Tough day with loss of horse

[Mnguy2007]

This has been a very tough day.
Some of you know that I have several animals as I live on a hobby farm.
Two of those animals are horses. You may not believe it but a person can become as attached to a horse as well as dogs, or cats and so on.
Thursday morning I woke to a nightmare in the making.
One of my horses was down and struggling to stand up. There were no visible signs of injury to her and she had never shown any signs of illness.
JD the other horse was biting at her and acting very strange. I separated the two of them and called the vet right away.

The vet was confused at first but could tell it was very serious and of course took samples to run some tests. She then noticed a weed in the pasture and went to her truck to study a book. Turns out the weed was Nightshade and poisonous to horses.

After pumping charcoal and oil into Aprils stomach it was a wait and see situation.
I was told that I may see improvements within an hour or up to two days. I guess there is no real cure for the poison.
well without giving graphic details I had to finally spare April any further suffering. I watched my friends suffering end tonight.
Perhaps writing this is my way to cope with my loss.
Tim

[Gabber]

sorry Tim,

I know for a fact the love that owners can or do have for their horse. In many ways they are so much more than a "pet" and instead a close friend. You did the right thing. God bless

[Sveta's Hero]

Sorry to hear of your loss, Tim. My parrot Charlie died last autumn, and I was completely heart broken. He was my best bud for 12 years.

[Shadow-off]

Tim I am sorry to hear about the loss of your horse. I have never ridden one of them but many people here in North Carolina have them. About five miles from where I live, one family has about a hundred of them. Other people I have talked with that do own them are very attached and dedicated to their well-being and health. I understand you must feel bad about this loss. Talk with the agriculture office in your area and they can prescribe a selective herbicide that you can spray the field with to kill off the nightshade and possibly a pre-emergent herbicide also for the spring so the Night shade plants don't regrow again. Companies like "Chemlawn Inc." can also be hired to selectively eradicate the Nightshade plants, without hurting the horses. I use to work for them for about a year.

[Mnguy2007]

This is April in her better days.13097

[Mnguy2007]

One last picture of April13098

[statajack]

Sorry to hear of your loss Tim. She is a fine looking mare.

[CMM7]

My condolences to you.
A good horse, is a best friend.
As a young boy, my life was saved many times by my horse, and she kept me from a lot of trouble.
In the end it was total heart break for me when I had to put her down, but less so then to see her suffer.

[pouffe]

That reminds me 2 songs, sad, i have learnt when i was 8/10 yo and we sang near the fire camp at night.

(No it was not at Brokeback mountain!!!)

dD2W5_lsGNE&feature=related

Note that in this song inspired by irish/american song, the lyrics says a very different story.

RRWsppW62Q4
From a Paul Fort poem.

[Yohoho]

This is April in her better days.13097

I love horses... they are absolutely beautiful and clever creatures... Sorry to hear about your loss...

[Calibret]

Sorry for your loss Tim.
I know how much a person can get attached to an animal,
I've had to have 3 dogs euthanised and it is one of the
hardest things I have ever had to do.

[huney]

Oh Tim, I am so sorry. To lose an animal is to lose a part of your heart.

Peace to her.

[Mnguy2007]

First I want to thank you all for your comments it has helped.
I will share more about how I came to love horses and why I feel some guilt in her loss in the near future.

Today I will be finding the right place to lay her to rest and that is not going to be easy.
I will bury her here because I cannot even think about the other option.
It would be no better than to discard her like garbage and I will not do that.

Again I thank you all for your thoughts.

Tim

[Andylad]

i'm so sorry to hear that Tim, i know how you feel, one of my Shetlands gave birth to a still born earlier this year & that was bad enough, even though i didn't have time to get attached to it, it made it worse for me because i had my stallion castrated two months before, i have seven Shetlands now & thought that was enough, wish i'd never done it now

:(

[Mnguy2007]

I promised to share how I was introduced to horses and why I feel some guilt in Aprils passing.

I have always loved animals growing up and in fact at one time I thought of becoming a Vet.
I think that seeing animals at their worst times was something that made me choose different work.

I bought this place I am at now and the previous owners asked if I would keep the horses and a donkey as they didn't feel they had time to find a new home for them.
Being the animal lover I am I couldn't refuse but at the same time I didn't really know anything about the care for them. They instructed me on the basics like what to feed and how much and so on.

So not only did I buy the house but with it I end up with Meg whom is Aprils mother, and April, and a stubborn donkey.

Of the three the only one that would let anybody close enough to pet, or groom, or whatever was Meg. She was 15 years at that time so someone had spent time in contact with her. The others wouldn't let anyone close to them.
With the help of Apples and sugar cubes April soon would allow contact and carrots worked with TR the Donkey.
Perhaps the previous owners didn't know it at the time or they failed to mention it to me but in spring of my first year there Meg surprised me with JD.
Thank god she was experienced at delivery because I had no clue she was pregnant.
I was just shocked to go out to their pasture and see she was nursing her new foal.

I had a friend that was asking me if I would consider selling her a horse. Due to space limits and the fact that TR was an escape artist I told her that I wouldn't sell a horse but if she was willing to wait until JD was weaned from Meg I would give her Meg and TR.

Now I was at a more comfortable level with two horses, two Rots, and ten egg laying chickens.:becky:

I was now able to start training for April as she was just turning two and she was now much more comfortable with people. I picked a trainer that used a gentle training process
as I felt that was best for April and although it would take longer I would also be able to learn with her. Another plus was that as I learned I was able to use the same training with JD.
The trainer often mentioned how gentle and friendly the horses were.
Sadly my trainer became ill with breast cancer and had to stop training. Nether of the horses completed training as I was waiting to find someone with same methods as the first trainer.
Those of you that know about horses would know about the time, and the care that goes into them. Truly a labor of love. Something I was not aware of when I agreed to take them but at the same time now I wouldn't trade it for anything.
My guilt come in to play here when I think back to how April had no real contact or trust for humans and through time she learned it from me. I feel I failed her because even with all the studying I did on horse care I just assumed they knew what they should and should not eat. With just a little more study I feel I should have learned more about different things to watch for like poison weeds.
Of course now armed with better information JD will hopefully not share in her same fate.

[CMM7]

Mnguy,
Do not feel guilty, you started from scratch, and even just one horse is a lot of work, and how could you have known?
Each of us makes the best choices we can, with the information we have at that time.
In retrospect, after we have more information, we can look back and judge our choices as maby not so wise.
But the truth is we did the best with what we had at that time.
The loss is hard, the guilt is only adding to the pain.
Trully you did no wrong.

[Nataliochek]

Tim,
I have already shared with you how sorry I feel for your loss. But I also was happy to see that you have so many friends willing to support you in your hard time.
From you brief comments I can hardly realize what you have to go through trying to help April. Now I wish this maybe the hardest day in the whole story come to the end sooner and I hope to hear you happy voice again asap.
I know that although nothing will be able to replace April, in your big heart there is a lot of place for many other animals and you will be able to make each of them happy. As happy as I believe April was.
I know till her last moment April knew how much you loved her.
It was nice to hear that you like my idea and decide to plan a tree as a symbol of your love to April. I think an apple- tree you chose will be perfect for this reason.
Your Nataliochek

[Mnguy2007]

Again I would like to thank you all for your comments it really makes a difference.
Today she was finally buried under a nice shade tree where she liked to graze.:)


CMM7
Of course your right and I really did all that I knew was best not only for April but for all the animals.

Nata
Thanks for your words and advise.
It does seem to be the best memorial for April.
She loved the apples from the tree near pasture and it just seems so fitting that since it was a poison plant that took her life, planting a fruit tree that provides a healthy sustenance will be the best way to remember her every time an apple is picked.

[Lucky]

sorry to hear about yr loss, Tim. is always difficult to lost friends.

[Mnguy2007]

sorry to hear about yr loss, Tim. is always difficult to lost friends.

Thank you
Looking at your avatar I think I found my new companion for JD:lol:

[Lucky]

glad to make u smile :becky: