Our Why
We are Amanda and James and we are animal lovers through and through. Filling our life and family with a myriad of companions means that we have faced loss first-hand.
Loss we planned for. Loss we were not expecting.
The catalyst for our passion—support for humans and dignity for our companions—was the February 2022 death of our beloved gelding, Eddie.
Our time with him was cut suddenly short and we found ourselves facing a situation we had long-dreaded and failed to make meaningful preparations for. The lack of clear support and options for the after-death handling of our horse was startling.
Upon his passing, the initial shock wore off to an overwhelming conundrum: what to do with the 1100lb, lifeless body of our sweet horse? The questions came hard and fast — how do we get him out of the stall? What will we do with his body? Where can it go? It's February in Minnesota with freezing temperatures and snowpack! Furthermore, we didn't have the equipment to dig a hole large enough even if we could penetrate the frozen ground. And wait, were we allowed to bury him on our farm? What were the “rules” about burial? Where could we take him? How would we get him in the trailer... and out of it? So many questions, so many emotions.
Someone had to do something… so here we are.
Eddie
Our family acreage is located just north of rural Mantorville, Minnesota. We are a short drive from Rochester and surrounded by cropland and farms for as far as the eye can see. We have been here for twelve years and love the location and our neighbors.
We share the farm with our three horses; BonBon, Beauty, and Copper. BonBon has been a part of Amanda’s life for 23 years and it brings us great comfort knowing we can care for her when the time comes. James spied Beauty’s face in an auction in 2021 and decided right then and there that we needed her. Copper happened to be hanging out in the same auction pen so we said ‘what the heck’ and brought them both home. We’ve been lucky to have known many special horses over the years!
In addition to the horses, we also have two dogs, a few indoor cats, and some beloved farm and feral kitties.
