HGG Community Forums

It can be very hard to lose a horse that has meant so much, even if it just goes to a new home. I'm sorry that you didn't get to say goodbye to Mozart. I hope that he has gone to a good home and that you'll soon find another horse to love.

The hardest loss I've experienced was being present when a mare belonging to the therapeutic riding program I volunteer with had to be euthanized. I met her when she was only a few hours old and did quite a bit of her early training. She was with us at least 24 years, then developed a tumor on her left ovary that gave her a testosterone level higher than most stallions! She began acting very studly and became so attached to one of the other mares that she really had hissy fits when that other mare was being used for a lesson. We finally decided, for the safety of the other mare's riders, that Rosie had to be put down. I'm very glad that I was able to be there to say goodbye.

It would have meant sending her to Cornell to have it surgically removed. At her age, I doubt she would have been a good candidate for the necessary surgery, even if our program could have afforded it. We scramble each year to keep enough money around to maintain the horses and ponies.

Have faith :x I competed on my mare for a year when she was owned by my friend's grandparents and then they sold her without telling me. I never got to say goodbye. 9 years later and i have owned her for a year and a half now :) Heart horses will always come back, it just might take some time