I knew it was coming, but it was still hard.
As I went to do morning feeding, I saw Spellbound lying down. She didn't get up when I went in the pasture and after I poured her feed first, she got up but didn't run anybody off as she usually does. I knew then she was dying.
She was colicing, not badly, but enough that she was uncomfortable and my vet couldn't come until after noon.
Surprisingly, she got up and cantered to the woods of the front pasture where she stood for awhile then trotted all the way to the very back corner of the property and neighed for the others. They went and so did I. This is the last picture I have of the four of them.
Cheryl, who runs the Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund Inc. in Georgia, emailed asking me to give Spell a kiss for her. My friend Anne, who gave us Spellbound with the blessing of the rescue, sent a hug too.
Just after noon, my vet arrived and we put Spell's leather halter on her. I bought her a beautiful red nylon one earlier this year, but since she's a racehorse, she was like,"Are you kidding me?" So I had to get her the perfect leather one.
Hayes and I petted her, told her how much we loved her and to go run her races and win them all. She gave us a neigh and, just like that, she was gone.
Spellbound was a Grade I winning mare back in the day. She was an awesome babysitter for both me and Hayes. I remember this past winter when I saw Spell take off with Hayes on her back without a bridle, saddle or helmet, but Spell took care of that girl. And once it was all over, Hayes exclaimed,"I wanna do that again!"
We told her she'd be met by Lisa, our Percheron who died in February, and Hayes' pony Dee Dee and my trainer friend Bob and, of course, my mother, who never met Spell but instilled a love of horses in me.
And we'll meet her on the other side too when the time comes.
She was colicing, not badly, but enough that she was uncomfortable and my vet couldn't come until after noon.
Surprisingly, she got up and cantered to the woods of the front pasture where she stood for awhile then trotted all the way to the very back corner of the property and neighed for the others. They went and so did I. This is the last picture I have of the four of them.
Cheryl, who runs the Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund Inc. in Georgia, emailed asking me to give Spell a kiss for her. My friend Anne, who gave us Spellbound with the blessing of the rescue, sent a hug too.
Just after noon, my vet arrived and we put Spell's leather halter on her. I bought her a beautiful red nylon one earlier this year, but since she's a racehorse, she was like,"Are you kidding me?" So I had to get her the perfect leather one.
Hayes and I petted her, told her how much we loved her and to go run her races and win them all. She gave us a neigh and, just like that, she was gone.
Spellbound was a Grade I winning mare back in the day. She was an awesome babysitter for both me and Hayes. I remember this past winter when I saw Spell take off with Hayes on her back without a bridle, saddle or helmet, but Spell took care of that girl. And once it was all over, Hayes exclaimed,"I wanna do that again!"
We told her she'd be met by Lisa, our Percheron who died in February, and Hayes' pony Dee Dee and my trainer friend Bob and, of course, my mother, who never met Spell but instilled a love of horses in me.
And we'll meet her on the other side too when the time comes.
1 comment:
Hi Shannon. Sorry for you loss. I lost the best horse in the world (for me) a year and a half ago. So very hard. At least you were with her. My horse was overnight at the hospital, trying to rehydrate, but it didn't work. In retrospect, I should have let him go sooner. I still miss him, but found another horse, older, who needs someone to love her.
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