Photo by Angela Kirk

The animal world doesn’t really discriminate. Out at the farm where Doc takes the patients for Equine assisted therapy there are two horses that are best friends. One of them just happens to be a miniature horse and the other a full size mare. The humans sometimes question this union, but obviously the horses don’t care, they just love each other.

There are many different parings between animals of different sizes and species that bond together. At the Columbus Zoo you can see a labrador retriever living with two cheetahs. They were raised together since they were babies and act like any siblings would with each other. It really is a magical thing to witness and a testament to how we can all learn to get along.

The beauty of being an animal is that we have no prejudice or judgment of each other. We either work it out or not. Acceptance is not based on ego, how much money we have, our species, or any other host of criteria that humans like to use. There is a wonderful sense of freedom in that. I think humans can miss out on enriching their lives by not getting to know people that are from different back grounds or cultures.

Doc read me a quote by a man named Tom Retterbush that sums it up beautifully; ” If animals of totally different species can get along, why can’t humans get along with others of our own species? We’re supposed to be the intelligent ones.”