Sevens

We lost a great horse today. Sevens first came into my life about 9-10 yrs ago. I was helping out as a trail guide at a farm in NH. They got a bunch of their horses off of a tractor trailer truck coming from god knows where. The truck would pull into the yard, full of a ton of horses and we would walk & trot them up and down the drive way. The owners would say keep or not. Some stayed some went back onto the tractor trailer to I don't want to know where.

Sevens stayed. Then my friend Denise decided to buy him. I remember my first ride on him. Sevens certainly wasn't a small horse. Probably about 16-ish hands. And Denise and I went out on the two horses she was thinking of buying from the farm that came off that tractor trailer. I was on Sevens, she was on a smaller bay...I can't remember his name. We galloped through the woods on these very over grown windy trail. I just stuck close to his neck and hung on. He soared over those trails. He was an amazing trail horse.

Sevens came back to me almost 5 yrs ago now. He was older (the vet guesses mid-late 30's) and starting to get a little arthritic but he was still a great trail horse and full of energy. But as the years moved on he became more arthritic and harder to keep weight on. He got a pretty bad cold part way through winter & just couldn't get rid of it. His nose was still running into the summer. The last few years we've been able to turn him out on green grass during the summer and get him nice and fat going into the winter but this year he actually lost some weight.

Erik and I have been thinking about putting Sevens down for the last 2 yrs. We are so afraid that he will go down hill fast and end up suffering. With his condition this summer we decided that we just couldn't put it off any longer. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do. It was especially hard because he had started to grow in his winter coat...so he was actually looking pretty good. That's one of the not so fun parts of horse ownership. You can't always wait until they are obviously sick to let them go. There is a great poem that I just love.

I'm not sure how the first 30-ish years of his life went but he was always a kidn thoughtful horse with us. Even today when I went out to catch him in the field for his last visit with the vet he just turned his nose to me and nuzzled into me a little, hoping for a little snack I am sure. Always the quiet, kind, patient old gentleman.

Horse's Prayer

I'm only a horse, dear Master, but my heart is warm and true,
And I'm ready to work my hardest, for the pleasure of pleasing you.
Good corn and hay and water are all that I wish to ask,
And a warm dry bed to rest on when I've finished my daily task.
Don't strike me in needless anger if I'm slow to understand,
But encourage my drooping spirits with a gentle voice and hand.
Finally, O my master, when my health and strength are gone -
When I'm getting old and feeble and my long life's work is done -
Don't sell me to cruel owners to be slaved to my latest breath,
But grant me the untold blessing of a quick and painless death;
That, as you have always found me a patient and loyal friend,
The years of my faithful service may be crowned by a peaceful end.
I plead in the name of the Savior,
Who cares when the sparrows fall,
Who was born in a lowly stable and knows and loves us all!

- (Author Unknown)

Rest in peace my friend. I know you will enjoy enless green pastures with fresh mowed grass, the way you liked them best.