RIP Willow
For my birthday this year (Feb. 21) I got a pony. I was super excited, I got her to be a companion for my 33 year old TB Ginger. She was a very cute, spunky little thing around 4 years old that very closely resembled my Gypsy cross mare, Melody, in markings.
I got her for free. She was a rescue case of severe neglect/abuse. She was so afraid of people that if you got close to her she would just start trembling. Everyday when I came out to grain her I'd stand by her bucket. At first she refused to even eat until I left, but slowly as the days progressed she would inch closer until she was comfortable eating with me there. My next faze with her was to make her eat out of a bucket in my hands with me standing in the field rather than over the fence. This also took quite a few weeks, but eventually she would eat out of the bucket- and I added nose pats to her while she ate.
She started to nicker greetings to me, and while I still couldn't touch her she'd come up to sniff me or take a cookie from my hand. On Tuesday I had a terrible feeling about my horses, I thought something was going to happen to my Old Lady- because let's face it she's 33 years old. So I spent all day with them snapping pictures, grooming, making sure everyone got extra cookies. I didn't leave the barn to go home until well after 10:00 PM.
Wed. I couldn't get out to the horses until after 5PM because of work. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Ginger was ok. My other two horses, Melody and Duke, also came rushing to the gate to say hello. I didn't think anything of not seeing Willow, because she usually took her sweet time making her way to the gates to add her nicker to the chorus. However, she still hadn't shown up by the time I was done with my chores and was ready to grain. My heart sank as I climbed the gate and began waling through the paddock. I found her under the shade of a large pine, dead.
There were no signs of any distress on her little body, it looks like she just laid down and drifted away.
(These pics were taken the day before she died...)
RIP little Willow, I hope you knew that not all humans are terrible and that you were loved for your short time in my pasture. :(
I got her for free. She was a rescue case of severe neglect/abuse. She was so afraid of people that if you got close to her she would just start trembling. Everyday when I came out to grain her I'd stand by her bucket. At first she refused to even eat until I left, but slowly as the days progressed she would inch closer until she was comfortable eating with me there. My next faze with her was to make her eat out of a bucket in my hands with me standing in the field rather than over the fence. This also took quite a few weeks, but eventually she would eat out of the bucket- and I added nose pats to her while she ate.
She started to nicker greetings to me, and while I still couldn't touch her she'd come up to sniff me or take a cookie from my hand. On Tuesday I had a terrible feeling about my horses, I thought something was going to happen to my Old Lady- because let's face it she's 33 years old. So I spent all day with them snapping pictures, grooming, making sure everyone got extra cookies. I didn't leave the barn to go home until well after 10:00 PM.
Wed. I couldn't get out to the horses until after 5PM because of work. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Ginger was ok. My other two horses, Melody and Duke, also came rushing to the gate to say hello. I didn't think anything of not seeing Willow, because she usually took her sweet time making her way to the gates to add her nicker to the chorus. However, she still hadn't shown up by the time I was done with my chores and was ready to grain. My heart sank as I climbed the gate and began waling through the paddock. I found her under the shade of a large pine, dead.
There were no signs of any distress on her little body, it looks like she just laid down and drifted away.
(These pics were taken the day before she died...)
RIP little Willow, I hope you knew that not all humans are terrible and that you were loved for your short time in my pasture. :(