Somber Updates :(

So a couple updates....

The original plan for burying Dollar was to do it on my Dad's property. But a couple things came up. We need a back-hoe to dig a grave, his skid-steer can only dig to 3 feet. Oops. It's also highly illegal to bury big animals on your yard. And since my Dad is trying to sell the place, if someone buys it and finds out that there is a horse buried there, my Dad is up a creek without a paddle.

I talked to the local Pet Cemetery, Pansy Pet Cemetery about burying Dollar. They do have lots for horses and gave me the cost of $350 to have him buried there. That includes the back-hoe digging and burying and a head plate for his name, birthday and died date. And I can also have him euthanized there, so that saves a lot of headaches.

And then I talked to the vet last night (actually he texted me first) about euthanizing Dollar. He confirmed for this Friday (June 8) and gave me the costs. Yikes! Looking at $250 for the entire thing, but that includes the procedure, his travel cost to the Pet Cemetery and the after hours/emergency fee that he charges for weekends.

But at least I'll know where he's buried and be able to visit him there. And Keith pointed out something that I didn't think of. As Dad is trying to sell the house/property and possibly not have anywhere for the horses to go, Keith said that maybe this is an easier way to let Dollar go, rather than having the above mentioned happen and possibly have to give him away again. Good point hubs. :)

T minus 4 days until there's a hoof-sized hole in my heart.........

Custom Order!!

When I found out that I'd have to put Dollar down, I started looking at ways that I could have some keepsakes of him, mostly for me and also for V who would be too young to remember him (she's only 7 months old). Through Kelly, I found this site on FaceBook called Lucky Hare. She does orders only on FaceBook, but that was OK. She makes stuffed ponies that look wayy too cute and also does personalized/custom ones of horses that you have.

I sent her a message on FaceBook today asking if she would be able to make me Dollar. She was also having a 25% off sale because she got a whole ton of new fabric in. Unfortunately the first choice of fabric that I wanted (Zebra print) was sold out very quickly, so I opted for my second choice

Yes, I know it looks odd (and maybe a bit weird), but I love it! And she threw in the embroidery for free! She said it should be done by the end of the week and shipped early next week. Can't wait!!

Tentative Date

Just got off the phone with my vet and made a tentative date for Dollar to be put down. June 9 is the dreaded day.

Why does it have to be so soon??

Picture Spam!!!!

I've been down to visit Dollar at least once, if not twice a week. Of course I'd love to go visit him more, but something about having a 7-month old kinda puts a kink in things.

Oh, and we're trying to figure out how to tell the Brody and Madison (the nephew and niece) about Dollar being put down. The simplest answer: he's gone to see Jesus. Basically to my 4-year-old nephew, anything that dies goes to see Jesus. I'll take that :) 

So in true picture spam fashion, here is a couple whack load of photos from the past couple weeks in no particular order.

Mars leading Dollar to me.

Brody leading Dollar into pasture for me.

Brody having a "discussion" with Dollar about leading :)

Brody trying to catch Dollar for me :)

Ok, you see where all the grain is by the fence, right? And look where he is. That's how far he dragged his treat bucket, once step at a time, and while I was grooming him.

A small little ride out to his pasture :)

The Phat One trying to hide in the trees :)

My Horse is Odd....

Since making the decision to put him down, I've been going out to see Dollar a bit more. And I think he's enjoying the bonus attention, but also likes to make me pull my hair out and make me sad at the same time.

When I went down there on Monday to see him for a couple minutes (I had V with me and nobody was home), I put V in the house while she was sleeping and went into the pasture to see him. Now Dollar is pretty content in pasture, but when he saw me, he started ambling his was back to the gate because in his train of thought, when Mom shows up, it's time to work. He did let me pet him a little bit, before marching off toward the gate and just standing there waiting for me and basically going, "Mom's here, work time!" I felt so bad telling him that he no longer has to work. He looked a bit dejected :(

Eating trees

My Old Man leading the way to the gate, followed closely by Mars

Then, when I went down today, I was with my niece and nephew, so they came with me to get him from the pasture and bring him up to the barn so that I could pamper him a bit. He seemed to enjoy that, and also toted the kids around a little bit. At least I can take solace in the fact that my Old Man can still haul the kids around, even if it's not real work for him.

What To Do...

Well, since the decision was made about Dollar, I've been humming and hawing over what to do with all my tack. I have 2 saddles (1 Western and 1 English), 2 bridles (Western and English), grooming tools, halters, etc.

I talked with Keith and decided to keep all my tack. I may look into getting another horse in a couple years (when I don't have a little kid(s) demanding all my time) and that way I don't have to re-buy all my stuff and spend a whack-load of money.

Sigh. And now everyone is having their spring sales and as much as I want to go a buy stuff for Dollar, I know it's pointless. Sheesh. Why does this have to be so hard??

Oh, and for this blog. I've decided to leave it up as a memoriam to Dollar and (maybe) start up a different horse blog for any that I ride and any possible future horse.

Not Good News (And Why I Spent the Day Crying)

So I got some not good news from my Dad today about Dollar. He had the vet down sometime last week to pull wolf teeth on the youngsters and had him check out Dollar because it seems as though his Heaves are getting worse. Well, the vet checked him, had Sam jog him in hand, and checked him again. Turns out that he only has about 1/4 of his lungs left to use (the tail end of his lungs), the rest has totally congealed (basically turned to meat) and that I'd probably have to put him down by summer-time, otherwise he might not make it through summer.

Sigh. Not the news I wanted to hear, ande especially not now. I was hoping that he'd make it at least until 25 and that V would be able to ride him. I felt so bad for him and I know it's selfish of me, but part of me really wants to keep him around. The other (logical) part of me knows that it's time for him to go, that he's lead a good life and needs to be free of his pain.

Luckily Hubs was there when my Dad told me this, and while I was crying away, he just looked at me and told me to saddle up Dollar. Which at first didn't make sense to me as I had just ridden him before getting this news, but then it clicked it. He was gonna let me take V for her first ride on Dollar.

So needless to say, I went back into the pasture to get him, with the niece and nephew following me and calling for him. He didn't seem impressed that he'd have to work again, but still came and let my niece ride him back to the barn.

Put my Western saddle on him, hopped on and then got V on with me. And off we went....
Dollar just walked ever so slowly while I held V as we rode. Sigh. Just tearing up looking at the video again. Dollar did awesome with her (duh, when is he not awesome?!?!) and even backed up and spun with her. Such a good Old Man.

Me and Keith decided later in the evening that we'll wait until after his 20th birthday in June to put him down. I know it's selfish, but I want him to see his 20th before he goes to greener pastures. I basically spent the rest of the evening in tears.

So not ready for this....