Sad news

[scarfman]

Just before bed last night I noticed there were messages on the answering machine. One was from our riding instructor. She's been on the road doing the summer show circuit with students, but she felt she had to call, even if it meant leaving a message, to let us know that our lesson horse had accidently died Saturday. I'm not clear on the details - during the night T.J. got stuck lying down under a fence, I think, and it's bad for horses to be on the ground; he had a heart attack in the morning while the vet was tending to him. qtrhorserider was very attached to him. Hell, look at what I just wrote: she named herself after him. They'd been doing Parelli together for about three years. We had plans to lease or buy that horse when we could afford to. I'm just a social rider, or will be eventually, but it's still like losing a family pet to us, or even a family member. T.J. may not have been an "intelligent being" but he was a being with a personality, and that's a person in my book.

Comments

[dave-iii.livejournal.com]

Ouch. The bond between horse and rider is not something I've ever experienced, but I do know what it's like to loose a quadrupedal friend like that. My sympathies.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

I come from a horse crazy family (my sister is editor of _The Horse_ at Bloodhorse publications) so I have a pretty good idea of what you folks are feeling right now. My deepest sympathies.

[finnyb.livejournal.com]

Being a horse lover--and one who loves riding, when I can, though I haven't had the money since a week-long horseback riding camp in the mountains nine years ago--myself, as well as one who loves many other "beings with personalities," I can understand where you're coming from, and I sympathise muchly. I'm very sorry that this happened, and you both have my deepest sympathies, as well.

[alienfish.livejournal.com]

That is awful!

When I was a child, the horse I was learning on died. I no longer remember why but I know how you feel.

[fisher-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of the horse that I was close to as a young teenager. Andy may have belonged to the camp I rode at, he may have been too frail near the end of his life for us older riders to work with him, but he was MY horse anyway, despite what any official paperwork said.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

*hugs* to you guys... horses are definitely people too.

[hergrace.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the loss, Paul. *hugs* to you and qtrhorserider.

[spastasmagoria.livejournal.com]

losing animals is much harder than it looks. You figure oh, they're just animals... they're not people... but in a way they're better than people. They have no expectations of us, we have no complicated relationships with them, they just give us their affection freely. They're quirky and full of personality, and and we get so attached to that, and their innocence (even when Gwenny's crapping in a corner--she's not doing it outta spite, she's doing it because her name is Gwen). So, yeah, it's normal to get attached to someone elses' horse that you happen to spend so much time with and love.

Sorry about the poor thing. It sounds like such a horrible and random accident.