A few years ago, one of my neighbors moved several states away to assist her elderly parents. She did not want to sell her lovely mini-farm, so she leased it to some very kind folks who didn't have much experience living in a small town on 46 acres.
Not to say anything bad about this family - they were very polite, very nice, and absolutely loved having a large garden, a barn, a hayfield for the kids to play in where they didn't have to worry about the boys getting into things they shouldn't - and enough pasture to have a couple of horses.
The wife was kind of the stereotypical 'animal rescuer' - two rescue dogs with issues, a 3-legged cat - soon to answer one "free to good home" ad for a 3 year old mare that had never been touched (which soon became, she's been so abused, see how scared she is?!?)......and another "come get her or she goes to the sale barn tomorrow" ad for a 20 year old mare which had once been the owner's prize barrel mare.
Poor Tess was pain on 4 hooves. The saddest part was, you could see how beautiful she had once been - buttermilk buckskin with frosting in her mane and tail, two white socks, gorgeous babydoll quarter horse head, even though it was now flecked with gray from age. I don't think there was a joint in her legs from the stifles down that was not arthritic. She must have been pigeon-toed to start with, but between the neglect to her feet and the windpuffs and other bone spurs on her pasterns and lower legs, her front legs were a nightmare. She literally could not stretch her legs far enough to put them on the hoof stand for the farrier to trim, and she couldn't stand on 3 legs long enough for him to do a thorough job.
Of course, she was also underweight - people who throw away their old horses generally don't care to feed them, either -- and I'm sure the pain she felt contributed to that. Now, you all can probably guess how this story ends - but it is what happened in between that is so important.
The woman who owned Tess for many years - showed her, won ribbons on her, gave lessons on her, let her children ride her - dumped her for $100 on Craigslist. "Too old to compete in barrel races anymore, can't feed what I'm not showing." This woman was going to get the last hundred dollars she could out of this mare, one way or another. She rode the $hit out of her for years (you'd have to see this woman and her daughter ride - no warm up, no cool down, no 'fitting' - just go out there the first Saturday of show season and ride barrels, poles, and all the other open show games like your horse hasn't had 4 months off) - and when the poor mare was as broken-down as a cart horse in "Black Beauty", she decides to dump her as if she didn't contribute to the issue.
Tess's guardian angel was looking out for her the day my new neighbor brought her home. The mare was groomed, loved, petted, fed senior feed with lots of carrots daily...within a few weeks, I'd convinced her to try a joint supplement and call one of the local vets for a consultation to see if bute or another therapy might be an option to help her get around a little better. My neighbor followed through, Tess went on daily bute, and spent the last part of spring and most of summer just enjoying green tall-grass pasture, daily feedings and groomings, and the companionship of one (surprisingly), equally quiet and kindhearted young horse. By that fall, it became obvious that Tess's discomfort was increasing, and my neighbor found her down in the pasture unable to get herself back up more than once. She finally realized it would be a kindness to send Tess across the Rainbow Bridge before the cold, snow, and ice arrived.
My neighbor gave Tess the retirement she had earned doing so much for her previous owner. It's sad that Tess's last days were left up to a stranger, -- but Tess lucked out by finding someone who, in the end, gave the mare more comfort and dignity than she'd had in a long time, and making her last months on earth much more comfortable.
No comments:
Post a Comment