Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sad Day

Today, with a heavy heart, I put my horse on Craigslist to find her a new home.


This is something that I had a serious internal struggle with. I love my horse. I adore her.
But I can't give her what she needs.
This horse is high maintenance. REALLY high maintenance.
She has bad feet. She's allergic to bugs. Overall, she is really suffering from being on a farm. She needs a home with a stall, and a dry paddock. Not 30 acres of marsh and mud and cow poop. 


I've always had the mindset that a horse is a pet, just like a dog or cat. They aren't disposable. But a horse is a heck of a lot harder to keep quarantined. When my cat had her leg amputated, I could close her in the bathroom, keep an eye on her, and it was easy to get through it. Same thing with my dog... if he's not feeling well, I can keep an eye on him, monitor and regulate his activity and food and clear up whatever it is that is ailing him. It's not that easy with an 1100 pound animal. I don't have a place available to me that I can keep her to make her better. I don't have a barn with a stall or even a paddock that will help her. 
I go the farm every day, get her out of the field, clean her up, do my best to address the issues that are becoming so rampant. I. JUST. CAN'T. KEEP. UP. It makes me feel like an awful person. These things aren't comfortable for her, it's not healthy to have these problems and not be able to resolve them. And even if I could somehow alleviate the problems to where they aren't at an unhealthy level, it will always only be a temporary fix.


Anyways, this post is hard for me. As was the Craigslist post. I've been crying all day since making the decision, but I know it is the right one to make. There are other horses out there that CAN thrive in the environment that I have to offer, but unfortunately Princess isn't one of them. 

Sad day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

:( I'm sorry BFFL. I will miss Princess. I can only imagine how you are feeling. Not easy at all. But you're doing the right thing for her.