Denali, he had a horrible torsion colic, which is one of those freak, unpreventable occurences. I got a call at 4 in the morning, I was there in 10 minutes and the vet was about 10 minutes behind me. Despite the best treatment, he passed away at 8:45. I really debated about taking him straight to the hospital for colic surgery, but he was so weak that he actually fell over a few times, so the vet and I opted to treat him at the farm (vet wasn't quite sure if it was colic or enteritis). Looking back, I am so glad I didn't take him, as the nearest hospital is two hours away if there's no traffic; the vet worked on Mac for quite a while, and if we had waited for a trailer, it would have been getting close to rush hour. Mac would have died in the trailer, which is the one thing that could have possibly been worse. The vet was at the farm twice between 4:30 and 7:30; unfortunately, when Mac started to really get into trouble, it was just him and me. He passed away ten minutes before the vet made it back. At least he wasn't alone -- I was with him until his last breath.
I am so sorry to hear that. At least he had you to the end I am sure he found comfort in that. I lost my big grey at 24 this month 2 years ago so I find this especially touching... trying not to cry at my desk!
Oh Frizzle! I am so sorry! I fear that is what will happen with Mojo, and my Mo even looks a bit like Mac! So sorry, at least he had a wonderful loving home until the end. ( this is crittergirl from ES)
Frizzle, I'm so sorry you lost your sweet beautiful boy. What an honor that your horse had to have an owner like yourself, and how lucky that you two were together during his last hours. Sweet Mac, I'm sure he is happy running around pain free in Horse Heaven. I know today will be incredibly hard, put all that love into your boy Salem. I'll be thinking of you. xo
He was not alone! That must have made him feel so much better. It is truly a great comfort to have your best friend with you when things aren't right. I'm sorry you lost him.
This started as the training journal of Salem, a 5 year old Thoroughbred gelding, as he progressed from Total Greenie to Slightly Less Green-ie.
After six months with me, Salem went up to his owner Raffie outside of Chicago. Her goal was to make him into her dressage horse.
Sadly, Raffie passed away in March of 2011 and Salem made the journey back down to me. While I'm thrilled to have him back, I wish it were under better circumstances.
Neither Salem nor I have the desire (or the talent) to be dressage superstars. Eventually, I'd like him to be my trail-riding, hunter/jumper eventer; but for now, I'm just content that he's safe with me.
13 comments:
:( He was a beautiful, beautiful boy! What happened? Maybe I'll go digging back through your blog to find out.
Hugs to the Mac man. He's got lots of great company over there on the other side...
Denali, he had a horrible torsion colic, which is one of those freak, unpreventable occurences. I got a call at 4 in the morning, I was there in 10 minutes and the vet was about 10 minutes behind me. Despite the best treatment, he passed away at 8:45. I really debated about taking him straight to the hospital for colic surgery, but he was so weak that he actually fell over a few times, so the vet and I opted to treat him at the farm (vet wasn't quite sure if it was colic or enteritis). Looking back, I am so glad I didn't take him, as the nearest hospital is two hours away if there's no traffic; the vet worked on Mac for quite a while, and if we had waited for a trailer, it would have been getting close to rush hour. Mac would have died in the trailer, which is the one thing that could have possibly been worse.
The vet was at the farm twice between 4:30 and 7:30; unfortunately, when Mac started to really get into trouble, it was just him and me. He passed away ten minutes before the vet made it back.
At least he wasn't alone -- I was with him until his last breath.
That is so sad - my sympathies on this sad anniversary.
That's so sad, but at least you were with him at the end. How old was he?
Thanks for the kind words, guys. :-)
Denali, he was 23 and I thought he'd live another 20 -- he acted like a two year old until the day he died!
May the anniversary of his passing remind you of all the good times you had with your guy. I know it's hard...
I am so sorry to hear that. At least he had you to the end I am sure he found comfort in that. I lost my big grey at 24 this month 2 years ago so I find this especially touching... trying not to cry at my desk!
Oh Frizzle! I am so sorry! I fear that is what will happen with Mojo, and my Mo even looks a bit like Mac! So sorry, at least he had a wonderful loving home until the end. ( this is crittergirl from ES)
Frizzle, I'm so sorry you lost your sweet beautiful boy. What an honor that your horse had to have an owner like yourself, and how lucky that you two were together during his last hours. Sweet Mac, I'm sure he is happy running around pain free in Horse Heaven.
I know today will be incredibly hard, put all that love into your boy Salem.
I'll be thinking of you. xo
I'm sorry to hear that. :-( I'm glad you got to be with him, though.
He was not alone! That must have made him feel so much better. It is truly a great comfort to have your best friend with you when things aren't right.
I'm sorry you lost him.
So sorry to hear that. I don't know if I could make it through something like that... I guess you don't have a choice.
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