I'd like to pay a tribute
to my beloved horse, Jack, who had to be put to sleep on Wednesday,
January 30, 2008.
My mom had adopted Jack a few months after the death of our last horse as
a pasture mate for two of our other horses. We'd been looking around for
horses for a while and my mom decided to check out the Hooved Animal Humane
Society to see if there were any horses that she'd like. As soon as we all
saw Jack, the little halflinger pony, we fell in love with him and just had
to have him, but we learned the story of how his life began really wasn't
great at all.
Jack was found running wild and he really didn't trust people. We figured
we'd have the time to get his life back on track and we promised him a better
life than what he'd previously had. It took time and a lot of treats, but
we finally started to see a huge improvement in him trusting us and learning
that humans are okay. Little by little he would get excited to see us every
morning and he would even allow us to lean in his stall to give him a little
kiss on his nose. My friends would come over and he would greet them with
a little nicker and a toss of his head, they all fell in love with him.
It was just when he reached his most trusting point when he got sick with
founder in the beginning of this year. Walking got hard for him, and one
painful day, our neighbor found him cast in our lean-to. She figured nothing
was wrong, and that he'd just slipped and fell. The next time I saw him,
he seemed okay, he was playful and full of life. He ran, he kicked and he
nickered, so I figured he would be alright. The weather was bad that night,
so my mom asked me to go bring the horses in, but only two came down to be
let in. I called my mom, telling her Jack wasn't coming down the hill, and
I couldn't see him. She told me to call the neighbors for help, Jack was
down again. My neighbor's boyfriend came over and got him up and to his stall,
and my mom had just gotten home and called the vet. Jack was sick with colic,
and the vet told us to see how he was through the night...if he made it.
He had made it through the night, but no improvement was made, so my mom
made the most difficult decision ever, it was time to say goodbye to our
beloved Jack. With a heavy heart I headed out to say goodbye to him one last
time. It was hard letting him go, but it was so much better than him suffering
and being in pain.
Each day the pain goes
away a little bit, and his memory will live on forever, but it's still hard
going out to the barn and realizing we'll never hear his nicker or see him
again. We miss you Jack, and we love you always. You're in our thoughts forever
and always.
Katie Anderson
|
Jack 
