In this photo, you see little Ziva, relaxing with her powerful mother, Sam in the cold Spring morning sun. I don't think she realizes that she's a little splashing beautiful miracle. She just seems like a happy tiny girl with her mom. I am writing this entry on Good Friday, and I have to say that I am feeling unsettled. The economy has been hard on everyone, in the United States and globally. Over the past few days, news bulletins are reporting that a man who is half-owner of Unbridled Song has been charged with 22 counts of animal abuse in connection with his treatment of 177 horses on one of his New York farms. Humane societies, vets, and equine people are reporting that the horses are in starved conditions without medical care or farrier work. A thoroughbred yearling was removed from the farm with a vet reporting that he was 350 pounds, half of what he should be at that age. This news breaks my heart. I remember standing in the beautiful warm summer sun in mid-July last year with Derek and we were laughing because Renny was already 350 pounds and he hadn't even been weaned from his mom. And he's a small pony. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a beautiful thoroughbred colt, starved to the size of nursling Renny.
Anyway, my point is that I hope that we all work toward a more stable, secure future for all of us -- for the many millions of homeless children on this earth, for the children and adults denied education, for the mothers and fathers desperately looking for secure work to feed and nurture their families, and, yes, even for the companion animals, stock, and pets who depend on us to make good decisions. They depend on us and love us and so I hope for a more stable future for them as well. Ziva is named for brilliant, beautiful light, so she'll be my little poster foal this year for that future! Namaste!