Belinda the Beguiling Belinda is our favorite cow. We can't help it, we just LOVE her. She is also the model for our logo. For more than a decade and a half, she was the unquestioned leader of the herd, the authority to end all disputes, the pathfinder, the decider, the queen of the hill. Our inspiration. Belinda?s birth date is March 31, 1988: she's an old cow. 4 years ago she developed a bad case of lumpy jaw. This is not treatable. A few summers ago, Belinda began losing condition and we thought there was a good chance she wouldn't make it to the fall. Disruptions appeared in the herd hierarchy. First, there was jostling and pushing, then little battles flared. One morning in early August, we discovered Belinda with one horn missing, just a bloody six inch stump where the previously spectacular horn had been. (The horn had had a weak spot due to years of insect damage). She looked dumbfounded and dejected. She'd apparently come out on the worse end of a leadership dispute. This appeared to be the beginning of the end. We separated her from the rest of the herd and installed her in a twenty acre hospice behind the house. There, she would be spared any further battles, we could feed her a pelleted feed twice a day, and minister to the bloody horn stump. We called the vet, told her we'd probably be calling her any day now to come put Belinda down. That was not to be. After a few days of pellets and away from the herd squabbles, Belinda was thriving. She has rejoined the herd. We groom her and massage her regularly. She loves this. This is not altruistic behaviour on our part. Belinda enjoys being groomed more than anyone we know. If one grooms the right places, in just the right way, she will close her eyes, stop eating, moan softly, drool, and go into such a complete state of rapture that it is awesome to be a part of. Grooming Belinda is meditation, it soothes the soul. Interestingly, the cow who appears to be taking over the herd is Buttercup, Belinda's daughter. We suspect, it may well be Buttercup who is responsible for her mother's missing horn.