From Brandy:  “I am grateful for the caregivers of the world. I am grateful for all who come seek me out to pet a horse for the first time and decide to trust me.  I am grateful for the sad at heart who smile when they come in our barn. I am honored to be a part of a mission that is at the very heart and soul of the horse. Not everyone understands the depth of this yet. But we are stepping into something magnificent here. I know you humans are experiencing a great time of turmoil. Don’t think that it is tearing you apart. Because it is actually bringing you together. And as you come together, you will realize that your differences are so minor and irrelevant. You will learn to have different vision. You will see that love is love regardless of any other factors. You will learn that humanity is one species united. Just as animals understand this about one another and about humans, you will grow to understand this too. Your differences are small and your ties that bind you together are much greater than you realize. Our mission here is to remind you of that. I live for the lives that we touch. Because this is now the mission that feeds me and in gratitude, I will strive to feed the mission.  I am grateful for each one of you reading this and sharing this. These messages from my friends and I are very meaningful to us. We thank you for your participation. Please join with us as we move forward together.”

This message concludes our series for 2020. What a year it has been. Thank you all for letting the animals into your hearts and lives and we hope their messages have brought you a bit of light and peace and hope. Here’s to a bright and peaceful year ahead!

From Santino: “There is a certain gracefulness about being a cat that I am only recently discovering. I spent most of my life being rather aloof, but now things have changed. I love a good snuggle session with my human friends scratching me under the chin or behind my ears. And I love snuggling them. I am happiest when my heart is full. Never underestimate what your love does for someone else. They may not be able to even tell you, but your heart can change lives. Every heart needs to feel love and acceptance for who they are. Sometimes that ones that are acting out with behavior that is disagreeable are just lost themselves. Those are the ones that need the most love and kindness so that they can find their way. Hearts are hearts, no matter if animal or human. We all love. We all hurt. And we all long to be seen for who we are. You can be that gift to someone. It will not only change their life but it will change yours as well. I know this for sure.”

From Libby: “People have often thought I was shy when in fact I was timid. I didn’t see the point in trusting people as nothing was ever permanent. But it is clear to me now that this time is different. Our donkey family unit is intact and we have been invited to participate in something very different. We are finding humans who actually want to listen to what we have to say. And for that, I am starting to get a little braver and step forward a little quicker. I think I’m going to really like how life goes forward now. Where before I only could see hardship, I’m now seeing opportunities. Here is what I want you to know.  When things get hard, don’t give up. Good things can come out of nowhere and change your life. I am very grateful for those who stepped in and changed mine. I have so much to give. And I’m learning how to give it now. I hope you’ll come see me someday. There is so much to share.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Merlin: “There is so much of life to be grateful for every single day. I love to interact with humans. You are actually quite wonderful creatures. You learn quickly. You are good mimics. And you are sometimes easy to train. The only thing is that you get distracted so easily. What I love most about you humans though is your loving hearts and your smiles. Sometimes I do not think you understand how beautiful your hearts are. You often get sidetracked into thinking you need to hide your hearts or protect them in boxes so that you eventually forget how important your own heart is to you. When people are with me though, they tend to drop their guard down enough for me to truly see in their hearts. And I love what I see. What I find funny is that people think I am mimicking them, when in fact, I am often the one starting the conversation and getting you to mimic me. I like keeping you engaged long enough that you show me who you are. Let those lights shine. You are beautiful.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Bayberry: “There is just so much to be joyful and grateful about in life! There is never ever a shortage of things. If you feel stuck, go outside and stand under the sun. If it’s raining, that’s ok too. Without rain, the grass doesn’t grow. Go stand out under the stars at night and look at the infinite possibilities out there in the universe. Watch a lady bug crawl up a fence post. Go outside and just run for the pure joy of it. Leap in the air. You see, I do those things and then people label me as a crazy horse. I’m just happy. Ok, maybe a little crazy too but that is even better! You humans are a little too silly with your labeling everything. It gets you into trouble. Just because someone is different you think that is odd. Just pay attention to being yourself and not worrying about what others are looking like. For me, that seems logical. You waste too much energy worrying about what everyone else is doing while you are not paying attention to what you should be doing. But I love you all anyway. So, come on, get out there and find just one thing to be joyful about. And then if you want to tell me what it is, I’d love to hear it!”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Piper: “There are so many wonderful things in life that inspire me. I may have no eyes but my world is far from dark. Colors light up my inner vision. I can sense height and depth and I can feel everything around me. I am lightening fast at maneuvering and zigging and zagging and most of the time not running into anything.  Sometimes we need to learn to see things in other ways. Your eyes can deceive you. And you often overlook your “knowing”. The key is learning to trust what you know and feel. Once you master that, you can have vision that sees through any obstacles. I’m inspired by colors. And I most love my friends. They truly inspire me to feel safe in my world.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Mary Beth: “I am grateful for a gentle touch or a soft scratch behind my ears. I love to hear people speak softly to me and let me lean in to them. I love my donkey friend Mabel who watches over me and shares all of the things she knows in life. She has been super kind to me and I think she is wonderful, even when I get jealous and kick at her to get her to move so I can have more attention. She doesn’t mind though. I appreciate when people see me for who I am and don’t get lost in what I look like and that I am not normal looking like the other donkeys. I love that I get to be a donkey in the midst of a place that loves who donkeys are and understands what we have to offer. I love to be appreciated. I love all who love me and I strive to love the ones who cannot see past their own curtains to see the light in others. I truly am grateful for each day. When my heart beats, it beats with the same intensity of the sun and the moon and the stars. No matter how long I have in this lifetime, I will cherish each day and every moment.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Eloise: “Have you ever noticed all the wonderful things to smell in life? The smell of apples in the air on a fall day. The smell of clover in the summer. And then there is the smell of watermelon which is like the best ever. And grapes. And fresh mud to wallow in. There is so very much to appreciate in life. I am grateful for all of it. Giving thanks is a gift I think. To be thankful is like telling the sun each day how glad you are that it is there in the sky. Don’t forget the everyday things you take for granted. Be thankful for it all. Every little morsel!”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Belle: “Sometimes we find ourselves in places in life we never expected to be. I once was a part of a herd of four horses. We lived together for 20 years and were a solid unit. Over the past 5 years, one by one my friends have passed into spirit and I am now the last one. There was a time that I’d have not known how to survive by myself. But I am old and my body has its own frailties now. Yet, I understand now why I needed to stay. I spent my life being steadfast on doing things my way and only on my terms. The humans listened to me when I said I needed space to just be, and they let me be. It was the greatest gift they could have offered to me and I will forever be grateful for this life I have lived as a horse where I could be free of being harnessed into someone that I was not. I had no interest in being dominated by a human. Partnership was not something I was seeking. I only wanted freedom. I came in to this life with a hunger to be free. And I was allowed to find that here. Many have thought I had a wasted life and that the people around me should have done things differently. But those people do not understand the free spirit that I am. I didn’t want human companionship because that meant that I’d have to live the way they thought fit for me. Instead, I taught them about the freedom of the horse. Being alone now, and with physical issues that I need help with, I now need to look to humans for help. And this has been a valuable lesson for me. I have learned to allow others to care for me and entrust to them my dignity and freedom. It will be a gift I take with me on my journey beyond this lifetime. In turn, I gave a gift to them to trust what they hear from the animals. I lived my life exactly the way I wanted to. They couldn’t or shouldn’t have done anything different. For those who have judged the people who truly heard me hurts my heart. I will forever owe my human caretakers of the last 30 years a debt of gratitude. They provided for me the exact life I came to have.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From O’Malley: “There are things in life that can only be savored and sometimes it is hard to explain that. Simplicity is a gift in life that we don’t always see well. Like how the warmth of a hand feels on your back. How a gentle nudge by a fellow cat can mean everything on a dark day.  Or the smell of catnip when our humans open the container. Ahhhh, yes. Now there is something to savor. Life doesn’t have to be as complicated as you make it. Remember to savor the simple things. And then you can think of me, O’Malley, when you do so and see how wonderful that feels.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Felix: “Once upon a time, my friend Leo and I were among the first donkeys to live here on this farm. We had the honor to be with the very first donkey on the farm, Amber Donkey. Amber was a very old wise woman. The humans say she lived to be 50 years old. We called her the grandmother donkey and she called us the two wise guys. But she liked us really. She taught us how to bray loudly and we carry on that tradition to this day. She inspired our songs. Now the farm has many donkeys. While we haven’t actually met the others as we are on a separate part of the farm from them, we all call out to one another. We now have a donkey choir! Amber would be so proud. I am grateful to carry on her legacy. Legacies are important. When our friends are no longer physically here on the farm, we can keep their messages and love alive within our own hearts. Leo and I are Amber’s legacy. I am grateful and honored to be able to say that we were her wise guys. Let’s all hold those we love and who are no longer with us in our hearts and let them know their legacies are alive.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Yeti: “I love my physical body. I love to feel the strength of my legs when I run in a big circle. I love to leap. I love to play. Nothing feels better than to feel appreciated. I think it is a good thing to let the ones you appreciate know how much you appreciate them. Start right now. Hop, hop, hop into this. No sense waiting. Go for it. People waste too much energy worrying what not to say then to just say what is aching to be said. I see it all the time. You think you are superior with language but you don’t even know how to use it. It’s like have a super-fast body and only walking at a slow pace. Get out there and use what you have been given and spread joy and appreciation. That’s what I do. I just can’t reach as far as you can. But that doesn’t stop me from reaching!”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Charlie: “Yep, Charlie here. I do this every year and I begged to be included again. Never let an opportunity pass you by. Sometimes you hold back because you are afraid you might fail. But you fail yourself when you don’t step through the doors that open for you. I know this is true. I am very grateful to be a cute but sometimes naughty pony in a world that needs to be brightened by each and every one of us. Let’s make each other smile. Come on! You can do it! If you could watch me gallop around my pasture on a sunny day, you’d know what pure joy looks like and feels like. Let me see your joy. What makes you happy and appreciative? Please…. Let’s take a moment to share. I’m waiting for your answers. Don’t leave a little pony waiting. I might get a little cantankerous.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Lorinda: “I was born with legs that are not normal but I am not hindered one bit in my life. People need to look past what is not normal about me or else they miss who I really am. I am very happy in my life and I am so happy to be here. I was living outside trying to fend for myself for a while in my life. No one wanted a cat with stubby front legs. But living outside wasn’t a great life for me. Someone helped me get here and I now have a life that is much easier and more fulfilling. I’m not struggling to survive but I’m thriving on being alive. I think that being grateful for what you have is a big part of surviving the hard times. Even when things seem impossible, there is something you can find to be grateful for and when you do that, you will create even more around you that will nourish you during the hardest of times. I’d like to send you strength and hope during this hard time for you. I will purr that into being and send it out to all who’d like to gather some hope from me.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Carley: “I have been told that I am the smallest of the equine family on the farm. I think that is wonderful. I also have the loudest voice and I think that is important. I love proclaiming to the world that we are here. Being a donkey is a privilege and I am so lucky to have this life to be who I am. My life didn’t start out to well, but I was very young when I came here at only a couple of years old. So I have now known more kindness and good than I’ve known of the negative things. I can now use that to help others, including my other donkey friends who came from a place of darkness but were there for way longer than I was. Many of them lost hope and have had trouble getting it back again. And that is why I need to have the loudest voice. Because I need to proclaim the trust and kindness and safety in the world to speak over the despair and lack of hope. Those of us with joy must talk loudly so that those who aren’t as fortunate can hear us through their own fears and doubts.  That is what I do. That is who I am. Now, I’d like to know about you. Who are you? I can’t wait to meet you!”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Snowball: “I absolutely love feeling the sun on my body. I love walking on grass and smelling all of the various kinds of grasses and vegetation. I love savoring them as well. Every day there is something to be grateful for and something that makes you happy to be alive. On difficult days, I just have to look a little harder or not set my sights too big. But there is always beauty around in every moment.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Shawnee: “I have been touched by the wisdom of many elders before me. I have been so fortunate to learn so much. I think it’s important to store the wisdom of those who have lived before us and to then add our own findings in life to theirs. We can’t start out to do things our way without looking and building on foundations that are there for us to build on. It’s important to look at life through the eyes of others to improve your own vision of where you are in life. Besides that, I love and appreciate carrots and apples and grazing out on grass on a nice sunny day. Life has so much to offer. Don’t overlook it.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Misty Mew: “Life is simply wonderful. I know you humans are all struggling right now. But don’t give up. Stick with this. Any mess I’ve ever been in ends at some point. It is hard to see that at the time, but life will move you through and out the other side. We have not had any visitors since spring and I am the head greeter cat. So I have been unemployed and out of work most of the year. Now, it should be said that I have a lot of work to do just keeping track of the humans that are here taking care of us. They have a big job and I like to be able to say that I am extremely helpful to them. But sometimes it is my job to call them aside and have a little chat when they start taking things way too seriously. And these days, I’m doing a lot of chatting if you know what I mean. Listen, it’s not as bad as it seems. It really isn’t. Look outside. The sun is still coming up each day. Birds are flying. Seasons are changing. Every snowflake is still quite unique to itself. Rain is still rain. Seeds are being shed and planted and life is preparing to start all over again the next season. And I am still here. Please don’t give up. That would be the worst thing you could do. The world needs what you came here to give. So pick yourselves up and keep on moving so that you can give us all what your brought to the table. We need you!”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Ginny: “I am inspired by trees. Big trees come from the same size seeds and flowers. Yet they come to be bigger and stronger. They grow into their unique identity. We all start as seeds but we grow to be the unique beings that each one of us is. And we all offer something unique and special in this world. I see people trying to blend in and act and be like one another. Why do you do that? No two of you are alike. I think you should aspire to be yourself rather than to be like anyone else. You are like no one else. So stop worrying and just be you. A rose is a beautiful thing. But if the rose sees a maple tree and only wishes she could be a maple tree, she will never understand the beauty of what her seed turned out to be. Just be you. And that will inspire me to just be me. Like the trees.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Cumin: “Hey there! Take it from someone little, who doesn’t get around much, but understands more about the world then you know, there is so much to be grateful for in this world! What would a guinea pig know, you ask? Well don’t let my little body fool you. I see more in this world than you realize. I read a lot. No, not books. Of course guinea pigs cannot read books. But, we certainly can read a lot about humans, directly from the source. You humans throw a lot of energy around willy nilly at times. You have wonderful hearts, but you walk around a little scattered. You need to root yourself better to the earth. You probably need to eat more vegetables than you do. And when is the last time you truly savored a good piece of apple? When you live in a very tiny body like mine, everything looks large around you. But you need to see the true essence of things so that you can understand them better and not fear them. Use your hearts more. You have such beautiful hearts. I appreciate you, even if I haven’t met you personally. I appreciate everyone. Try to find something you can appreciate about each person you meet. It will change your life. And that is a guinea pig promise.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Mabel: “I am grateful for being old. Yes, you heard that right. I am blessed to be elderly. The alternative would be that I wouldn’t be in this body right now. Bodies are not meant to stay young. Youth is not to be envied or looked back upon with desires to go backward. I know if you are young you are thinking that I am wrong. But I can tell you that with the weathering of time there comes a wisdom and quiet calm that finds you. No matter how old I am, I take inspiration from the trees and the stones who are much older than I am and still have their gift of wisdom intact. No, I wouldn’t want to be young again. For I have learned so much more now than I could have ever dreamed about. I am not looking towards an ending. I’m looking toward a journey that will continue long after this body is alive. I am not this body. And it took me many years of life to understand this and breathe from a place of quiet wisdom. I am appreciative for every day of my life. Not all were easy. Not all were filled with joy. But all of them are mine and nothing will ever take that away. And that my friends, fills me with joy. I shall keep on with this journey with deep gratitude. I hope you will do so too.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.

From Evelyn: “I am grateful to know the heart of a family. My mom tells us all the time how lucky we are to be here now. She knows all sorts of sad stories of other pigs she knew that didn’t make it to safety.  She lived through some dark times of having no food and no shelter and suffering. We know there are lots of animals and humans out there now that are not in a safe place. So our mom asked us to be aware of how lucky we are to live our lives in this sanctuary where she gave birth to us. I think sometimes we drive her nuts but she still seems to tolerate us being here. But please don’t feel sorry for her either. Because she still is the boss and we all know that too. I am grateful when we all snuggle up together in a big line. We help each other and love to be close to one another. And we love when our human friends come in to snuggle with us too. Life is really good. And we will take all of that and send it out to those who are not feeling so good today. We hope that 7 little pigs can somehow brighten your day with our desire to fill you with happiness and warmth. Hope you get it.”

Each day through December 31, as has been our annual tradition now for many years, we will share with you a message from one of the animals of Spring Farm CARES. We hope this will provide you with a bit of inspiration for your day.