In the early years on our farm we adopted some goats and a livestock guardian dog, Rosie, to protect them and our girls. This was a huge learning curve for us city slickers. Rosie is a Great Pyrenees and this breed is one of a kind. I am a huge animal lover and grew up with dogs but Rosie was a whole new ballgame. From grooming to training to keeping her in the yard, it was all a bit wild. She often took all five goats on walkabouts and we would have to retrieve them in our minivan from the many kind humans who found them. We quickly became fencing experts but occasionally we would make the mistake of leaving a gate open and then we’d have a real life “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” on our hands.

Recently, we added a second Great Pyr, Luna, to the mix so that Rosie could train her and basically retire. This plan has actually worked! When Luna first arrived, Rosie was busy fending off the annoying puppy, occasionally engaging in play time, encouraging her to follow on perimeter checks, showing her how to herd the goats to safety while preventing her from annoying them. A year of training later and Rosie now has the luxury of spending most of her days laying quietly with a watchful eye over the property and Luna. Luna is now the protector and Rosie only steps in when needed. Rosie and Luna did just get back from an overnight walkabout with the goats but amazingly they all stayed together until we found them 24 hours later about 10km away from home and up a logging road. Despite some sleepless nights and being hometown celebrities because of our wandering herd, they really are such a cool part of our farm. They are the kindest dogs with an immense commitment to their job and our family.

Around the same time the goats arrived, we thought it would be fun to have chickens and collect their eggs and have the kids sell them on the side of our little country road – every farm has chickens, right?

Well, this little adventure was short-lived!  

Chickens, in my opinion, are the most destructive and messy animals. Granted we had about forty of them so it was more than overwhelming but man did they wreck everything, including their house. And cleaning up after them was absolutely gross. They also chased and attacked the girls, which the girls hated. Admittedly, I always thought that part was funny but those little exchanges made it almost impossible to get the girls to help with the chores around the farm. It wasn’t long before we found a new home for the chickens and I don’t think anyone was particularly sad to see them go.

While learning the ropes of parenting a high-needs little boy, we put the farm on the backburner for a few years and focused on medical appointments, parenting, keeping our heads above water, career changes to accommodate our new responsibilities, the daily grind, house renovations and just loving all of our children as much as we possibly could.

Our time felt limited so the focus had to be on wrapping our arms around one another as much as possible.   

The early years with William made it hard to make and keep commitments, go on a holiday – even just camping, go out for dinner, go to the beach for a day or even visit family. We did do some of these things but William always suffered afterward. It was much easier to have people visit us and stay close to home where William is comfortable and has everything he needs. Slowly, we started taking steps to building the life we had originally dreamed about. And I’ll never forget the day our first horse rolled up our driveway. Although I had been around horses, I was new to the equestrian world and horse ownership. But we jumped in with all 10 feet and began the epic journey.

With three young children, every horse had to be kid safe and calm. We quickly found a coach to guide us and the girls both started riding lessons. Our original plan was to trail ride and casually ride in our yard but that quickly turned into competitive training and barrel racing. Barrel Racing is a western speed event where horse and rider make a clover leaf patter around three cans as fast as they can. We all fell in love with the sport and both girls were improving and building confidence quickly. We have certainly had a few horses through our barn to meet the girls where they are at in their training.

As more experienced horses came through and we became more comfortable, it was acceptable to have quirky or more high energy horses but it always amazed me at how each of them changed when they were around William.

Now William isn’t particularly quiet and he has some erratic body movements but that never seemed to bother any of our horses. They all just stood close to him calmly and allowed for him to experience them. They would nuzzle him, smell him and often just fall asleep near him.  

We had one mare who had a very special bond with William and last winter we had to say goodbye which was incredibly hard. Over this past year, the girls both decided that school, squash and rugby were their priorities so we have downsized to one horse for us all to share. This horse, Scout, is the perfect gentleman and happily engages with everyone who comes around. William does regularly venture out to visit the goats, dogs and Scout and is always well received by the herd. He enjoys feeding Scout treats and the goats like to try and eat the fabric on his wheelchair – they climb all over him and chew his pants and anything else they can get their little lips on.

Raising our children on our farm was the dream and although it took several years to find our way, we are living the dream again – challenge accepted!  

Our farm has taught our children so many incredible life skills and lessons. It is the base for the girls’ independence, work ethic and problem-solving skills. From the time the goats arrived, we have been up early for chores and out before dinner for chores. Our animals come first and the kids know it. It is an every day of the year responsibility and now that they are older, they take on this responsibility basically on their own. It’s quite magical waking up in the morning to the sounds of the girls’ footsteps coming down the stairs and heading outside. We then hear the gates open and close, the wheelbarrow roll through the gravel and all the footsteps of the goats, horse and dogs running to greet them. Each of the girls take their own quiet moments to steel some nose kisses from Scout and pet the dogs before they are released back into the field for the day. I often see them laughing and dancing and being goofy together out there and think how lucky they are to have one another.

Our farm has taught our children so many incredible life skills and lessons. It is the base for the girls’ independence, work ethic and problem-solving skills. From the time the goats arrived, we have been up early for chores and out before dinner for chores. Our animals come first and the kids know it. It is an every day of the year responsibility and now that they are older, they take on this responsibility basically on their own. It’s quite magical waking up in the morning to the sounds of the girls’ footsteps coming down the stairs and heading outside. We then hear the gates open and close, the wheelbarrow roll through the gravel and all the footsteps of the goats, horse and dogs running to greet them. Each of the girls take their own quiet moments to steel some nose kisses from Scout and pet the dogs before they are released back into the field for the day. I often see them laughing and dancing and being goofy together out there and think how lucky they are to have one another.    

~ Keely

Keely is an author and advocate for children living with disabilities. She lives on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, with her husband, her son William who has cerebral palsy, her two daughters and several four-legged friends.