Monday, July 19, 2004
Drawing to an end Life is full of ups and downs. Caring and tending to animals that depend on you for their care and welfare can sure force a person make some hard choices. A number of years ago I had a draft cross mare that colicked. I could afford colic surgery at the time so that’s what I did. The mare ended up living thru the procedure but developing a huge hernia and after a years worth of care we ended up putting her down at the recommendation of our regular vet and a top vet with Michigan State University. The mare was only 5 and it was devastating to me to lose her after raising her from a yearling. Bailey was miserable and would never be comfortable even in a pasture as a pet. I think I cried for a whole week for my friend that I had chosen to destroy in her best interest. So many hope and dreams of future years together I had envisioned all swept away. I know in my heart it was the right thing to do but it was one of the hardest decisions that I have personally ever had to make.I now am faced with a similar situation and again my heart aches as I recall the last 20 some years I have had with my faithful Arabian, Hawk. I found Hawk at a barn where I went to look at a good-sized white ½ Arabian gelding. He was in a paddock all by himself after being recently castrated. He had a terrible sunburn on his nose and the back of his pasterns that had crater sized cracks with puss oozing out of them. I was told that he was nutty and too much for a teenager to handle but there was something about him that drew me to him. His eyes followed me wary of what I might do but waiting to decide if I posed a threat to him. He had been a Champion in Halter and Western Pleasure classes not many years before. How he had dropped from grace was beyond me but there he was looking sad and distrusting at us. I picked him up the following week and after many months of working with him he emerged into a confident playful and even humorous friend. He has been with me ever since and he has taken many a beginner for a pleasant after noon trail ride, taught many youngsters to ride correctly and instilled respect for horses in all that have had the good fortune to have known him. He taught me the finer points of horsemanship and its Hawk that has made me the horsewoman that I am today. I write this entry cherishing many fine things about my friend and my sorrow that he appears to be declining this year. Hawk is 34 years old this summer, in human years he would be 102. He did not make it thru the past winter as effortlessly has he has in the past and we are fighting to get weight on him. His life with us is winding down and we are faced with the prospect of putting him down before the next winter hits if he doesn’t put sufficient weight back on to make it thru the impending winter. I don’t wish to see him suffer and shiver out on the cold Michigan nights so I am faced with a decision in the not so far future. Time is on my side at this moment and I am cherishing every moment I can with my buddy and am so thankful to have had him in my life. As I’m loosing one great horse another is emerging and I think to myself that I am the richest woman on the earth having been fortunate enough to have both of them in my life. To the past I salute Hawk and all that he has taught me, to the future I embrace my time with Barney and while he will never fill Hawks shoes he in his own way will make a significant mark on my life as we blaze a new trail together.
The wind of heaven is that whichblows between a horse's ears. -Arabian Proverb
1 Comments:
I faced this same situation this year with my Appy gelding, he was 32, had been with us for 27 years. Luckily it sounds as though you have a caring Vet, whereas we had the complete opposite, which made the whole ordeal (and subsequent ones) awful. Anyway, I think you read the entry on my blog about Spring... he was my best friend when I was growing up and even now I look for him when I pass a window that overlooks the pasture.
I hate that you're having to go through this and my heart goes out to you and your family... it's never easy saying goodbye... especially to a family member as I'm sure Hawk has been to you.
Shea
tapsalteerie.blog-city.com
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