I hate to share this because it's so sad but this is one subject i can't really discuss with hubster.
This is my mare "Star". I've had Star for 14 years, she was about 11-12 years old when she came to me, so that makes her about 25-26 years old. In human years that is way over 100, for a horse that is ancient.
Star has carried me many, many hundreds (thousands really)of miles safely over tricky ,rough terrain 8-10 hours a day, 3-4 days a week until 4 years ago. She never missed a step, never misbehaved,took the heat, the rain, the cold without complaining.
Star is old and can't eat her hay anymore because her teeth are wore out.Hay or grass is the main staple for a horse, they need the roughage to keep there digestion going.
I've been feeding her alfalfa cubes soaked in water and she manages to get that down , but never the less she has been loosing weight steadily for month now.I can't feed her too much of that because it is very high in protein which can make her founder(crippling foot disease).
I guess you can see where this is going...
I'm trying to talk myself into doing the right thing, hubster keeps telling me it needs to be done but he does not get attached to any of our pets. i do , very much so. For me they are part of the family, and "pulling the plug " on a family member is one of the hardest things anyone has to do.
I know i owe her a easy, painless,dignified way to the big pasture in the sky, but hell, this is hard!! (crying now...)
I really, really hate this...
I will keep babying her as long as i see she's not suffering but the day will come soon where i have to say goodbye. It'll be a sad day coming....
4 comments:
it's hardest to know things, to understand what needs to be done and yet, not being able to do them.
good luck you.
and star is beautiful.
You're not alone I'm crying too for both you and Star.
When the time comes I'm sure Star will be riding with the angles.
I'm so sorry you have such a sad decision ahead of you (((HUGS))) It's hard to loose them, even when you know it's best.
What about oat mash? Maybe some of the Equine Senior food, mashed up with oat mash would help?
I'm so sorry. I have horses also. In 2005, my beloved mare had to be put down after breaking her leg. Even in this day and age, with technology as it is, they couldn't fix her because it was the right rear leg above the hock. It was devastating. But sometimes it's the kindest thing we can do, to release them into the next realm.
When the time comes, you may want to have them save her tail and a lock of her mane for you, and if you can, get a plaster cast imprint of her hoof. The barn manager did that for me and surprised me with it. It's the little bit of her I carry with me.
{{{{{HUGS}}}}} to both of you from me and my horses.
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