PeterNatt
Well-Known Member
Goodbye Lana My ever faithful friend
Today I lost Lana my faithful 29 year old horse that I have owned for 20 years. She was 14.1 high and was black with a white star on her forehead.
I woke up this morning and as I do every morning poked my head out of the window expecting to see Lanas head over her stable door and for her to whiney at me. I could not see her so shouted her name but nothing. I put on my jogging bottoms and rushed outside to find her in a state of distress in her stable. I immediately phoned the vet who was with me shortly afterwards. Sadly she could not get up and the decision was taken to do the kindest thing and put her to sleep by lethal injection. She went very peacefully and quietly.
I bought Lana in June 1992. I can remember her being vetted. The vet and myself both had ginger hair at the time and the children of her owner remarked that they thought that we where twin vets.
The first time I rode her out we were riding along the edge of a field when she suddenly shied in to the middle of the field having taken fright at a log.
She hated her stable and would bang on the stable door so much that one day the lady that lived opposite to me woke up thinking she was still in the second world war and undergoing a bombing raid. (I had to fit industrial grade coconut mapping to her stable door to suppress the noise).
It took me a couple of years to get used to the controls but we persevered and we would happily go out on massive circular 5 hour hacks together at weekends and days off.
I also took her on holiday to Exmoor in Somerset and Norton in Gloucestershire.
One day my farrier mentioned to me about a lady that had been in a terrible car accident with her horse and she had been severely injured and her horse sadly killed. I arranged to box my horse over to her and help her get her confidence back. Eventually she got in to Endurance riding and we would do some of them with her. One year we did the Newmarket ride which was about 12 miles long and we cantered and galloped all the way keeping up with her Gold Series endurance horse. Lana was quite amazing.
We also acted as navigator and escort to the last stage of the Backbone of Britain sponsored ride in aid of the Spinal Injury Trust. We took them from College Farm at Henlys corner in North London to the barracks on the south side of Hyde Park. Lana had never been ridden in London before and she was a total saint.
I had ridden her on short rides up till 6 weeks ago when she stumbled on both front legs and I ended up somersaulting over her head. We both got up but I decided that this was a message from above and I would not ride her anymore.
Lana was a very sweet horse who loved her grooms and having the base of her neck rubbed. Sometimes she did not want to be caught in the field and she would give me a double barrel with her back legs so I always had to be wary of her when she was in that mood.
Prior to me buying Lana she was sold out of Southall market in London (Not a nice place I have been told) and bought by a local horse dealer who kept her for a while and then sold her on to the person that I bought her from.
So this is a fond goodbye to Lana my faithful horse and to thank you for being such a safe and reliable horse and for the 20 years of fun that we had together.
Today I lost Lana my faithful 29 year old horse that I have owned for 20 years. She was 14.1 high and was black with a white star on her forehead.
I woke up this morning and as I do every morning poked my head out of the window expecting to see Lanas head over her stable door and for her to whiney at me. I could not see her so shouted her name but nothing. I put on my jogging bottoms and rushed outside to find her in a state of distress in her stable. I immediately phoned the vet who was with me shortly afterwards. Sadly she could not get up and the decision was taken to do the kindest thing and put her to sleep by lethal injection. She went very peacefully and quietly.
I bought Lana in June 1992. I can remember her being vetted. The vet and myself both had ginger hair at the time and the children of her owner remarked that they thought that we where twin vets.
The first time I rode her out we were riding along the edge of a field when she suddenly shied in to the middle of the field having taken fright at a log.
She hated her stable and would bang on the stable door so much that one day the lady that lived opposite to me woke up thinking she was still in the second world war and undergoing a bombing raid. (I had to fit industrial grade coconut mapping to her stable door to suppress the noise).
It took me a couple of years to get used to the controls but we persevered and we would happily go out on massive circular 5 hour hacks together at weekends and days off.
I also took her on holiday to Exmoor in Somerset and Norton in Gloucestershire.
One day my farrier mentioned to me about a lady that had been in a terrible car accident with her horse and she had been severely injured and her horse sadly killed. I arranged to box my horse over to her and help her get her confidence back. Eventually she got in to Endurance riding and we would do some of them with her. One year we did the Newmarket ride which was about 12 miles long and we cantered and galloped all the way keeping up with her Gold Series endurance horse. Lana was quite amazing.
We also acted as navigator and escort to the last stage of the Backbone of Britain sponsored ride in aid of the Spinal Injury Trust. We took them from College Farm at Henlys corner in North London to the barracks on the south side of Hyde Park. Lana had never been ridden in London before and she was a total saint.
I had ridden her on short rides up till 6 weeks ago when she stumbled on both front legs and I ended up somersaulting over her head. We both got up but I decided that this was a message from above and I would not ride her anymore.
Lana was a very sweet horse who loved her grooms and having the base of her neck rubbed. Sometimes she did not want to be caught in the field and she would give me a double barrel with her back legs so I always had to be wary of her when she was in that mood.
Prior to me buying Lana she was sold out of Southall market in London (Not a nice place I have been told) and bought by a local horse dealer who kept her for a while and then sold her on to the person that I bought her from.
So this is a fond goodbye to Lana my faithful horse and to thank you for being such a safe and reliable horse and for the 20 years of fun that we had together.
.
