Farrier Ken Norman is scheduled for knee surgery Monday morning, sometime around 9:30 in the morning. Healing thoughts and energy are welcome, I think he will be up grousing, walking and annoying Eli by the end of the week or soon thereafter. His surgery is scheduled for 9:40 to be precise, he will be at the hospital at 7:15 a.m.

Ken, a notorious grouch and mumbler,  says is he prepared, he bought a large hay feeder which will be assembled on Sunday at his Pawlet, Vt. farm, it will hold enough hay to feed the animals for a couple of weeks. Eli will not want him hanging around for too long, she will make sure he is up and moving. Neighbors and friends will come by and maintain the farm. After surgery, he will go to rehab if necessary for a few days to learn how to move his new knees.

I learned this summer that when you have surgery, people love to tell you horror stories about their brother Jake or Uncle Harry, I learned to ignore them. Knee surgery is very different from open heart surgery, but I told Ken I was home in three days. He is not me, and does not need to be me, but there is no reason to listen to horror stories. There are plenty of good and happy ones. I know a number of farmers who had knee replacements who were raising hell in  weeks, and Ken is still raising hell.

One happy story is Ken’s Go Fund Me Project, the Farm Care project he launched a week ago.  He asked for $17,600 and now has received $28,400. It was an extraordinary experience, animal and dog and horse people all over the country and many parts of the world responded quickly and generously.

I believe we are part of a new social movement, a new way of understanding animals and the people who work with them and love them, the carriage horses have awakened me to this. We support the right of animals to stay in our world and we treat them and their people with love and dignity and respect. We support one another, we do not use animals to hate one another.

Ken’s project was an early and powerful affirmation of this idea. People are asking me how they can help Ken, I think he is okay but if anyone wants to contribute money to his fund, he will surely use it wisely and well. He rescues horses and donkeys all of the time and every dollar he gets will go to help an animal in need, as well as his own work and farm. There are 30 horses and three donkeys on his farm.

I don’t think he needs anything else, he says he doesn’t.

I know Ken well and for a long time, and I am proud to be supporting him now. So are many others, he has done a lot of good and will do a lot of good more.  He will be raising hell very quickly. He is a good man and his fund is a great cause, it reminds me and others that people are good and generous, regardless of what their news would suggest.

You can also wish Ken well on his Facebook Page and I will be posting updates here as I receive them.