Stephanie Marohn - What the Animals Taught Me: Stories of Love and Healing from a Farm Animal Sanctuary

In this deeply insightful book, Stephanie Marohn explores, through each heartwarming story, the nature of our relationship with animals and the often unintentional harm we may inflict on some of those we believe we love. What the Animals Taught Me leads to important questions: How well do we communicate with animals in our care? How do we react when we see someone abusing a dog or a donkey? Marohn shares with us some of the profound lessons that she has learned from the many animals she has rescued.

Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE; founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace; www.janegoodall.org

What the Animals Taught Me recounts Marohn's inspirational personal journey. An illuminating account of her touching experiences with rescued animals, it describes the animals deep inner lives and demonstrates how the connections we make with fellow animals can inspire and teach us about ourselves.

Gene Baur, founder of Farm Sanctuary and author of Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food

What the Animals Taught Me is a heartwarming book that deserves a wide readership. Stephanie Marohn and her dedicated coworkers selflessly provide a safe haven for animals of all shapes and sizes horses, deer, donkeys, sheep, chickens, and othersand has written inspiring stories about these amazing beings who owe their very lives to this amazing woman. I will never forget Pegasus the horse or a deer named Angel. Read their tales, weep with sadness and joy, and embrace the trust, loyalty, and love our furry and feathered friends offer to us.

Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Expanding our Compassion Footprint

What the Animals Taught Me is a candid and captivating journey into the animal world where the human mind and heart can flower. It is a beautiful and inspiring story of love, transformation, and transcendence.

Adele von Rst McCormick, PhD, and Marlena Deborah McCormick, PhD, authors of Horse Sense and the Human Heart and Horses and The Mystical Path

I have deep respect and admiration for Stephanie Marohn's understanding and reverence for the human/animal bond but, after reading this spellbinding book about unconditional love and animal messengers, I perceive her far greater gift. Stephanie not only reveres animals who cross her path as her true teachers, but she has the gift of weaving their beautiful stories in such a fashion that one can truly relive the experience with her and feel honored to have been a recipient of the gifts of learning and healing from these wise sages. This is indeed a truly special literary collection.

Gail Pope, president and founder of BrightHaven Animal Sanctuary and Hospice; www.brighthaven.org

In the face of ever-more-distressing news about the plights of animals and our treatment of them and each other, Stephanie Marohn's tender insights into the animals she loves, herself, and fellow humans provide a promising antidote.

Kimberly Carlisle, cofounder of The Flag Foundation for Horse/Human Partnership

What the Animals Taught Me encapsulates many of the lessons and insights of unconditional love that we can learn from our kindred spirits. Marohn shares her experiences through heart-awakening stories about rescued and abused animals, immersing one in the essence of the human-animal bond. The wisdom shared will deepen your experience with your animal friends. May this book be of benefit to all beings!

Allen M. Schoen, MS, DVM, author of Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live; www.kindredspiritsproject.com

Copyright 2012 by Stephanie Marohn

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Hampton Roads Publishing, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Cover design by Barbara Fisher / www.levanfisherdesign.com Interior design by Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Photo credits:

Pegasus (p. 5) by Molly Munro.

The hens (p. 80), New life (p. 83), and In the bird yard (p. 85) by Marji Beach/Animal Place.

Sylphide and Ulysses (p. 174) by Regina Kretschmer.

All other photos are by the author.

Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

www.redwheelweiser.com

ISBN: 978-1-57174-657-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on request.

Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America

MAL

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To Charlotte, Wonder, and Gabriel
with all my love and deepest thanks

THE FIRST TO ARRIVE WAS A HORSE. I was gazing out the kitchen window in a dishwashing reverie one morning when a tiny mare, half the size of a regular horse, pranced into view. Pure white, with a long white mane and tail, she looked like a unicorn, minus the horn. I watched in wonderment as she tossed her head and danced away. Was she really there?

I got outside in time to see her trot up to the gate over which the two full-size horses who lived on the property were craning their necks, eyes wide at the sight of her. The visitor touched noses with the gray gelding. The chestnut mare next to him promptly bit the little one on the head. The white horse squealed and leapt back but wasn't truly perturbed. She was overflowing with the ecstasy of freedom.

I moved forward and she walked to meet me, nosed my outstretched hand, and gazed at me from jet-black eyes rimmed endearingly with long white eyelashes. The top of her head reached no higher than my chest. Later I learned that she is a miniature horse, which is bred differently from a pony. After greeting me, the little horse danced off again, back to the gate, where she got in another touch on the gelding's nose before ducking away from the mare's reach. Gabriel, the wild desert donkey, approached tentatively to see what the commotion was about. He was at the bottom of the herd's hierarchy (the mare was at the top), which meant he couldn't push into the others space, so he hung back, but his eyes were riveted on the new arrival.

I watched the little white mare tossing her head and prancing before them. She held herself as if she had no weight, like a dancer does, which in equestrian circles is called collection. The ability to do this is a regal trait of horses and it is thrilling to see. When horses are collected, they seem to float, their feet hardly touching the ground. They are complete grace and utterly, fully present.

How had this little horse gotten onto the property? The eight acres were fenced. But rather than question the marvelous gift, I went to fill a bucket of water for her.

That afternoon, a teenage girl came looking for the horse, who it turned out had broken her tether a few houses away. The little mare raised her head to look at the girl, but lowered it again to the bounty of the grass. We stood watching her graze and speculated about how she had ended up here. We concluded that someone must have come across her on the road, seen the sign on my driveway gate requesting those who entered to close the gate after them because horses were loose on the property, and figured this was where she belonged. Rural Sonoma County, where I live, still operates in the old farm way: passersby take responsibility if they see a cow, horse, sheep, goat, or pig loose and take the time to herd the animal to safety.