Goodbye My Beautiful Pearl

A couple of days ago I had to put down my beautiful Arab mare Pearl. She was 31 years old, which is quite old for a horse. She had severe arthritis in her front legs and it was spreading to her back legs too. It was getting so bad that she would have to lie down to alleviate the pain, but horses are not meant to lie down for long. They sleep standing up because when they lie down, their weight crushes their ribs. It becomes hard to breathe and they cannot urinate. My baby would go down and get stuck. Her legs would not work to get her back up. We would find her lying in her own poop and frantic to get up, barely able to breathe. This at first only happened in the morning. She would have lied down in the cold of the night, but then it happened in the afternoon when it was warmest and her joints worked the best. It was only a matter of time before she would lie down at night and end up freezing on the ground, terrified of being in a vulnerable position, and in agony from hardly being able to breathe. Some horses end up thrashing so hard to get up they bang their heads against something and die that way. Others die of exposure. I did not want that for my baby.



Pearl was the sweetest horse. When she was younger I could ride her and even though I am a terrible rider, I didn't need a bit. Just a harness. She had stubborn moments but she was sweet and easy to ride. She loved watermelon. Her teeth all fell out so she couldn't eat hay or apples anymore, though she wanted to, but she loved soft watermelons. She also loved to roll until her legs wouldn't let her anymore. If you have never seen a horse get on its back and roll in the dirt like a dog you should. It is so cute. Pearl was there for me a few years ago when my two cats were killed by a dog I was told was safe to have with cats. Pearl was there when Michael Jackson died, my idol since I was 2 years old. I could throw my arms around Pearl's neck and she would hold me up. She was just the sweetest girl. I miss her very much.

If you have a horse, please consider adding a joint supplement to their feed even when they are young so they do not have problems when they are older. A friend recommended a natural product called Transfer Factor that helps arthritis. Unfortunately, the advice came too late for Pearl but I think other people should try it for their older horses.