God has sent me a note that morning telling me that they were with Him this day in Paradise, and that they were fine.  It was very sad, but comforting.

Let it be a comfort to you to know that these animals, whether it’s a horse, dog, or cat, bird or whatever, truly loved you.  That they gave you the most precious gift, their life, and you in turn gave them your love, and a happy home.

They are just waiting to see you again on he other side of that Rainbow Bridge.  I will be so happy, that I just won’t know who to hug first, but it will a great day.

Blessings and comfort to all of you who have lost a special animal, and they are All special.