Content in all things. I feel it here on this farm. In this picture sun, blue sky, golden earth, good health and a great companion. I wish this kind of peace for all. True happiness is pretty elemental. 

Transitions are never easy. I can't imagine being a horse and having to go to a new home after being settled in to a life. Horses like people get attached to things, other animals, their surroundings, people, a routine, what's familiar.

Both my new pony Pie and my dear pony Pickle have just been through that transition period. Pickle moved in December from our farm in to a retirement herd in Virginia and Pie came to live with us from the Yoder's Rock Valley Stables in Ohio where she was well loved and well cared for especially by her five year old friend Eva Yoder.

It's hard to be asked to start over. To make new friends and alliances and to begin feeling like a new place is home. Both ponies, I am happy to report, are making great strides at this. Pickle has integrated into his new herd, and funnily enough, he has befriend my old horse Sara who is a member of that herd. They never knew each other before as Sara had been retired to that farm long before I got Pickle.

Pie, though I think she still misses her old home and the Yoders, has made good friends with the mules and really started to relax in her new home with us. I am hoping one day she will feel a bond as strong with me as she has with little Eva. I will work for it with all the respect and admiration that smart, little horse deserves.

Below are some pictures of the ponies making their adjustments. It is so important that we humans realize what big asks we demand of these intelligent, sentient beings. We must always be patient and grateful for their goodwill and effort to readjust.