Right before Christmas we lost our horse, Slugger Hanover. He had a twisted gut & we had to euthanize him. I already mentioned it on facebook when it happened, but I'd like to say some things about Slugger & our experience with a retired harness horse & then some really cool ways that we were blessed after his death.
Slugger was the kind of horse that everyone wants for their kids. He'd get feisty with adults & his competitive spirit couldn't let another horse pass him on a trail ride... but he was like putty in the hands of kids. Toddlers could walk under him & he wouldn't move a muscle. He followed the little girls around like a big dog. He'd lower his head when they reached up to pet him. Alyssa used to hold onto his lips. All 3 of our old horses were like that, but Slugger especially. (we only have 1 of them left now). I have pictures of Susanna pretending to be a horse grazing amidst the 3 old horses at the age of 5 & 6.
Slugger was one of the lucky racehorses. He raced several years & won just under $200,000. His owner/driver, John Padres, loved him & wanted to make sure he ended up in a good home & had the retirement he deserved (and that all racehorses deserve). Many racehorses end up at auctions. There's no way to tell what will happen there. Too many of them go to slaughterhouses. I'll never take a horse to an auction. Ever. But, our horses are here for their lifetimes.
So, John gave Slugger to Chris. I went to Morrisville college w/ John & Chris. We were all in the standardbred program there...hence my soft spot for the amazing big-hearted standardbred breed...and my first experience with racehorses being raced too young & not given enough time to see if they have potential. Breeding is rampant in the racing industry & horses are disposable to many...but not all, thank goodness.
Chris gave Slugger to my daughter Hannah when she was 6 yrs old. Slugger was a good babysitter. Hannah learned so much from him & I required her to do all her own horse chores. Horse chores had to be done before breakfast. We are responsible for them & their needs get met before ours do. Same thing with our other animals.
For several months, Slugger's companion was a young holstien cow. Her name was Slurpy. She was born 5 weeks early & was given to us by friends. We bottle fed her way too long & she thought she was a dog. We learned from Slurpy that cows are smarter than they appear & do have lots of personality...but, still, they are nothing like horses. Horses are very much like dogs in the loyalty, intuitiveness & intelligence department.
One cool memory we have is that Slurpy used to run towards the kids when they went into the pasture. Every time she did that, Slugger would run over & get between the cow & the kids. He never let her get to them. She was just being friendly, but her size made her dangerous to their safety. Thankfully, Slugger protected them.
So, then we were given Retro & Bonnie from a friend at church. Their daughter went to college & didn't have time for them anymore. They were both older horses. Retro is another harness horse & Bonnie was a sweet QH mare. They were joined at the hip & Retro was very protective of her. Adding these 2 horses was pretty tough. Retro was protective of Bonnie & Slugger was protective of his cow. What ended up happening is that with the horses fighting each other, Slugger broke his jaw...but we didn't know it at first. When he ate his food, his grain was dropping out of his mouth, so we called our vet at the time (who is now retired from large animal) to come & float his teeth. That's filing sharp teeth down, if you don't know. He came the next day. When he showed up, 3 kids were sitting on Slugger's back. They got down & Wayne began to float his teeth(without sedation) on one side-no problem. When he switched to the other side, he said, "wait a minute-this isn't right." It turned out that Slugger's upper jaw was broken & 2 of his teeth pushed in. That poor horse, in pain, let 3 kids have a little pony ride(no bridle on) & let the vet float the good side...and he never acted up. We trailered him to the vet's place, where he was heavily sedated & had his jaw wired back together...and our vet wouldn't take payment for any of it. He still does small animal-Wayne Beilman @ Lake Country-we take our cats & dogs there & he's awesome! Slugger had to have mash for about 3 weeks (and no hay) & his teeth rinsed with water in a huge syringe after he ate each time-and he never fussed about it.
I could go on & on about Slugger. He had a heart of gold.
So...the day Slugger died, our vet, Dr. Kathy Baxendell came. He didn't seem like he was in a lot of distress & I thought he had a mild colic. It was a shock to find out how serious it was. We were not prepared to make the decision we had to make that night. But, Kathy was amazing with Slugger. We brought him over to where we were going to dig the hole-right next to Bonnie. Slugger went so peacefully. He didn't even fall down. Not only did Kathy care for our beloved horse, she also cared for us. She got teary-eyed, gave Hannah a hug & talked to her for awhile. Slugger was her first horse. And it was hard. But, that is what needed to be done & even though it's a hard thing to do, it was the best thing for him...and he died with compassion & dignity, surrounded by people he loved & that loved him.
Three days later, we got a bill for Groton City. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be, but a couple days before Christmas is kind of rough, financially. But, when you have horses, that sometimes comes with the territory. Here's the first cool thing after Slugger died.
The bill said "paid in full" by an anonymous person.
And then we got a beautiful & heart-felt hand-written sympathy card from Dr. Baxendell & the vet clinic.
And then about 2 weeks later, we got a sympathy letter from Country Acres Animal Shelter in Homer. I wasn't aware of this organization. They wrote to us saying they were sorry for the loss of Slugger & thought we would be comforted to know that our vet clinic donated money to them in Slugger's memory to "Annie's Fund." Annie was an appaloosa that they rescued & Annie's fund is earmarked for helping rescue horses.
What a wonderful thing for our vet clinic to do...what a blessing to be their clients. They've helped our horses before-Casey's impalement, Copper's mangled leg, Retro's damaged eye...Slugger's death. Their kindness & compassion & their donation for rescue horses overwhelms me especially since I am so vehemently opposed to horse slaughter & so passionate about doing whatever we can to help rescue horses. I am so excited to learn about this animal shelter that is close by. We talked to them today to see how we can help/volunteer. We're so excited to do more! If only everyone would do a little something!
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do." ~Edward Everet Hale~
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