RIP Lucy

mrose_s

BusterLove
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#1
We lost our beautiful 35 year old mare yesterday.

Colic.


We fought for a good 9 hours, pumping fluid into her and hoping to get something moving and nothing, in the end the vet came to check her again and pretty much made the call. It was getting worse not better.

In one way it's hard, because she was incredibly healthy, nice and heavy still. Queen of her herd and protector of the weak.In another way, we did see every winter she was a little harder to keep weight on and a little stiffer in her joints. I am glad we didn't have to watch a slow and sad decent into being a weak and sick old horse.
It will be interesting to see how the dynamics between the other horses change now that she is gone.

RIP Lucy, I have never met a horse like you. You had more brains than any of them, rock solid temperament that endured a lot of rough treatment in the 30 years before you came to us.


This is a photo of her taken a few weeks ago.

 

Snark

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#5
So sorry for your loss - colic sucks. She looked like a grand old gal and certainly had the 'look of eagles'!

Run free in green pastures, Lucy!
 

Sit Stay

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#6
I'm so sorry :( A friend of mine just lost her gelding of 9 years to colic, too. It's so hard on the heart.

What a stunning mare. RIP Lucy!
 

Kootenay

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#8
I'm so sorry :(

I lost my first 2 childhood ponies to colic, so it's always been a real sore spot for me.
 

sillysally

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#9
I thought I would share this:

"Somewhere in time's own space, there must be some sweet pastured place
Where creeks sing on and tall trees grow, some paradise where the horses go;
For, by the love that guides my pen, I know great horses live again."
-- Stanley Harrison.
 

meepitsmeagan

Meagan & The Cattle Dog Crew
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#10
:( So sorry. Colic is really hard. It seems that as they get older they don't come out of it as easily.

Rest in peace, sweet girl. You were beautiful.
 

Cali Mae

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#11
I am so sorry for your loss.

I understand how deeply it hurts to lose a loved one so unexpectedly... and it only adds to the pain of losing them.
 

mrose_s

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#12
Thanks for your thoughts guys.

We had someone come and bury her on the property yesterday, she's up by one of the shelters looking over everything.

I stole some of her mane beforehand to send away and get made into something for my mother, she's missing her a lot.

We don't know a lot about her early life, except that she was used widely as a roping horse in rodeo. She was loaned out to any idiot that needed a horse to jump on and use.

About 12 years ago my mothers ex (before he met her) found her and bought her. He was kinder to her than the people before hand but he would say himself that he wasn't a horseman. She did well on the roping circuit, several years ago she was runner up at the nationals.
Riding her could be tricky because while she was super responsive, she was scared, and she thought the only way to avoid the spur was to go fast whenever someone was on her... so to counteract that she was seen as having a hard mouth and worked in increasingly harsher bits to slow her down. 7 years after he got her she came to live with us and when he and Mum split, she said she was keeping Lucy.

Mums been doing a lot more horsework the last few years and Lucy has been the constant companion to her younger mare, Malibu. Together with a few of her friends they went to a lot of riding days, trail rides and just general horse outings.
In the last few years Lucy hasn't had a single bit in her mouth, Mum does virtually everything with them bareback in a halter. She got to go out every time the younger horses went out and either did some light work or was just allowed to wander along with them and enjoy the outing.

Atleast we know her last few years were spent well and truely relaxed, happy and content.

Now I have to make sure I take my old computer in and get it fixed seeing as its got all the photos of her on it.
 

Zoom

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#13
I am so sorry :-( She was a gorgeous girl! I'm glad she got to live with you guys the last few years and learn what the good life is supposed to be like.

Another friend of mine just lost her roping horse to colic as well. It's such a nasty thing.
 

Dekka

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#14
I am so sorry. I have lost two over the years to colic. Its such a senseless seeming thing to loose a horse too.

(((hugs)))
 

smkie

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#15
I am very sorry. So tragic for everyone, makes the loss even harder to accept. (((((((HUGS and HUGS)))))
 

Miakoda

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#17
I'm so sorry for y'all's loss. :(

I think colic is every horse owner's worse nightmare.
 

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