_MizElz_
Well-Known Member
We've just had a phone call from the lady who has had Mum's old pony, Caddy, on permanent loan. He was put down earlier today, after going downhill literally from this morning. Mum went to see him just a week ago and said he looked stunning - really well and happy. And it seems that this morning he was fine and dandy - the vet was out to another horse yesterday and commented on how wonderful Cad looked - but by this afternoon, he was clearly in distress. His loaner didnt know whether it was the onset of colic or possibly a heart attack, but at thirty four years of age, it was simply his time, and he was PTS this afternoon 
It really is the end of an era, because Caddy's story is quite remarkable. Mum grew up on a council estate and had no real reason to hanker after horses, but she always felt a longing for them. At the age of 11, she started working for the lady who, ironically, Caddy spent his final years with, and saved up £1 a week. At the age of 14, Mum skipped school and went to Stow fair without her parents' knowledge, and bought a little Arab x Dartmoor colt, just six months old. She hitched a lift with a man she didnt know to get him home, and gave her parents a hell of a shock when she turned up with a pony on the doorstep...
That wasnt the end of it. No sooner had she found somewhere to keep him, Caddy went down with strangles. For a while it looked like he wouldnt pull through, but he proved to be a tough little fighter! And he had to be, because a couple of years later he broke his leg in the field. Mum was told that he should be shot, but she asked for a second opinion, and after a bit of persuasion, the vet agreed to try to save him. Once more, Caddy pulled through.
Mum had him for 12 years before I came along. He then went on a short loan to the lady Mum worked for, before coming back when I was a toddler. Somewhere I have photos of me doing fancy dress on him, dressed as a mermaid! He stayed with us for a couple of years, and then when Mum had my brother, he went back to his loan home again - where he was to stay for the rest of his life.
34 is a pretty decent age to have got to; apart from those incidents as a young horse, he barely had a day's sickness in his life. And all I can think of now is that I hope I have twenty more years with my girl - if she can get to Cad's age still happy and healthy, then I can not ask for more.
RIP Shankarla Cadiz xxx
It really is the end of an era, because Caddy's story is quite remarkable. Mum grew up on a council estate and had no real reason to hanker after horses, but she always felt a longing for them. At the age of 11, she started working for the lady who, ironically, Caddy spent his final years with, and saved up £1 a week. At the age of 14, Mum skipped school and went to Stow fair without her parents' knowledge, and bought a little Arab x Dartmoor colt, just six months old. She hitched a lift with a man she didnt know to get him home, and gave her parents a hell of a shock when she turned up with a pony on the doorstep...
That wasnt the end of it. No sooner had she found somewhere to keep him, Caddy went down with strangles. For a while it looked like he wouldnt pull through, but he proved to be a tough little fighter! And he had to be, because a couple of years later he broke his leg in the field. Mum was told that he should be shot, but she asked for a second opinion, and after a bit of persuasion, the vet agreed to try to save him. Once more, Caddy pulled through.
Mum had him for 12 years before I came along. He then went on a short loan to the lady Mum worked for, before coming back when I was a toddler. Somewhere I have photos of me doing fancy dress on him, dressed as a mermaid! He stayed with us for a couple of years, and then when Mum had my brother, he went back to his loan home again - where he was to stay for the rest of his life.
34 is a pretty decent age to have got to; apart from those incidents as a young horse, he barely had a day's sickness in his life. And all I can think of now is that I hope I have twenty more years with my girl - if she can get to Cad's age still happy and healthy, then I can not ask for more.
RIP Shankarla Cadiz xxx
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