The look on Mama’s face the first morning after their arrival said it all: It was a look of…"Is this for REAL?” We answered her with: “Yes, Mama, this is home.” The gratitude from her brought us to tears. She knows her baby is safe. As parents, we understand this is everything.
We actually feel gratitude from all the horses. Is it possible they are excited to be a part of Baby growing up in an environment where she is honored and loved from the beginning? 
While we understand it is not plausible to give all our horses at the sanctuary a healthy beginning, it sure does feel good to think, that possibly by our horses witnessing and aiding in the loving life of Baby, this could help heal their deepest wounds and restore trust and balance in their lives. Knowing how this is also going to impact the children and families who visit The Farm Way brings us full circle with our mission: We are a sanctuary where ALL of life's best possibilities are encouraged. 
#FoodNourishes
#LoveHeals
#TheFarmWay

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We'd like y'all to meet Charlie, our newest member of the sanctuary!

At the beginning of the summer, Charlie was rescued from a bad situation by a sweet family who knew they wouldn't be able to keep him, but knew he couldn't stay where he was. They spent the summer fattening him up with lots of food and love.

Charlie was malnourished and beaten by the first hands that tried to care for him. People often ask: why would anyone do such a thing? We don't have the answers to that. What we do know is love creates a sweet space for trust to return. We see this time and time again with all our animals. Something else we see, animals don't hold onto the stories based on their past. Take Charlie for example, he is cautious with us, especially if we walk towards him too quickly. As soon as we slow down and create a peaceful space for him, he comes to us, even though we look, act and smell similar to the hands that once hurt him. Charlie is a Champ!

We are very honored to be able to give him a beautiful life here at The Farm Way. And we look forward to seeing all the lives that Charlie helps, little and big, become their own Champs! 
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#thefarmway
#charliethechamp
#sanctuarylife
#foodnourishesloveheals

Yesterday was a big day for the new boy: he hung with the herd and even got a little muddy.

We are talking about the white potbelly pig. He came to The Farm Way four weeks ago with the name Hank and a couple of nuts (and we aren't talking about the kind from trees). Prior to taking him in, we had our dear friend and healer, Cynthia, check in with him. She said he was excited to come to the farm but was nervous about fitting in. Well, after meeting him and realizing he wasn't neutered we absolutely understood his concerns. At nearly a year and a half, he was all hormones. When we say he tried to mount everything here on the farm, we are not exaggerating!
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During this chaotic hormonal time for him he did not respond to much of anything, especially his given name. So we tried out some other names - Frank, Frankie, Francis, Boris, Horndog, Joey, etc. Frankie was close. And then one day about two weeks after he was neutered, Himebaugh was chatting away with him (yes, we talk with our animals all the time) and out came the phrase: Frankie goes to Hollywood. The pig perked up and paid attention for the first time. We have been calling him Hollywood ever since.

He still prefers to keep on a paved path and scratch against vehicles (he did come from Chicago). However, each day he is becoming more and more a part of The Farm Way's herd. We are super grateful that we have the means and the space (thanks to the support from our human herd!) to take in this boy and allow him to live a life that is as close to his natural state of being as possible. Just think about it: by no fault of his own, his alternative was a small second bedroom in a small Chicago apartment.

In our experience, we have found that there is no such thing as a mini pig, mini as in micro. There are breeders saying their pigs will stay 45 lbs or less. This is only possible if the pig is starved. Hollywood is considered small. He weighs in at 86 lbs. 
‪#‎rescue‬
‪#‎potbellypig‬
‪#‎thefarmway‬

This photo was taken on day two at the new homestead of The Farm Way. We feel very humbled and honored to be the guardians of such sacred land.

It has taken us four years, a barn fire, getting outbid on another farm, regrouping our entire family at *Maytown Farm, a rockin’ farmraiser, an incredible angel family, Grandma Nancy (we have many stories to share of her including the fact that she was a trick rider!) and being homeless like little tiny baby Jesus on Christmas Eve to bring us here, to our forever farm in Whiteside County, IL.

Through each trial or crossroad we would ask ourselves which way gives us the greatest feeling of peace within our mind and our body? It is important to follow the path of peace.  Dreams readily come true when they are aligned with truth, love and the greater good. Understanding this simple fact, we would lean deeply upon the hope in our hearts and then follow the path of peace.  Also, heeding Geronimo’s advice of ‘Dream Big’, we courageously went back to our dream board several times to revise our dreams. In the beginning, our wish was to own the farm where it all began for us. Once our passion of rescuing our first two ponies turned into a mission, we quickly realized that farm was not big enough for our vision of our rescue horses grazing upon acres and acres of grass.  Our mantra became “Go Big and Go Home!” We have done exactly this.

We absolutely recognize this land has much to offer in ways of rescue, education, healing, food, fun, and the list goes on. It is our wish to share The Farm Way with all of you who feel drawn to it. Come this spring we will be hosting volunteer days to help us get the farm ready for more rescue animals and our fabulous equine programs for children, vets and families. If you would like to be on our mailing list, please email us at [email protected].  We will happily keep you updated!
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Looking forward with gratitude! Mike, Nicole, Tex and all the animals of The Farm Way

(*Maytown Farm. In the fall of 2015, we gathered our entire family at Maytown Farm. It had been 36 months since our horses last lived on the same land as us. Maytown was owned by a fellow rescuer and she so graciously opened her home, barn and land to all of us. We are incredibly grateful because we know in our hearts having our horses with us once again provided the perfect message to the Universe to help us move forward. The magic of Maytown Farm deserves a blog of its own. And I will certainly do this very soon so stay tuned. smile.)

Putting together my thoughts to write this story, I am in awe of how the dots connect and humbled by the way The Universe works. Let me start with the first dot to show you what I mean. In the summer of 2013, Mike came across an add in the local paper regarding a farm needing help with their horses. He cut it out for me to call them. So I did, and I ended up having the sweetest conversation with the owner. There was an instant connection. And even though she did not need help at the time, in fact, she didn't know why the add was still in the paper since she had cancelled it a few weeks prior, I wondered how our paths would intertwine. Well here's how......

On January 28, 2014 we lost something very special to us. The big red barn here on The Farm burned down. Our animals were safe, but nothing else was saved. Something woke Mike at about 1:00 am that morning. His stirring woke me. We saw this magnificent orange glow outside. In the split second it took us to discern what was happening, I thought it was a spaceship and Mike thought it was a million swirling orange snowplow lights. Mike ran to the window. I knew in his gasp it was the barn. He took off for outside and I called 911. The operator asked if everyone was safe. Our ponies! This was the first time I looked out the window towards the barn. It was entirely lit-up! I knew the ponies wouldn't be in the barn. They had free in and out access. But the smoke. Oh the smoke! It engulfed the entire corral. Pictures of them being grounded and us needing to get them up and out rolled through my head. Running to help Mike, he met me at the mudroom door with the sweetest words ever: the ponies are safe! YES! 

Mike found the ponies snuggled up by the gate to the upper pasture. The smoke with bits of the burning barn literally cut straight up and over them. Not a stray spark touched them, nor did they even smell of smoke. Geronimo was facing the house with a look that seemed to say: "finally, we've been waiting for you to wake up and open the gate". Was Geronimo the something that willed Mike awake? We believe he was. 

Remember that first dot? Yes, the farm looking for help with their horses. Well, we ended up connecting with them in fall of 2013, three months prior to the fire. We once again came across an add in our local paper. This time it was a for sale advertisement for a farm. Looking at the pictures and reading the description, something clicked in our hearts making us wonder if this was the same place. I decided to give the owner, Mary, a call. She said it was indeed their farm and asked if we wanted to come take a look at it. While we weren't necessarily in the market for a different farm, we were beginning to expand on our vision for The Farm Way Sanctuary. Trusting in this sign, we went for a visit. 

We enjoyed our time with Mary and looking around the beautiful farm. But our hearts were drawn to the horses. It was apparent that they had been without much of any human contact for quite awhile. Come to find out it had been nearly six years. They were quite shy of us. Mike being the horseman he is had a few treats in his pocket. A couple of them let us get close enough for a scratch here and there. Hannah was one of them. We are so glad she did because she had an eye infection. And so started our time at Willow Tree Farm. 

Mary and her family were in the process of re-homing their horses. The word was that they were to go to a man who was known around town for some shady business. Let's just say, he wasn't a horse person. You're probably wondering what would he want with five horses? Exactly our concern. We knew the horses needed our help. Fast-forward a few months, and we ended up needing Mary's help. No Barn in the middle of the coldest winter in decades s'no good for the ponies! Dots connecting. (Pssst, her name isn't really Mary, but this is what I am calling her for the story.)

The transition for our ponies to Willow Tree Farm was easy. Mary and her family were so welcoming. We are super grateful for their generosity. We continued to care for their horses as well as ours. Yes, Mike was taking care of two farms and his pregnant woman. He is Wonderful!

The months passed and summer was upon us. Visions of The Farm Way Sanctuary turned into us forming a non profit corporation and a business plan. Having three rescues of our own and working with the horses of Willow Tree, especially Hannah and her connection with Abigail (click here for their story), we know this is ours to do: Save a Soul. Heal a Heart. 

While we absolutely cherish the farm we are on now and would be honored to build another barn, the homestead with its three acres of land simply does not fit with our vision of our rescue horses happily grazing upon acres and acres of grass. Did I mention we were this close to owning Willow Tree Farm? Well we were. Contract was with the lawyers. But money talks and someone with more money than us at the time talked. One moment we were gearing up to move the rest of us to Willow Tree and in the next we are having to relocate our horses. Trusting in Divine Order and Time, the transition was easy once again. Two of the Willow Tree horses remained with the new owners and three were re-homed. Princess is with Hannah at a stable nearby. Hero and Geronimo are hanging with our dear friends Chuck and Wendy and their awesome herd. They are all well cared for and happy.  We are super grateful. 

Losing the big red barn and then Willow Tree Farm, it seems we are being asked to recognize and honor the courage and strength of our own spirit. As we do, we grow in the understanding necessary to continue traveling the road we have chosen, and to face with wisdom whatever challenges life brings. We believe everything happens for a reason, even if we don't quite see the dots connecting yet! ;)

We have passed the one year marker without our horses being on our farm with us. The French have a saying that sums up or feelings perfectly: tu me manques ... you are missing from me. Our horses are missing from us. And this simply feels amiss since they are such an essential part of our family. We know our perfect farm is out there for us to all be together again. We can just feel it! In whatever way works best for you, we ask you to please: wish us luck, pray for us, and affirm our success in finding the perfect farm for The Farm Way Sanctuary and our family. And if ya happen to see any of our future dots, we'd love to hear from you! Cheers! :)