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Clydesdale mare
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May 17, 1991 - November 17, 2011
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Carlene was born to be a star. She was royally bred - her dam and sire coming from top bloodlines within the world of Clydesdale horses. She grew into a fantastic halter mare in Canada, and went on to win some top awards in draft hitch shows there.
My friend imported her to Ohio, and learned to love this fine mare a lot. They had many good times, and life was grand until one day, Carlene felt terrible. She could hardly breathe. My friend and her husband had an equine vet come out to check on their mare. Turns out Carlene had a ton of allergies to which a serum was created to fight. She got injections monthly, and it sure seemed to help her. She had many, many things go wrong with her - and each time, her owners fought to help her thorough them; Canker, thrush, bad feet, allergies, and eventually COPD.
One evening, I was reading an email from my pal, only to realize that they were going to put the mare down. After many involved emails, Carlene arrived at our farm in PA, on January 7th, 2005 (she was 14 yrs old) in-between snow storms. I got busy finding out the many troubles the mare had, and learned a lot about various diseases, ailments, and more. Her hooves, from SO many years of being shod and extremely spread out, were basically shot, so my farrier told me. She had foundered within the past 6 months, and he wasn't sure if he could help her at all. I found out what helped her breathing, and had an herbal mix created that Carlene got daily. It helped and she was breathing much easier. She got her hay soaked, her hooves painted with a special hoof conditioner, special shoes on her front hooves so they were not so sore, and she began to feel better and look better.
Over the years, Carlene had been a delight to own. She was sound (for an unhealthy horse) and in such fine shape, I took her to a local horse show. She was the hit of the whole show - everyone loved her. My husband would call her "Carli Brown" - well because she was! Each evening, she would walk down the farm lane to meet me for our walk back to the barn after she was 100% retired, and I cherished those times.
This past Fall she lost weight. Her hooves began to abscess once more, and her breathing - well , it wasn't the best. She turned 20 years old this Spring...I slowly watched my beloved mare fall apart over the past weeks. This past Sunday, I realized that she was ready to "move on", so this morning, after some plans had been made, I helped her do this. Our vet said she went down gently, and just 'went to sleep'. What a dignified end for such a top mare to have. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I knew she was ready, and it was time for her to pass over the "rainbow bridge''.
God speed, Carli - and know that so many humans loved you here on earth...
Kris
who loved you too. |
Carlene 
