Dark Days

Warning. The following post is not happy and could be considered graphic in sections.

I thought my next blog post would be a happy one about the half and how I really felt pretty good throughout the whole thing. However, life doesn't always go how you expect. We had retired my horse last week in order to let him live out his life in relaxation. The first few days were great. His legs got a little sore from moving around so much but he was happy.

Then one day someone going by the property noticed blood from his nose. We had the vet out and she was worried. It wasn't normal blood. It was very dark and smelled awful. She put him on antibiotics thinking it was an infection. The symptoms looked better in day 3 so we thought we had turned a corner. By day 5 though thing were going downhill fast. Wednesday was day 7 and when I went to check on him things were obviously bad. I called the vet knowing we were at a decision point. I left work because my coworkers are amazing and covered for me. I met her at the farm and she immediately said our only option was to take his pain away.

O stayed with him and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. If that wasn't enough we had conferences Wednesday night and all day Thursday and Friday. All the while I was having to make arrangements for his move. It was horrific.

Tonight I'm going out to drink. A lot. So if you think of it, raise a glass tonSaint Lucas. He was one of my best friends and never let me down. He was the horse of a lifetime.