We lost Tie on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday evening/night he was fine: running around and begging for more dinner as usual. Early the next morning the barn manager found him lying down. She was able to get him up but he was obviously in severe amounts of pain. She called me out, and we called the vet. The vet's prognosis was that he had ruptured his GI tract and that there was nothing we could do. The good news was he did not suffer long. The bad news was it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under my feet. Here one minute gone the next. What a terrible reminder of how fragile these creatures really can be.
The vet said that he looked great for a horse his age and would not bat an eye if he saw him in a pasture now. *sigh* I wish he had more time to spend healthy and well cared fo!. We only had him 5 months!
He really meant a lot to me. He was the first horse I have actually rehabilitated. I also lost what I thought was a good friend at the time over his rescue.
He was a horse I knew and rode as a child. He was the only horse I knew who could run backwards. He was also the only horse I have seen buck so hard he broke his cinch. He has jumped out of a round pen and he broke a girl's nose by rearing up and hitting her in the face. He once took off with me and jumped a two lane road.
He was the most wild, independent, and amazing horse I have ever known. Savage and strong until the day he died. Saved from the brink of starvation only to pass on by a unfortuitous circumstance mere months later.
I am really gonna miss the funny man. He was an amazing horse.
So... before
And Last Week...
He was 35(ish)
I miss you Titelist
I'm sorry Golden, I really am. Thanks to you, his last few months were happy ones. He was very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry. You did your best to give back to him and I am sure he appreciated every moment he was with you.
ReplyDeleteSo, so sorry - you made a big difference to him and his comfort and health at the end, and that's what's important - you have those good things to remember.
ReplyDeleteI am so so sorry for your loss. He came so far in 9 months and you gave him a second chance at happiness.
ReplyDeleteVery sorry for your loss, Golden. Take comfort that he knew he was loved the last few months of his life. He was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry.
ReplyDeleteHe looks wonderful in that last photo. I'm sure he was very happy with you during the last months of his life.
Mary
He spent the last months fed, watered and loved. You repaid him for the years he carried you. He did not starve to death in a field because of you. What more could you have given him?
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so sorry for your loss....what a lucky pony to have a loving owner until the end.
ReplyDeleteIt's never easy to say goodbye. Especially with the senior fourfeets. In a way, you kind of expect that someday it would happen, but when they're fine one moment, and then your world is shattered the next.
ReplyDeleteIt will be 3 years this June since I lost Flair at the age of 30. I remember it was easily as if it was yesterday. I watched the Belmont, saw Rags to Riches win, and then went out and loved on my old man, took him to graze. Next morning, twisted/ruptured intestines. Belly tap at the clinic came back blood red. Had to let him go.
It's never easy, but we cherish our moments with them. I don't think I would have Mitch now, if I hadn't lost Flair. Of course, I would want both of them with me, but I can't, so I remember and love the past experiences.
You did a great job with Tie. He looked a million times better. He went knowing he was cared for. I only wish they wouldn't choose horrific means of their passing.
So sorry to hear that. He really looks good in the last photo. He had a great last few months at your barn - being fed and loved. What a good boy...
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