Very unexpected news came tonight, my two ponies Jenny and Tony were put down by my grandfather yesterday. At 10 and 12 years old this is shocking, disturbing, and heartbreaking... What vet would put down two animals of an 80 year old man with Alzheimers without consulting his family members is beyond me. Especially his family members who have knowledge about horses. It is beyond my comprehension. Learning that my two ponies have passed on in an after-the-fact kind of way- i dont think there could be a worse feeling. They had founder, bad, and apparently no one in my family felt the need to update me or my cousin (who is the other 'owner', we were given them as children by my grandfather) that it was a near death situation. Apparently they hadn't walked for a week. My cousin lives down the road, no one even bothered to let her say goodbye. We are both stunned, absolutely stunned. If i had known it had come to this i would've been up there in a heartbeat with a trailer to take them away, to find them proper help, to do what i could for them. To, at least, say goodbye.
It's a complicated situation because my grandfather has alzheimers. Originally he took wonderful care of all his animals, he always had 5-6 horses, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs.... but the clan has diminished as his health has gotten worse. We knew that taking the ponies away from him would make things so much worse, for he would undoubtedly go to the barn every morning looking for them and either realise they were gone and re-live the greif, or panic and begin searching for them. Now that time has come. Their time came too early. They were sweet, sweet ponies put in a horrible situation. They provided him routine, purpose and companionship in exchange for worse and worse care. One of the good things about alzheimers is it is routine-depandent, so thankfully because he had been feeding and watering horses everyday for the past 50-70 years he always remembered to feed and water them. It's in his blood. What he started to forget was turnout, calling the vet and farrier, de-worming, winter blankets. My cousin and I tried to keep on top of everything for him, and our family who lives near him chcked up on the ponies as often as possible to ensure they were taken care of. They weren't neglected, by any means, but they weren't doing well. Founder got worse and worse, standing in stalls and not getting exercised anymore took a toll. We used to have two sulkies which my grandfather would hook them up to everyday and take them out, but he had a garage fire last year which claimed both sulkies along with our pony-buggies and sleighs. Everything has seemed to fall apart over the past year, and me moving to away for university sent me five hours further away from them.
I will never forgive myself, my grandfather, or my family for letting it come to this. I thought they had founder, but i thought it was like it always was- permanent but not life threatening. It was always worse in the spring, but much better in the summer/fall/winter. Last summer i saw them cantering around their field, this winter i saw them trotting threw the snow a couple times. I feel sick to my stomach with guilt and greif as i write this, because i dont know how to handle not knowing. It was too early for them to go, they were too young and could have made it. If i had taken them away from that situation, they might have made it.
I would like to remember a few special memories i've had with them, and will continue to fill this blog with photos of the two of them. It's hard to even think in past tense, and i dont know how much i will be able to write. They were great, wonderful ponies to have growing up. We did everything with them, hacks, bareback with shorts and sandals, pole bending, barrel racing, showing western, showing leadline minature classes at the local fair, many many parades with our buggies. One special parade was with their mother Peggy, tony was only a yearling and he trotted along side his mother in the parade. The ooohs and ahhs came from everyone, the crowd loved the cute little baby, and so did we! As we grew up we grew out of riding them (at least in saddles) and started barebacking them minimally and really focusing on lunging. We got them going over all sorts of jumps, going every speed, it was so fun to have that connection with them through the lunge. We'd take them both out in the sulkies and give rides to neighbours and friends around our corral. I had birthday parties and taught all my friends how to ride when i was younger. Everytime i was there my cousin and i would brush the ponies and take special care thinning their manes, trimming their fetlocks. They always looked beautiful. Summertime baths were their favourite, we'd clean them up so they were ready to go to a show, and then laugh as they rolled in a mud puddle a few minutes later. Tony was mine, and Jenny was Val's. Tony was cheeky and silly. He nipped as a young one, but it didn't throw me off. We had a special bond, he would do almost anything for me in any situation. There was something underlying between us that we understood each other and loved each other so much. Jenny was Val's because she was easier to train, she was less stubborn that Tony and more agile. While Val and Jenny were jumping and cantering Tony and i would stop for a snack and i'd sit in the grass with him for hours. Val and I's safe place was in their barn. We'd go in there and talk for hours while the two of them munched their hay and listened quietly. We expressed everything there, planned our future co-owned barn down to the paddock fencing, and just hide from real life in our cozy pony barn. Ever since we were kids we loved sweeping the barn and picking out their stalls. I liked feeding them grain because they were so greedy and funny to watch eat. One of my favourite parts about them were their feet, so tiny and delicate, it was heartbreaking to watch them get the tell-tale red of founder. We got Peggy when she was carrying Jenny, so both ponies were bought on the farm. A couple years ago we tried to breed Jenny but she didn't catch. Tony was born on the farm too a couple years later. We watched my grandpa train the silly little boy, and one of us were the first ones on him. He was hilarious to ride, the typical pony trying to get your off on a low hanging tree branch or ducking into a near by hedge. It made things more fun, to us, i don't remember ever falling off either one of them. They were ponies, but they were also our caretakers. They knew how far to go without hurting us. They could tell when we were still having fun.
Things You Should Know About Founder, also known as Laminitis.
All ponies are at risk of developing founder. Please take the steps to prevent founder, research it, understand it, and protect your babies. This exerpt from the book Diseases A-Z will give you important information. "Laminitis: Inflammation of the sensitive laminae which lie between the hoof and the bone of the foot (pedal bone). Taditionally a disease of fat ponies grazing on lush pasture, but it can affect any horse. It can be caused by over-eating, retention of foetal membranes after foaling, or even excessive trauma to the feet. It is an acute and chronic condition. It is important to start treatment immediatley to avoid any permanent damage, irreversable changes occur to the laminae within the first twelve hours.
Treatment:
Administering large quantities of liquid paraffin help to prevent further absorption of endotoxins, bute reduces the pain, and will increase blood supply in the foot, ner blocking the feet will increase blood-flow by exerting a vasodiliator effect, light exercise, stabling with litter that supports the sole is crucial, heart bar shoes will support the pedal bone, surgical removal of the front wall might be neccessary. Treatment concentrates on controlling the pain with anti-inflammatory agents combined with regular corrective trimming and shoeing so that the pedal bone assumes a more normal position.
Blunt facts: Do not overfeed your ponies. You may think your pony needs "Something" to eat while the other horses are eating, but that is where we went wrong. Feeding a couple roughage chunks instead of sweet feed may save your ponies life. Do not put ponies out on lush grass, even if they dont have founder. Control them to 1/2-2 hours morning and night, depending on their size and weight. Ponies develop laminitis easily and quickly. Don't risk it. Have a farrier who knows what they're doing. Our farrier once told my grandpa their feet looked fine. Get an expert, push for the latest and most effective shoeing treatment. Measure their weight, track any weight gain and find the cause. Exercise is essential in providing a balanced lifestyle for your pony. Keep them healthy, for i hope no one ever experiences what i am now.
We got the two of them new blankies this winter; look at them showing them off! Tony discovers a sleigh in the field.
Are you coming, or what?
Tony and I a couple falls ago.
Welcome to the world baby Tony. (Born on the night of Haley's Comet)
I beleive this was a "before" picture. ;)
A couple shots from a B&W series I did of them.
Jen's rainboots!
Rest in peace you two, we love you so much.
That's such a shame that they had to be put down. Both ponies were absolutely adorable. This is such a sad story about them and your grandfather. I hope you will find comfort in remembering them and the happy times you all spent together. At least you can think of them being together somewhere in an open meadow and drinking from clear streams while playing and having fun all day long.
ReplyDeleteThank your for your condolences. It's been an extremely hard loss to make sense of. Truly heartbreaking to lose them, as they were like family to us. As you said, the only peace i can find in the situation is that they they were never separated while they were here with us (even shared a box stall!) and they will always be together in their next life. Again, thank you.
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