“While time will fade their hoof prints, the ones left on our hearts will never disappear.” - Unknown
By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill, is a lush green meadow where time stands still. Where the friends of man and woman do run, when their time on earth is over and done. For here, between this world and the next, is a place where beloved creatures find rest. On this golden land, they wait and they play, til the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day. No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, for here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness. Their limbs are restored, their health renewed. Their bodies have healed with strength imbued. They trot through the grass without even a care, til one day they whinny and sniff at the air. All ears prick forward, eyes sharp and alert. Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the herd. For just at that second, there’s no room for remorse. As they see each other… one person… one horse. So they run to each other, these friends from long past. The time of their parting is over at last. The sadness they felt while they were apart, has turned to joy once more in each heart. They nuzzle with a love that will last forever. And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.
TUCSON CATALINA (Lena)
June 26, 2023
Lena came to us May 28, 2023 from a private owner in Lake Geneva, WI. She was believed to be 18 years old, said to be broke to ride, and was surrendered only because the owner was having trouble keeping weight on her. When she arrived we noticed that her right hock was double the size of the left, and it was very painful for her. We were unsure if it was a new injury or an old injury. We had the vet come out to evaluate her, and we decided to start with putting her on joint supplements and giving her some pain meds to see if that helped with the inflammation. Next steps would be to do an x-ray and go from there. We posted a video of Lena on our social media, that went viral. It just happened to be that Lena’s original owner (who purchased her as a yearling) saw the video, and reached out to us. After a lot of discussion we determined this was indeed the same horse, and her registered name was Ms. Special Poise. She was not 18, in fact she was 29 years old, and she the hock which we were concerned with had been an issue for years. She had actually received injections for it, and last the original owner had heard she was retired from showing because she could not trot on it. Her original owner had kept track of her until about 5 years ago, but up until that point knew that she had been very well cared for. With the new information of Lena being 29, we realized a lot of things made more sense. This is most likely why her surrendering owner had trouble keeping weight on her, among other things. We consulted with our vet regarding our options for her painful hock. Given her true age, and the fact that she had already received intervention on that hock for years prior, it was determined there is nothing further that we would be able to do for her to get her pasture sound. Her hock is so painful, that we were not even able to trim her feet without her going 3 legged lame. We had such high hopes that we would have been able to help her be a sound and happy horse again, but it is not fair to keep a horse in constant pain just because we do not want to say good-bye. With very heavy hearts, we decided that Lena would be laid to rest. May she run whole and free in green pastures forever. You will be greatly missed, and forever in our hearts, sweet girl.