luckilotti
Well-Known Member
Today i lost my soul mate. I have numerous horses, and i have a different bond with each of them but my god, William and i could read each others minds, worked in perfect harmony and would have died and killed for each other!
I bought William in April 1998, he was locked in a dark cow shed as his owner (who is a M&M judge) had bought him for her husband off a friend, well, they couldnt manage him, a girl on the yard had taken him on, and he scared the life out of her so he was locked away and put up for sale. As a no fear teenager , that was it, i was having him after having a ride and blast on the edge of Saddleworth moors.
The rest well, we had a blast! No-one else could really ride him without him taking the p**S out of them, he had a reputation locally and when i had an injury and couldnt ride for a while, we couldnt find anyone to take the ride on (a few tried but then declined!) but for me, he never ever put a hoof wrong. My YO at the time tried to get my parents to agree to have William disposed of as he was a danger to other horses and himself, but he never did anything against me and went out of his way to protect me there are so many stories i could share, all of which make me smile. I have always said he had a strong personality and character.
Fast forward a few years and he was retired in summer 2005 when i had returned from 6 months in the USA and i had hacked him out 3 times and just felt that his bone spavin was at that point whereby he was starting to struggle. I think this probably upset him a little as he loved to be ridden.
He had a good retirement and never wanted for anything, we had a few worrying moments when we though that time had come, we once actually had the vet out to PTS but he suddenly had a fight in him and the vet talked us out of it. (some may recall my posts).
I had the vet out for him just last Thursday for his teeth to be rasped and the vet couldnt believe how well he was doing, despite having an old mouth and quite a few teeth with movement.
Then today, i was at home whilst my mum went to the yard, the twins were happily eating their breakfast whilst i was on the phone changing and renewing my horse insurance. I had a call to get there ASAP and pretty much hung up on mu local NFU office. I got there a few minutes too late. He got down in the field and didnt get up. He took his last breath in my mums arms. I doubt the insurance will pay out anything i really dont care but when my mum called them to apologise for me having to go mid conversation they said i should claim so the vet came out to confirm the death, thankfully due to his age NFU said a post-mortem isnt required i wouldnt have let him have one. William had a bad heart murmur which was picked up 2 years ago, the vet thinks it may have been a heart attack with old age.
I know he had an amazing life whilst with me, but i feel so bad that this last week i havent seen him much as one of my little boys had surgery on Monday hence he is meant to be resting to recover, so my mum has been doing most of my jobs for me with me just going down to tend to my stallion.
I always said once William had gone that was it i was done with horses and well, i feel like that now but would have to keep my 1st pony and old loan pony (she is now 24 and was attached at the hip to William and hasnt coped today so i expect her to be next).
There is so much i could say about my wonderful William but i am so numb. I knew it would happen one day, but i expected to be the one to say when and where. He tried to make it easy for me thought and will now be running and jumping from cloud to cloud with my late ISH mare who is was good friends with.
Rest in peace William and you better be waiting for me when its my time, I will always love you so much and there will never be another that comes anywhere as close to you my best friend for life x
I bought William in April 1998, he was locked in a dark cow shed as his owner (who is a M&M judge) had bought him for her husband off a friend, well, they couldnt manage him, a girl on the yard had taken him on, and he scared the life out of her so he was locked away and put up for sale. As a no fear teenager , that was it, i was having him after having a ride and blast on the edge of Saddleworth moors.
The rest well, we had a blast! No-one else could really ride him without him taking the p**S out of them, he had a reputation locally and when i had an injury and couldnt ride for a while, we couldnt find anyone to take the ride on (a few tried but then declined!) but for me, he never ever put a hoof wrong. My YO at the time tried to get my parents to agree to have William disposed of as he was a danger to other horses and himself, but he never did anything against me and went out of his way to protect me there are so many stories i could share, all of which make me smile. I have always said he had a strong personality and character.
Fast forward a few years and he was retired in summer 2005 when i had returned from 6 months in the USA and i had hacked him out 3 times and just felt that his bone spavin was at that point whereby he was starting to struggle. I think this probably upset him a little as he loved to be ridden.
He had a good retirement and never wanted for anything, we had a few worrying moments when we though that time had come, we once actually had the vet out to PTS but he suddenly had a fight in him and the vet talked us out of it. (some may recall my posts).
I had the vet out for him just last Thursday for his teeth to be rasped and the vet couldnt believe how well he was doing, despite having an old mouth and quite a few teeth with movement.
Then today, i was at home whilst my mum went to the yard, the twins were happily eating their breakfast whilst i was on the phone changing and renewing my horse insurance. I had a call to get there ASAP and pretty much hung up on mu local NFU office. I got there a few minutes too late. He got down in the field and didnt get up. He took his last breath in my mums arms. I doubt the insurance will pay out anything i really dont care but when my mum called them to apologise for me having to go mid conversation they said i should claim so the vet came out to confirm the death, thankfully due to his age NFU said a post-mortem isnt required i wouldnt have let him have one. William had a bad heart murmur which was picked up 2 years ago, the vet thinks it may have been a heart attack with old age.
I know he had an amazing life whilst with me, but i feel so bad that this last week i havent seen him much as one of my little boys had surgery on Monday hence he is meant to be resting to recover, so my mum has been doing most of my jobs for me with me just going down to tend to my stallion.
I always said once William had gone that was it i was done with horses and well, i feel like that now but would have to keep my 1st pony and old loan pony (she is now 24 and was attached at the hip to William and hasnt coped today so i expect her to be next).
There is so much i could say about my wonderful William but i am so numb. I knew it would happen one day, but i expected to be the one to say when and where. He tried to make it easy for me thought and will now be running and jumping from cloud to cloud with my late ISH mare who is was good friends with.
Rest in peace William and you better be waiting for me when its my time, I will always love you so much and there will never be another that comes anywhere as close to you my best friend for life x
I can't even imagine how you're feeling. R.I.P William. Hugs! x
