Everyone is talking about global warming now a days. Some people are very concerned, some don’t want to know, and some don’t believe it even exists. The seasons seem to be changing and getting hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. Drought seems to be a household word, especially on the West coast. Even on The East coast people are talking about how there is just not enough rain. I don’t know what I believe; I just know that on the farm, things sure seem to be changing!

The Gentle Barn was founded in 1999 and since then we have been home to horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, llamas, peacocks, donkeys, emus, dogs, and cats who are either too old, too sick, too lame, or too scared to be adopted by anyone else. We give the animals sanctuary for the rest of their lives, and when they are healed, happy and ready, they help us teach children kindness and compassion to animals, each other, and the planet.

There has been a certain routine to caring for the animals, and lately I have noticed that the routine is changing. Sheep originated in very cold climates so they needed their thick coats to keep them warm and insulated. But in California it is so hot that the sheep need to be sheered in the summer to remain comfortable. For the last 17 years we have always sheered the sheep in June. Before that the weather was always too cold at night for the sheep to lose their coats. But over the last few years summer has seemed to start earlier and earlier and we have had to sheer them in May as it is way too hot to wait.

Horses grow thick winter coats to keep them warm and dry. As long as we have had horses, they grow their winter coat in October as the days shorten and the weather changes to cooler temperatures. Their winter coat usually sheds out in the spring, around March or April, as the days are longer and the air turns warmer. This year the horses have started shedding in February, in the middle of winter, as the days are so hot. These poor horses, equipped for the cold are sweating and their bodies cannot shed out fast enough.

When we bought our property in Santa Clarita, California 13 years ago it was a beautiful paradise. There were wild flowers in every color and shape and the hills were covered in lush velvet green. We would take our horses and donkeys out for walks on the trails and would stop to let them graze on grasses that were knee high. There were butterflies and bees busy at work pollinating and bringing everything to life in vivid color. Sure, in the 3 or 4 months of summer there would be no rain and things would eventually dry up. But come October, the rains would return and we would all breath a sigh of relief as we watched the blossoms and bulbs return to life. During the dry season of no rain it was not referred to as summer, but rather “fire season”. It was scary in Southern California to know that anyone playing with matches or discarding a cigarette could threaten homes and barnyards alike. Our trucks and trailers would stand at the ready to evacuate animals from raging wild fire infernos. Over the last several years, however the rain has stopped almost all of the time. Every now and then it would spit down and we would get excited, but it never seemed to make a dent on how dry and baron the land was. Fire season went from 3 months of the year, to the majority of the year. We were called so many times to help evacuate animals from fires that we officially established an Emergency Animal Rescue Service where we help save animals from fires and bring them to the fairgrounds or to the safety of The Gentle Barn until the fires are out and their families can return home. At The Gentle Barn we can no longer take our horses to graze on the trails, there is nothing growing back there. We are no longer surrounded by paintings of blue, pink and purple, but by brown, crusted, brittle earth. The ravine that runs through our property used to be alive with rushing water from the rains in winter, but now stands still, silent, and hollow.

Global warming or not, Mother Earth seems to be changing and it is undeniable in the barnyard. What is interesting to me is that Environmental agencies are asking people to take shorter showers, not to water their lawns, to plant drought resistant trees, but no one is talking about the positive effects of a plant based diet on the environment. Did you know that one person adopting a plant based diet saves 1,100 gallons of water a day?! One person adopting a plant based diet saves an acre of trees a year?! Much of the destruction on the environment is happening because of meat and dairy consumption in this county, and by simply changing our diets we can create such positive change! While I’m sheering the sheep early, helping our horses shed their coats in the middle of winter, and wishing for more rain, I’m proud that I have adopted a pant based diet and am doing my part in helping the environment. Will my diet of fruits and veggies help Shirley Temple be more comfortable till summer? I believe it will! And of course I always share with her!