06/06/2026
A HARD WEEK AT THE RESCUE
This week we lost two beloved 28 y/o horses who, as the last week ended, were perfectly healthy, in good weight and seemingly without a care. But Sunday morning before daybreak Randy walked the dogs and Henry, our handsome 28 y/o dun grulla stallion in the front pen, was missing. We found he'd broken out of his pen into an adjoining one, but must have been pushed from there into the next. He was wedged between a shelter and a fence and while we extricated him and had hoped he had only an injury to his stifle (which already had issues, but seemed worse) by time we got him back to his pen the swelling in his abdomen was obvious. The vet got there by 8am. She suspected a herniation but didn't have ultrasound equipment so we got him on excede, SMZs and pain meds and hoped it was something less severe like a pre-pubic tendon rupture. He was eating so well, and had a good attitude. Having experienced a sudden herniation myself (the nausea was overwhelming and I was in the hospital on morphine being readied for surgery within the hour) I could not imagine Henry had herniated because of how normal he seemed. But he ate less the next day, and the vet came back with ultrasound confirming his intestines had broke through the internal abdominal wall and we had no options but to say goodbye. That was so hard because even the second day he was not showing symptoms of pain and leaned into his hugs and lovings with his ears forward and attentive as ever. Three days earlier he'd been leaning over his fence watching me plant cucumbers in the raised bed near his pen, and "talking" to me. Henry was always such a flirt--always if a mare was up his way (or even hauled through the front gate) but he was so friendly to us humans also. He had to be involved in whatever we were doing. Just a beautiful 1000 lb grulla puppy dog. He had been with us about three and a half years. It was not enough.
Immediately after that we had our vet examine Pete the appy pony. He has a sarcoma in his eye that appears to have spread to surrounding tissues. He will be examined next week and we will try to give Pete as much time as possible, but there are no good answers. We've had cases where enucleation caused the cancer to spread more quickly, but there's the potential that the surgery with freezing the tissue might be of benefit. Our next appointment will tell more.
On Thursday, I'd just gotten to the office to begin a 12 hour workday when my husband called to say that Bomber (USTA He's a Bomber)--who lived with his best buddy Proud in the pen just outside our porch was down. He administered banamine and got him to the vet's by 8am but the news was not good. He had ruptured his intestine and although Bomber looked incredible for his age due to his wonderful winter foster home, he was not a surgical candidate. Randy hugged him goodbye and stayed with him while he was helped to cross over at the vet's office.
Bomber came here more than a decade ago--Christmas time in 2015 I believe it was, with 4 other killpen standardbeds. (Sam's Airliner is the last survivor of that group.) He was on summer pasture in Olivet and Springport for a number of years until the Januzzis came along and gave him and Proud (USTA Act Proud) a winter home for a number of years where they enjoyed a wonderful farm and loving attention as the only horses on the farm. He had the most beautiful floaty trot, and was such a gentleman. It is hard to believe he is gone. His buddy Proud didn't really seem to notice Bomber was missing for about the first 24 hours as he enjoyed munching hay out in the sunshine. But when the rain started early last evening, he headed for his shelter, and not seeing Bomber he began running back and forth looking in each of the three pens adjoining his and bellowing loudly. He did this so long and so loudly during the deluge that we felt compelled to go pull him and try to get him to settle down in a stall. Randy first tried to put him in the standardbred pen, but he just looked at each horse and upon seeing it was not Bomber, got more agitated and loud. He had a hard night but is somewhat better settling in a stall next to Rydeabout who has a mash diet like his.
Milo and Vincent were depressed and quiet those first few days after Henry was gone. But Proud was with Bomber for years and it will be harder for him because he doesn't "know." Bomber is just gone and not to be found at the farm whereas Milo and Vincent both stood at their adjoining fence quietly while we said goodbye to Henry.
The farm is a mudpit again today after heavy rains last night. Randy is returning a trailer to a wonderful supporter who donated a load of hay. (Thank you Sheila!) We also had a wonderful supporter cover Henry's veterinary and final expenses. (Thank you Anne!) But it has been a hard week and we have cancelled our riding horse visits for today as we didn't get the sand that we wanted for the arena, didn't have time to pull horses back or work for them, and we are just needing a little time to decompress after a hard week.
We were blessed to have Henry and Bomber in our herd. The thunder last night reminded me they are running free in God's herd now, safe from the troubles and pain of this life. They were just beautiful horses, who we will remember forever.
Thanks for supporting your local horse rescues.
