A gift for Eden, my horse

Some of you know I have two horses.

They are Arabians and I just love them. They are both mares and the elder was left without a pasture mate over 4 years ago so I needed to find her another friend. I found another Arabian mare, Eden, who had been trained in English and Western riding! The owner was moving to Indiana and needed to find her a good home so for very few shekels I had a new horse!

We brought her home and into our pasture with Bu and they hit it off very well. We called them ‘the girls’.

My grand-daughter took lessons on her and learned to ride well. But Eden had such a huge belly I couldn’t find a girth large enough for my English saddle. Then her hair started to curl and wouldn’t shed in the spring…something was wrong.

My vet checked her and took some blood. She had hypothyroid and Cushing’s Disease. These are metabolic problems and can be treated so the horse remains fairly functional so we did.

She did pretty well. I got her lower carb feed and a muzzle for pasture feeding. Too much sugar leads to higher glucose levels and they drink loads of water. Almost like a diabetic. She did well until this winter.

The first snap of brutally cold winter weather was in December. They both did pretty well as horses do even with the cold. But when it warmed and I took off the blanket, she had lost so much muscle and fat; her skin just hug on her bones. Then this present cold came and Eden couldn’t tolerate it. She was moving her weight between her hind feet, she quit eating and moved very, very slowly. I knew she was cold and her hind feet were numb or worse, in pain. That was yesterday.

Tearfully and with a very heavy heart I decided on the best gift I could give my Eden. I called the vet to put her down. It’s hard to write this. Brings the tears back.

She went down easy. I believe she was gone before she hit the ground. Horses don’t like going down onto the ground without their own decision to do it. Rest in peace Eden.

 

 

Bu ran around the pasture screaming for Eden. She’s quieter this morning. Wouldn’t eat last night but did this morning. Got a bad snow storm today so I’m glad she’s eating. And -12 degree temps next week.

Now to find a new pasture mate for Bu…