There’s a couple living right off Highway 69 near New Harmony that will always have animals because while the man is trying to run off a stray dog, his wife is hurrying to get a blanket and food.

Whatever comes through, is dropped off, or dies there is loved beyond measure.

The man truly loves these animals as much as his wife does.

Talmage and Charlotte Lee live on the west side of the highway between the two exits into New Harmony; and in the front of their home is a fenced in area within a fenced pasture with crosses as markers.

Those makers are visible to any passerby.

Those markers have held my curiosity for several years when I drive the area. The first one I saw many years ago said to me that something precious once lived there.

Through the years, Talmage added a second marker and there are plans for two more.

I simply had to know what they represent and Talmage and Charlotte did oblige my curiosity.

Talmage rode Quarter horses most all of his life, and when he and Charlotte started building their home it was about the same time some friends bought a miniature horse named Little Joe for their children for Christmas. The kids soon tired of the horse, and that couple teased this couple about how when he got a fence up they were bringing him Little Joe.

Sure enough, Talmage and Charlotte came home one day and there was that tiny precious Little Joe in their fenced pasture.

They couldn’t not keep him and soon decided that little guy needed a companion, so they ended up in Fort Branch where they fell in love with a mini named "Price of Egypt" but called Moses for short.

On the way there, Charlotte asked God for a sign if the horse was meant as a companion for Joe, and as soon as they heard the name Moses, Talmage told her "‘There’s your sign.’"

Talmage knew about founder in horses, but he didn’t know the miniature breed is notorious for foundering. Founder happens in all hoofed animals that eat too much, drink too much too quickly and actually is caused by too much of anything that stresses a horse’s system.

Talmage did shut the feed room door, but Little Joe and Moses finagled their way in and ate too much. The next morning Joe died. It was 2001 and Moses was alone.

The first marker was made and set.

Charlotte said it broke their hearts how Moses grieved for Joe, and he would even lie in the same spot that Joe liked. So, they went mini-horse shopping again and came up with Josie. A precious little bald-faced Paint mini with glass or blue eyes.

"She was really something," Talmage said.

But that little really something began having problems and she died before Moses.

"Alfalfa hay is too rich for miniatures," Talmage said.

It was only fitting that another marker be placed beside Little Joe’s. The second marker was made in Josie’s memory. Then when Moses died, Talmage knew he would make a third.

The couple grieved even more for their lost minis, yet they were hooked on having them around, caring for them and Charlotte described how therapeutic it is to simply set in a lawn chair and watch them.

These horses are exactly like a full-sized horse in every way. They have tack and carts with harness and bridles designed for miniatures. A farrier cares for their hooves and they are vetted with shots and worming just like full-sized horses. They just eat minute amounts because they are so small.

Now another friend, Randall Little, had a mini named "Pistol Pete" and he told Talmage he needed him in that pasture. Sure enough, one Sunday Talmage and Charlotte came home from church and lo and behold – there stood Pistol Pete.

Pistol Pete was with them until he was in his 20s, eventually dying of old age.

Markers created from the love of Little Joe, Josie, Moses (Prince of Egypt) and Pistol Pete is a huge love of small creatures.

How fitting because it is after all memories that help us appreciate today, and Talmage and Charlotte are not without miniature horses. Their dog Dufus was a stray, and a kitten sidled up close to Charlotte as we talked. It came to them from a nearby cornfield right before I arrived. It ate and slept while I was there, apparently secure in knowledge of its new home.

Talmage took me to the barn where I petted and gave treats to Jaycee and Josie II, their two three-year-old minis. One brunette and one dappled beautiful blond. They truly are precious.

But what concerned me as I prepared to leave was again those markers, because the couple’s home is for sale: Charlotte ministers at two churches on Hwy 231 and they hope to move closer to the churches.

Now, I needed to know what will happen with the markers.

It was no surprise when Talmage answered, "We will take them with us."