I am the luckiest person in the world to have this sweet beautiful horse in my life. I can’t even begin to describe the bond we had with each other and it was as strong as any bond you can have with any animal. Her and I have been together for 17 years. She has touched many lives, so many who have ridden her and everyone loved her as much as I did. I bought her when she was barely turning 2 years old. She did not know much and so we were set on a beautiful journey learning all the things together. Here are a few baby photos.

She came from a rescue in Hemet California. They had horses from a breeding program that was in a place up in Canada that breed big mares to collect their urine but the mares had to be pregnant. The urine was collected because there are huge pharmaceutical company’s that were extracting Estrogen from these mares to make a drug called Premarin for humans. When woman go through menopause it was the hormone Estrogen that keeps things in balance, but as it wanes the hot flashes start, mood swings can happen and so here is the circle of the need for pregnant mare urine to turn eventually into Premarin. The foals once the mares had them often were dumped or even euthanized as they didn’t need the babies, they just needed the pregnant mares. There was an outrage that happened and I do believe many places were shut down, and Estrogen nowadays come from plants and so the need waned as well. Rescues popped up and is how Chloe came to be and a local gal picked her out of a pasture of PMU babies. She landed at my barn that I boarded. The gal that owned her didn’t know a thing about training a horse to be ridden and she had to wait a few years as Chloe was so young. Her name when I bought her was Sapphire! I clearly think she’s a Chloe and changed her name.

She is about 6 years old in these two photos and is with her best friend Gracie. My best friend Sally owns Gracie and for many that have followed me now for years will know that Chloe and Gracie are the bestest of friends. We rode all over the Norco trails here in the town I live. There are so many WONDERFUL memories I won’t go over all of them here but it feels good to reminisce and so I am enjoying sharing. It is very bittersweet as again, if you have been reading my blog posts you will know that Chloe has been suffering from arthritis and an old injury to her stifle. Think of it as our knee, the stifle is high up on the back leg and she had a small fracture that was discovered when she was 9 years old. With help from my wonderful vet she lived another 10 years, just walking the trails and enjoying life to its fullest. I spoiled her like no other and she LOVED every minute. TONS OF TREATS, oh my she has my heart. ❤

I’ll cut to the chase, yesterday I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl. At night she always lays down for about an hours sleep. (They need about an hour of REM sleep most every night) I can see where she lays down as the shavings in her stall are always messed up as she digs in with her good back leg, she struggles to push her huge body up. The struggling on this last Monday night did significant damage to her right stifle. She could not bare weight on her leg Tuesday morning and I got a barn call from the folks that work there that she was not doing good and could barely walk. I knew on this day that it was time and have been preparing myself for many years for this day. I got to the barn and called my vet, an emergency call with a possible euthanasia. She deserves to not suffer any more as her lameness and arthritis in other legs has progressed to a point that every day she is stiff and limps. No NSaid takes all the pain away. I just make her more comfortable by giving them daily.

She is the most stoic horse I know and I have been looking for signs of her slowing down or not wanting to move. But almost every day we went for a short trail ride. She was always bright, happy, starving (not really starving, starving) but always wanted to graze on all the beautiful grass on the property. I let her do what she wished every single day which included a short trail ride most days and grazing! She never slowed, just limped on the uneven ground, never tripped just walked along without a care in the world. BLESS HER HEART! ❤

See how she rests her back leg in the photo? That’s the bad back leg and to see her practically hop around yesterday just broke my heart. When the vet arrived he said lets check for an abscess in her hoof as they are very painful. He could only numb or block her leg from the pastern down because you can’t pick up that leg or hoof. She has not had her back hoofs trimmed in years and amazingly enough the trail rides have helped (like filing) down her hoofs as she walked along. The bad hoof had grown a bit taller than the other one which flattened out over time with all the weight of her standing on it for years. The flares in the hoof on the good leg could be chipped off with clippers from the farrier. We did so much to try and keep her comfortable.

The leg blocking was negative for an abscess. We walked her out of her stall and she could not move her bad leg without lifting her hip up really high to like swing that leg forward. It was incredible, she had damaged that stifle so badly she could not move that leg forward like normal. After discussing her situation with my vet we both agreed that with her previous injury to that joint that there was no coming back from this reinjury. Euthanasia was the most kindest thing to do for her and she was so brave and didn’t show an ounce of stress with all that pain. She wasn’t panting, sweating, she just hobbled around. I think she has had enough pain and problems with that leg that even though it was so bad she just took it all in stride. She amazes me!

How she usually stands with that back leg cocked. I feel confident that with my kind and gentle ways with her I was able to give her 10 more years of life. My vet back when she was first diagnosed told me that we should think about euthanizing her, and boy was I shocked because I had no idea she had fractured her stifle until she was x-rayed. He stared at my face and looked at Chloe and said she sure is getting around good for this hairline fracture of her stifle. He said let’s treat her symptoms and so with his help we were able to be together for years to come. I am so honored and grateful to have these 17 wonderful years. My vet and assistant were so amazing and she was laid to rest so peacefully and my sweet Chloe is in no more pain. Run free my sweet girl! ❤

She gave the best kisses! I taught her to just put her nose up to my face much like this photo and she let you kiss her nose. Of course she expected a treat, but over the years you could just ask her for a kiss! So adorable, oh I am going to miss all those kisses. Thank you for reading my tribute to my sweet, loving most amazing horse. I thought it only fitting to write a tribute to my beautiful girl. I now have hundreds of old photos which I will bring back from time to time as I find reminiscing very cathartic. I am doing okay. I have been thinking about this day for the last 4 to 5 years. Yes, that long as every winter is harder for her. She struggled through this last winter but made it through. It’s so bittersweet, she is no longer in pain. LOVE YOU SWEET GIRL!

Run free my sweet girl and kiss Zack and Ranger!

~Diana ❤