It is with great sadness that I report that our oldest horse, Chloe, died on April 16 from a severe colic. She was 32 years old. When I arrived at the barn early that Sunday morning, Chloe clearly wasn’t her usual self. Soon after, she laid down and could never really regain the strength to stand. The vet arrived and, after several unsuccessful attempts to get her on her feet, with vitals showing signs of severe stress, pain, and shock, she was humanely euthanized.
Chloe arrived at Sky Ranch three years ago in an emaciated state. Our vet said she was the thinnest horse he had ever seen alive. She was skin and bone, with atrophied muscles. She had very few functioning teeth and was not able to eat hay or grass. We put her on a special diet, with food she could eat without much chewing, and she slowly regained weight. At the time of her death, she had a round belly!
Chloe had a chronic eye condition, and every couple of months we had to treat her eyes with ointment and drops.. The treatment worked, but she showed her spirit by her determined resistance to our attempts to apply anything to her eye area. Chloe was a small horse, but she seemed to get taller, throwing her head back to avoid the medicine!
Chloe was an eccentric, quirky horse. She loved going out in the pasture with the other horses, but spent most of her time out there off by herself or under the shelter. She was especially fond of our late gelding, Digger, and when he died, she called to him over and over and didn’t eat for days. When I cleaned and refilled the pasture water tank, she always stood nearby and kept me company.
After Chloe’s death, the vet sent us a card that said “…once a horse had touched your soul, they will always be with you.” When I look out in the pasture, I can almost see her standing in her spot.
The Holidays are here at Sky Ranch Sanctuary! We’d like to share with you one of our many happy events over the past few months.
At Thanksgiving, our thoughts at Sky Ranch Sanctuary turn to gratitude.
