Here's some irony... our place is a horse's dream -- UNLESS that horse can't
eat LOTS and LOTS of yummy, lush green grass. Actually, the abundance of
tasty grass was IN FACT aggravating her condition.
The vet, the horseshoer and I stood around discussing the X-rays. It was
quite clear that she was indeed the worse case the vet had ever seen and
that we had been doing all the *right* things to make her comfortable...and
that it was time to put an end to her suffering. When it was time, the vet
and I lead her to a quiet, peaceful spot on the property. There, in the
shade of the cedar trees, she passed away quickly without a struggle.
Then, as the vet turned to go, she assured
me I had made the right choice. She even thanked me for caring for Brittney
over the years, and felt she was a lucky pony to have time here at Black
Pond Farm.
As for Erin (almost 7) and Preston (age 5),
they feel sadness over the loss, (but no tears). The pony was having a very
tough time and they knew that. I'm proud of our little farmhands. They do
understand how much pain Brittney was in. (We had talked about it in the
past.) Today, I spoke to each one separately. I was very careful choosing
my words to ease the sad news. Their response was one of confusion. They
both were shocked and gave me that, "WHAT? You're kidding -- that's
SHOCKING!" kind of reaction. We had a
few questions to answer, but they were simply to clear up the confusion,
"The vet put her to sleep? You mean she's DEAD? Like dead? That's 'put to
sleep' right?" Then each became very quiet in reflection.
We are surrounded with new life here at the
farm this time of year -- new peeping chicks in the chicken coop and a
fluffy spring calf in the pasture. It balances out the sadness I am
feeling. Guess that's how we are reminded of the circle of life and how
fortunate we are to love and be loved by others.
True
to our word, we made her as comfortable as we could during her time with
us. She was a "Pasture Pet". The only thing we expected from her was to be
sweet...and she NEVER let us down. In the past few years her health had
deteriorated (with age) and she had more bad days than good ones. She had
come to the point where she couldn't hold up her OWN weight and her hooves
were growing at such a rate that at times she required a trim every 2 weeks.
Each visit was $50 and she was still uncomfortable (but standing again).