Animal Psych Test

You are in a desert, and you have with you the following five animals:

a lion
a cow
a horse
a sheep
and a monkey.

To escape the desert you are going to have to get rid of one of your animals. Which one do you drop? (You can use whatever logic you like BUT keep track of which animal is discarded when!)
You have 4 animals left. The desert is burning up! It goes on for miles. Sand is everywhere. You realize, to get out, you are going to have drop another animal. Which do you drop?
You have 3 animals left. Walk, walk, walk. Hot, hot, hot. Disaster!
The Oasis that you were looking for is dried up! You have no choice but to drop another animal.
You have 2 animals left. Ok, it's a long hot walk. You can see the edge of the desert way on the horizon. Unfortunately, you can only leave the desert with ONE animal. Which one do you drop and which one do you keep?

Before looking at the answers, make sure you know which animal you dropped in what order.

Answers