 1/26/00 - I'll never forget that morning.
We had a good ride, a fun ride and I was finally convinced that Eggs was all healed up
from his ligament injury. He'd been recovering slowly for over a year. The last five
months I had been flatting him, slowly bringing him back so he wouldn't reinjure himself.
It was challenging, difficult at times, and completely rewarding. I couldn't wait for the
day when he'd jump again. And this morning, only two weeks until he'd go back into
training and be allowed full flat work, he proved to me that he wanted to come back and
that all the hard work was going to pay off.
It was later, after we were done with our
ride, while I was having a lesson on my other horse, that I saw Eggs looking
uncomfortable. He was pawing and pacing, lying down and getting back up. Could he be
colicing? Was I overreacting? A friend went and got him for me while I put Chloe away and
ran to the vet's office to get help. When I got back, only a few minutes later, he was in
the arena, down and in obvious distress. He was colicing and badly too.
From there on everything is a blur, the vet
gave him pain medications, but to no avail. I walked him but he wanted to go down a lot,
sometimes at every step. We made the decision to bring him for surgery. All the while my
trainer kept telling me he'd be okay, maybe he'd get off the trailer just fine, sometimes
that happens.
He didn't and he did have surgery at
Peninsula Equine. He had an entrapment, but the prognosis was good. He should be fine.
I was so optimistic. Eggs was a fighter, I
knew. When I'd gotten him as a 10 year old greenie, he was skinny and scared of
everything. But as our training progressed he became a bold jumper, and more importantly,
a very forgiving jumper. He started winning at the rated shows. Only three years after I'd
gotten him he was champion AA jumper and he had a bright future. That was our last show,
before the ligament injury, before the nightmare I now faced.
Over the next week Eggs swung from great to
terrible to good again. Something was wrong. There were spiking fevers, a loss of
appetite, and finally diarrhea. His slide downhill was excruciating. Each day I hoped he'd
be a little better, maybe eat a tiny bit of hay, and more often than not I was
disappointed. The good days were so good, when I had all the hope in the world for him,
when I knew he could make it. The bad days were dark, desperation and despair. The doctors
were doing everything they could, we did everything we could and still he continued his
slide. Finally, almost 3 weeks after his colic, I looked at him in horror. Gone was my
beautiful boy. Only his face was the same. His muscle was gone, he had edemas collecting
on his belly and his legs were swelling too, nitroglycerin patches on his legs kept him
from foundering, his neck was swollen on one side from a thrombosed vein. Then I knew that
maybe we'd gone far enough. Three weeks after we'd brought him in, when I thought the
worst thing that could happen was surgery, I decided to let him go.
We waited for my husband, Peter, to come, for
he loved Eggs too. And then finally the vets were ready. We followed them from his stall
into the dark and rainy night. To say I was inconsolable would not even scratch the
surface. I felt as if a part of my mind was fleeing the horror, never to return. Some
small part remained that knew it was the right thing to do, that knew an end had to come.
But the other part, maybe it was the child that lives in us all, had fled my heart crying
and left it broken. I could only think over and over to myself "it is a kindness you
do to me, it is a kindness you do to me, it is a kindness you do to me". Some words
from a poem I had read a long time ago that had drifted back into my mind when I needed
them most. They were no consolation, but they served to remind me that maybe this really
was the right thing and maybe Eggs would actually appreciate it. I was numb with terror
and shock, but most of all sadness. It was more than any sadness I'd ever known and made
every sadness before it seem insignificant. I held Peter's hand as the injections were
given and I could only repeat over and over "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, so sorry, I'm
so sorry." Peter was crying too and said "Goodbye Eggs" and wanted me to do
the same so that Eggs could hear me. I am ashamed to say that in my grief and guilt I
could not even speak to him so he could hear me. I could only whisper over and over how
sorry I was and how I loved him so. It was over quickly, he simply stopped living. In a
moment, he was gone and a part of my heart was broken forever, and a part of my youth was
lost too. For I had never had to experience anything like this before. To loose a friend,
a child, a loved one, and have it done by your own hand is a devastating experience. No
matter how many people said it was the right thing, the only thing I could believe in my
heart was that we had killed him, murdered him, stolen his life. In my mind, I knew he had
to be suffering. I could see the old Eggs, healthy and strong and when I saw the sick
Eggs, not defeated but in terrible, unrecoverable pain, I knew it was the right thing. But
still there will always be a part of me that is horrified by it all.
We took his halter home and that is what I
have left of him, besides the memories. Sometimes I see it and remember all the good times
we had. It still brings sadness though. I hope one day it will only bring happiness.
Eggs died December 9, 1999 at Peninsula
Equine. I'd like to thank the vets who did everything they could. They were more then just
doctors, they extended their kindness and friendship to me and to Eggs and that meant a
lot to us both. I'll always love you, Eggs.
Charlene Ku lives in Milpitas and boards
and trains with Susan Crenshaw in Gilroy.
 1/21/00 - I live in Arkansas and I happened on to your site. Your
good bye stories touched my heart because I too recently lost a good old friend. His name
was Pudden's Blue Boy, a wonderful gray stallion, a son of the famous quarter horse Pudden
Head. We called him Blue. Blue was 24 years old when we bought him and a foundation
quarter horse through and through. His breeding was just right so we took a chance on
using him on our QH mares.
Well he never did get any mares in foal, but
he sure stole my heart. He was one of those horses that you remember all your life if you
have ever had one. He had been a cowboy's horse and was said to be so fast and strong when
working a cow that he was very hard to ride. He was the sweetest gentlest horse I ever
knew and trustworthy in all ways even though he was a stallion. A very classy gentleman.
As gray horses do sometimes he developed
tumors that we treated at first and then when he got to be 27 years old and they came back
with a vengeance, we decided to put him down while he was still able to be his old self.
He had started the tell tale weight loss that old horses do before they pass on.
The day my husband put Blue to sleep, I went
out to feed him, and also to say goodbye. I took my scissors and cut a piece of his tail
for a keepsake. then I said goodbye to him. I held my face up to his old thin neck and
smelled his lovely horsey smell the last time and told him I loved him. So on a lovely
summer day, we led him up to the place where he would be buried and let him graze a few
minutes, and then my husband gave him the shot that would help him out of his suffering.
I will plant some blue colored perennial
flowers on his grave this spring. I braided the hair from his white tail and put it in an
envelope that says simply: Pudden's Blue Boy, a good horse.
Thank you for your site.
Kim Pearson and her husband Phil, Pearsonk@pgtc.net, www.starbert.com, have a horse and cattle operation in northwest
Arkansas
1/16/00 - Today I am reminded of my
horse Grant, who was put down almost one year ago. I have helped many people at
our barn put down their horses when that time was right. I helped support and hug them and
did it very well, but; it was not until I had to put Grant down, after many months of
bringing him back to health, did I feel all those same emotions.
 You see I rescued Grant. He was an old white Arabian, who stood in
the muddy part of the barn we called the 'ghetto'. He had been a lesson horse at one time,
but had lost his usefulness in someone's eyes and his owner did not ever come to see him.
One day I could stand it no longer and begged the Barn Manager to allow Grant to come into
a barn stall that was open, across from my own horse. To my surprise he said yes! That
started a wonderful journey of friendship, good food and, for the first time, shavings.
Grant had the personality that needed people
around him and he would get depressed when he was without attention so, once he knew I was
to be there 2-4 times a day to see him and hug him, he responded quickly. It took more
time to put weight on him though, at least a couple of months. He would nicker to me when
I drove up, toss his head as if to say "HI" and enjoyed our walks and grazing
time together. He quickly became my best friend. I enjoyed every minute with him. In time
he was well enough for me to get on his back a couple times a week. When I was sad I could
always count on him for comfort. As I write this I long to have just one more hug.
 Just when he seemed to be doing his best, one morning I walked into
his stall and could see right away that he was not well, he had left his feed from the
night before and he was laying down, which in itself was not unusual. He often lay in his
shavings. Did I mention he was 32 years old? But this was different; something in his eyes
said 'Help me'. I walked over to him and could tell he was in pain...I tried to get him up
and he did, but not comfortably. I knew I must walk him. The
next few days brought the vet several times and many hours of walking, as he was
colicking. It was February and cold and rainy. I remember walking through the barn aisle
with four layers of clothing on me and two blankets on Grant. The wind was blowing so cold
at times, but I could not leave him. At times he rallied. I sensed he knew how much I
needed him to live through this. For the next week my daughter got up early and came and
injected him with painkillers every 6 hours and walked and helped with whatever else he
needed, waiting for the results to change. It appeared that he had a stone or a blockage -
This was going to kill him. I watched in helplessness, as friends came to support me and
pray with me in his stall. I was losing a good friend. The next morning I knew what
I had to do. I called the vet again and talked in length with him and together we agreed
that Grant was suffering far too much and there was no turning around a horse, of his age,
with a stone. Surgery certainly wasn't an option.
I called the truck and the vet was on his
way, I felt a sense of relief, as I knew it would be over soon. My daughter, Jen, was at
school and I needed her there so a friend picked her up for me. Jen was an
incredible source of strength for me that morning. She helped me brush him and braid his
tail. Her friend Michelle and I walked him around the stable, feeling the hot sun on our
backs. This was to be the first sunny day in a week. We gave him carrots, apples and he
ate grass. This was hard, as it gave me a false sense that everything was normal and that
we were doing this for nothing. I naturally started to doubt my decision, hoping instead
that there was a way that he could be with me forever.
When the vet arrived I began to feel anxious.
Grant looked so good, so happy! How could this be happening? He looked at me and I could
see the pain in his eyes. I knew his stomach was bloated and that the stone would kill him
soon. My own selfishness was getting in the way. I hugged him and he hugged back. I had
helped several others do this with their horse, but I could not go this time...Michelle
cut off a piece of his tail - the long, beautiful braid was mine to keep. This left a
short little tail, much like he would have had when he was a colt. Michelle led him
to where the vet was standing. He let out a long bit of gas and his tail flopped up and
down. I had to laugh. He was making me smile, even as he walked his last steps.
I walked to the office of the barn and sat
with friends, as they finished what I knew they must do. In a few minutes Jen handed me
Grant's halter and lead rope and we stood and hugged and cried. She loved him
also, but she knew how important he had been to my life. It would never be the same again,
but I knew he would not suffer another day. The few short months that I had known him had
changed my life forever and I am so grateful for that time.
Janice Carabine, lovehorses@home.com, is a riding instructor at a
barn in Orange County in southern California.
|
Den
got SAM's halter and offered to get him. As he walked down the driveway, my mind flooded
with thoughts of my 15 years with SAM. Our rides. All the pictures we'd posed for. The
time he was bitten by a snake and I'd hot-packed his head for days. And how he'd stood so
calmly. When we'd slid off the trail into a stream, and SAM had lain there until I told
him to get up. The time he'd eaten my apples and tuna-fish sandwich on the trailer fender.
Once, when he'd stepped on my foot and I threatened to break his neck if he didn't get
off. The first time I saw him. The first time I rode him. All the memories came flooding
back. I couldn't stop them or the tears welling up in my eyes.