I don't even know what to say.

Due to my financial state taking a rapid decent a couple of months ago, I found a new home for my elderly mare. It is near by, and the people are so nice. Thelma moved to her new home December 24th. The people absolutely adored her. They had a young boy that was smitten with her. I am certain she was with him as well. Everything was great other than my broken heart at parting with her.

I received a message asking for more of her health history last night. I responded and got a message back that they had just put Thelma down today due to a tumor in her lower intestine. I would never have guessed. She has been healthy for as long as I've had her.

I am waiting on more information as far as how this came about, but either way, my friend is gone. No more visits with her this summer like we'd planned. No taking Mana on a trail ride with her and her new owners and keeping in contact.

I've had this horrible sinking feeling since yesterday morning that was not helped by them asking for more health history almost a month later. I am just sick.

I know she didn't have the best life a lot of years, but I hope the last couple she spent with me were the best.

Good bye doesn't seem sufficient. She was the best teacher that I could ever hope for. She was my best friend, my hiking buddy, the one that taught me to be confident and to keep trying.

She gave me just enough trouble to keep me working, but not too much where I wanted to give up.

I don't have words. I have never lost someone that is this close to me before.

I am so sorry for your loss. What beautiful pictures.
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I'm sorry for your loss. :(

She is a really beautiful mare.

Please accept my sincere condolensces in Thelma's passing - from what you describe, the people who had her probably did whatever they could, yet it was such a sudden shock. Your photos are simply beautiful, and are a true testament of how much we love and care for our horses. Let those precious memories give you comfort, and wrap yourself in them as you grieve. God bless.

I'm so sorry for your loss, she was a beautiful soul.

Oh no! Dear Thelma!

I am so so sorry for your loss. I know how much she meant to you.

Lacey sends old lady snuffles+"hugs".

I'm so very sorry for your loss, what a beauty

I'm really sorry. Unfortantely, speaking from experiance, these things totally come out of left field. :(
She was a beautiful mare.
((((HUGs)))))

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I am dealing with it a little better now.

I learned that she started showing signs of what they thought was colic on sunday night. They gave her banamine and walked her until she was doing better. Monday morning she was her happy self again. Even pushing the other horses around as usual.

By afternoon, she was down again. The vet did a rectal exam and noticed that her intestines were "smooth" (I guess it is supposed to be lumpy or otherwise textured?). They transported her to the big clinic an hour away.

After xrays, they found that she had a tumor in her intestines that was the size of a softball. It was cutting off the small intestines, killing it.

They made the decision to put her to sleep. They had a necropsy done to make certain that there was nothing else wrong or that would have caused this.

A large part of her small intestine was black and dead. Apparently, this kind of tumor can happen to any horse of any health, but is seen most commonly in older horses. So, no one's fault and not really any way to tell until it is too late and the damage is done.

I know that Thelma's new owners loved her very much, and it puts both of our minds at ease to hear that it wasn't anyone's fault and there wasn't anything to be done at this point.

I'm going to miss her, but I'll think of her every time I use something that I learned from her.

So sorry to hear of her passing. She was a beautiful girl!