Skip to main content

Goodbye Winnie

12/10/14 I happened to be in Dayton with Jacob when Jayden called. She had gone out to do horse chores and found Winnie in a bad state. She had tried to walk to the feeder, holding her back leg off the ground, when she fell and wouldn’t get up. I called vet, Dr. Carly and drove straight home. I prayed as I drove that if it could be fixed, she would recover and be fine, if it was bad, that it would be obvious and we wouldn’t have to watch her deteriorate. Mark still on crutches called Tony to help. I am thankful that Tony waited with Jadyen until I got home. He tried to get her on her feet because a horse laying down can mean trouble. When I first saw Winnie, her back legs were extended straight out from her side and she was laying down on her side. It did not look good. The vet prepared me over the phone telling me she most likely will have to put her down. I was devastated to hear that. I took Jake out with me and we petted Winnie’s head and neck a lot. She would lay there and she looked at you when you spoke. She lifted her head a few times. Something was really wrong and we did’nt know what. I suspected a pinched nerve or something in her back that was causing her back legs not to work. We sat with Winnie for a long time waiting on the vet. We put a blanket over Winnie. We were all in carharrt’s and cold. It was middle 30’s. The vet wanted to get Winnie up and with some effort she stood. She held her back leg and it looked as if it was dangling. The vet moved her leg and listened. She confirmed her leg was broken. What? How? Where? Her femur near her hip was broken. The poor ol girl. How, we won’t know, but it may be osteoporosis in an aged horse. We think Winnie to  be around 27. I told the kids that I had prayed, and it was good that Winnie will not have to suffer. I had the kids stand with her, hug on her and we prayed together. We thanked God for the time we got to have her. I sent the kids inside and the vet put her down. It all happened so fast and she is gone. Tony was so helpful, he stayed and he took care of Winnie from there. She will be buried next to Dakota.
 
Winnie was an awesome kid horse. She was easy to ride and handle. She never tried anything naughty. You could point her where you wanted her to go and she would take you there whatever speed you wanted. It is amazing to think how many kids rode her. She was a Hidden Acres camp horse for years, then the Spillman’s owned her, then us. Just in our owning her, we have had a ton of kids ride her. She is the Grandma babysitter horse we can put anyone on. So many kids have gotten their first horse ride on Winnie. And of course our boys learned how to ride on Winnie. Luke learned how to ride by himself and was starting to trot. Jacob learned so much riding her. Her learned how to lope without having to hold on and run poles and barrels. He learned to do trail class. He won trophies on Winnie and did youth rodeos. He thought of Winnie as his horse. He was very upset. This was a very sad day! WInnie will be missed! It is so hard to replace a good horse like her. I hoped the boys would have had more years with her.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Volleyball

Jake  went with Karen after school and to the field. My mom, Luke and I went to Jayden’s  Volleyball game in Coon Rapids.  They played 4 games all losses. They were not having a good serving night and that really hurt them.  Still enjoy watching them learn.
Post a Comment
Read more

Treasures

 In the morning we took 3 of our 4 cats to the vet for shots. The 4 th cat decided to wander this morning missing his appointment. On our way out, we passed a rummage sale and stopped. We got some major treasures for next to nothing. The church ladies were so fascinated with Jacob's interest in old radios and televisions. They just adored him and marked the prices way down and gave him some for free. We loaded up on kids books, got some board games, and a few other treasures. Jake ended up with a mini  television , an old radio and Polaroid camera. After lunch the boys went straight to the field. My friend Carolyn and her daughter Tabby came to ride horses. What started out to be a chilly day 45, turned out nice and sunny. We had coats on, but it was a great day to ride. We rode through our hay patch and along the waterway near the highway. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
Post a Comment
Read more

Dayton Fun Show

 It has been cold and windy for the past week, highs of 45. Today the sun was shinning and it got up to 60. There was one final horse show for the season at the Dayton arena. We took Jayden and Jacob while Luke went with Grammer and Po and was supposed to come later. It was a fun show geared for practice and the kids. Jake did really well on Winnie, he rode in walk and trot, barrels, and poles. He did some loping. Jayden did pleasure, milk can, barrels, poles, and a jumping event. Her horse Tex really jumps high for the jump event. Down in the arena, there was'nt any wind and the sun came out. It made for a nice day.
Post a Comment
Read more