Good days remembered will eventually outweigh this sad one

There are many ups to owning a pet, whether it’s a dog, cat, hamster, iguana or horse. We fall in love with them, take care of them and they give us unconditional love. However, there is one enormous down side. It’s the day we have to say good-bye; the day when they are too old and tired (if we are fortunate to have them until they are aged) to get up.

This happened Tuesday November 25th to a horse in my barn. KoKo, who was at a ripe old age of around 35, could no longer get up. I had turned the horses out. It was a warm sunshiny morning. Fresh light snow had fallen and everything looked clean and white. KoKo romped and ran in the snows, as well as a horse in their thirties can and decided to roll around in the snow, as horses usually do. Then as hard as he tried, he could not get up. I tried for almost an hour to get him on his feet, but even John Deere and I working together could not get it done. KoKo wanted to say good-bye. He had, had his last bit of fun. I called the Vet, then Pat.

I feel bad for Pat, his owner, because KoKo was her first horse, a dream come true, and more than likely her last. He was a good and gentle horse that took care of her in their 20 years of riding and stable time.

We weren’t certain of KoKo’s age. In 1989, Pat purchased him from Russ McCray, a cowboy with a soul from the old west. When she bought KoKo, she took him away from his life on a hack-string (where he was everyone’s favorite horse to ride) at ‘The Ranch’ a stable up the road from my house.
Back then, Russ told Pat that KoKo was five, but when I mouthed him (telling age by teeth) I thought his age to be around 10-15 years. This would have made him 30-35 years old, today. KoKo's been in my barn, just shy a couple months for 20 years and lived a good healthy life, looked round, not thin as some older horses do, had his feet trimmed a few days before he died, and his coat was still shiny.

I know right now Pat’s heart is heavy and her tears will fall for a few days, because of the decision she had to make, but some day she will realize what a grand ride they had, and 35 years old, is a long life for a horse.

Though I cannot feel her pain, I can sympathize from losing my own equine friends, over the fifty-year span of owning horses. Royal, my one horse, who is in his mid 30’s, will someday be too tired to get up too. When that day will come I don’t know, it could be today, tomorrow or two years from now.

But like I told Pat, this one day, of a sad decision, and the few days of grieving are minimal to the years of fun. That when you make this decision, whether it is a dog, cat, bird, iguana or a life long equine friend, it is a decision made out of love and respect for your trusted friend, because as in our case, we want them to go with their equine nobility in tact.
I know her heart is sad now. This a big down side of owning a horse or any animal, but she’ll soon remember all the upsides over the past twenty years, and realize those good times, definitely out weigh this one sad day, by a huge, HUGE margin..