Sorry, so sorry. I could not read the whole story with so many years of faith and trust it had to be heart wrenching those last days... You have captured the beauty of your bond in that photo. A treasure to have for years to come.
oh Pat at first I thought what a beautiful layout and now that I read the description, I am overwhelmed with it's simple beauty and what it means to you! Hugs my dear friend.
Oh Pat, I am so sorry for you loss but understand why you had to help her. I love that you can see her resting place from your window and that you buried your boots with her. You are a special person. Hugs to you. Onto your lo - the picture is just gorgeous! And the color is beautiful.
Pat- I am so sorry for your loss. My eyes are leaking- because I so understand. What a wonderful memory you have of her and the lessons she taught. I think all animals can teach us something if we are paying attention. (((hugs)))
what a beautiful tribute to a beautiful horse. I love seeing the image reflected in her eye. I read your sweet journaling and will admit I started choking up and got teary eyed because it is so obvious how much she meant to you. I'm so sorry you lost her but what a precious gift to have even had her to bring you joy
This is a beautiful page, Pat. A wonderful 10,000 words from one simple picture. I loved reading your story, even though tears were a foregone conclusion. Hoping the missing her gets easier every day.
Just wanted to echo everyone else's sentiments. I am in love with this photo. I think the way you cropped it and the angle it was shot at allow you to really focus on the depth of her beautiful eye. I too have lost a beloved pet and know how heart wrenching it is. Scrapping them is very therapeutic though...beautiful job.
What a loving and touching tribute to her!! Poor thing, never heard of a horse having a chlorophyll allergy. Didn't even know that could be a thing. Really happy she's out of pain, though!!
Sweet photo, especially with the reflected image in her eye. The green monochrome is perfect tribute to her final resting place. Thanks for having the ethical courage to let her rest peacefully.
This is a lovely heartfelt tribute to Dolce! I have to admit to some tears as I read your words - letting her go was the best decision you could make for her. I love the punches (I have both of those too) and the subtle stamping.
Seriously tearing up at this! The photo is beautiful...you can feel her trust in it, and yet also her pain... and the story behind her life w/ you...how you tried to comfort her and keep her happy during her 'suffering' and how she made you a better person, make my heart ache. You did a difficult thing for you but a good thing for her. She will RIP and remember you fondly I'm sure, wherever it is our beautiful loving fur-babies go when they pass on! Love this so much! ((HUGS))
Not gonna lie, this made me tear up. Losing an animal, any animal, is soooo tough on the human companions. This tribute to her is very beautiful. Hugs to you Pat!
What a wonderful and loving tribute to Dolce. Choosing to let an animal go is one of the most difficult decisions anyone has to make. I hope knowing that she is no longer suffering any maladies brings you comfort.
omg....Im bawling here :o( It sounds like Dolce had a wonderful life with you and it sounds like you did the right thing. Shes happy again. A wonderful layout and photo :o)Ro
This is beautiful and what a heart felt tribute. She is lucky to have had you. Not many would have been as caring and patient as you have been. Lovely tribute.
On August 21st, I made the difficult decision to have my mare Dolce put down.
This is the last photo I took of her, after evening feeding the night before the vet came. It was always her and my special "hanging out" time, and the image in her eye is one of trust, but there is also a great deal of pain in it.
She had developed navicular syndrome - which is a degenerative bone disease in the small bone of the heel of the foot - and it had become impossible to keep her comfortable. I tried os-phos injections, but they gave her little to no relief. She went into therapeutic 3 degree wedge shoes, but she could not keep them on her feet. When she pulled one, she was lame for days afterwards. Between July 1 and August 21, she pulled them off three times.
She also had a systemic allergy to chlorophyll. I know. She's a horse, right? She's supposed to eat grass, right? Well, she was horribly allergic to the stuff, and so she pretty much lived on anti-allergy medication and steroids to prevent her from rubbing her neck bloody raw. Between that and the phenylbutazone (horse anti-inflammatory) for her foot pain, she was a walking medicine cabinet.
Which was all ok, until it wasn't. It finally just got to the point where it wasn't fair or ethical to keep asking her to be happy. She wasn't - she was miserable - and it was just too awful to see her hobbling around in pain, rubbing her body on every tree trunk she could find and chewing her legs until they were nothing but bleeding scabs. There wasn't any way to heal her other than to give her a final comforting pat and a carrot before sending her on.
The hardest part of it was that she was the best riding horse I've ever - or will ever - owned. I selected her parents in 2001, with an image of a dressage prospect in mind. She was born on my farm on March 28, 2002. And she became a finished 2nd level dressage horse. I learned so much from owning and riding her.
She was tricky to ride because she was incredibly sensitive, but not very smart, and she worried about every little thing. She anticipated every shifting seat bone or leg brush as an immediate aide and fretted about what you were getting ready to ask her to do and exactly when you were going to ask her to do it. Helping her work through her fears and worries was good for ME. She taught me how to let go and just breathe, how to ride in this moment and quit worrying about what if, and how to follow a feel not only with my leg, but also with my heart. She always gave everything she had and she gave it with all her heart. When I rode her, I understood what it was to fly.
She laid down easily and went peacefully, with a big sigh of relief and trust and love in her eyes until the last moment. I buried her in my upper pasture where I can see her resting place from my kitchen window. And I buried my riding boots with her. It seemed fitting.
I'm so very sad. But I'm also so very relieved. And as always, I am honored to have been able to give her this gift of freedom from pain.
She was a special soul and I know that she's waiting for me on the other side of the bridge, where her feet don't hurt and her skin doesn't itch, and where maybe - just maybe - God gave her a little extra mental capacity so that she can enjoy heaven's fields without being overly worried about all the possible options.
I will truly miss her. Wind to her wings.
~ * ~
For the September Challenges ~ Scrap Your Pet ~ Monthly Sketch Challenge #1 ~ Music Inspiration (my color word was Chartreuse) ~ Anything Goes Week 1 Weekly Challenge and Daily Challenge #1 (Refractory Rhyme) ~ Use Your Stamps ~ Hoarders Challenge
I'm pretty sure there are some others. I'm just too tired and sad to think right now.
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