08/16/2025
Well we didn’t get the news we wanted today for Ebony. Within the first five minutes of her lameness exam it was very clear our sweet girl was in much rougher shape than she was showing us.
It would take five full paragraphs to go through all her ailments. The short of it is, she was worked hard for many many years with the Amish, with poorly fitting equipment that caused intense permanent muscle atrophy and nerve damage that cannot be rehabbed. There’s maybe a few small areas of her body that is not riddled with the nerve damage/muscle atrophy or very advanced arthritis. The areas where that is not present are under a lot of strain from compensating.
Her dog sitting in the pasture is not from weakness but is because it’s the only way she finds relief from the pain of standing and laying. Her stifles are very swollen and painful. Understanding now, how much pain she is in, also clears up why she can be so nervous for things when she seems like an otherwise very calm horse. Anytime we handle her to do something, I believe she is nervous we’re going to ask her to do something see knows will cause pain.
We talked about all our options but in the end the most kind thing to do for her is to release her from the pain she’s obviously suffered with most of her life. While we could put all the money, time and energy in to providing some relief for her it simply wouldn’t be enough to warrant prolonging what would be just around the corner for her.
We and all those at 1 Horse At A Time Draft Horse Rescue are always on the same page with this one. Giving her more time here in a loving home always feels like what we should do. However, that’s us projecting our human egos on to the horse. While we hate what she has been through and want nothing more than for her to experience something different, her body will remain painful for that. That time would be for our benefit only. It would help us feel better about all she’s suffered but at the end of the day it won’t relieve her pain and it will not ever undo what she’s been through.
The real tragedy is that she was used up, tossed out like garbage and then sold so some very very crappy people could profit. Mike Hughes sold this girl, with very obvious physical limitations as safe for anyone to ride. I’m thankful that instead of her life ending in a field under the Amish’s ownership, she ended up here to end her journey.
She will get some yummy meals, lots of treats and all the love we can muster between now and Tuesday when we release her from the pain.
I’m not sure that a dent Big enough will ever be made to stop this awful cycle for these Amish horses but I know we at least made a difference for Ebony for the short time she was here. The “dealers”/ flippers that work these back door deals directly with the Amish have created an awful scenario where the suffering is prolonged. Their misery is drug out until they eventually still end up back in the kill pen after bouncing around amongst inexperienced families and been asked to continue working in a completely new role they’ve never been asked to do before. No one is willing to take the financial loss of giving them their rest, so they’re stuck on a merry go round of money deals without any of the care they need.
Thank you Jasmin for spotting her and recognizing that she needed help. Even though we were hoping for a different outcome, she ended up where she needed to be for what she needs at this point in life.
Oh sweet Ebony your glory is coming and we will make sure your final days are as sweet as possible! She loves being out in the herd just being a horse and that’s all she will know aside from her extra treats until she’s released.
💔🐴EBONY💔🐴
