Sad

Last night I visited some friends for a beer and a bonfire. It was a nice relaxing night to catch up.

So I have a sad story to tell. I feel like I want to tell someone but then I feel guilty for making other people feel sad. So, if you are not in the mood to read anything sad, stop here (and it really is sad).

A couple of years ago my friends bought an 18 year old quarter horse gelding for their 9 year old son to to learn to ride on and go on trail rides. This gelding's name is Otis. Otis was the perfect match for their son, been there done that, sound and well put up in the way of confirmation. A very kind gelding with lots of training, I had the two of them in some lessons.

Well my friend's son didn't really stick to riding horses the way she thought he would. Honestly, he shocked me too! He showed up to lessons in cowboy gear, complete with hat, boots and belt buckle. He ALSO just happened to have a real knack for riding. So good, in fact, that I would say you see this about one in a thousand people. No joke.

So, it was a shocker that he chose to quit riding. But he did and it is what it is. Forcing kids to ride does not make riders.

So Otis no longer had a job. Given how fabulous Otis was for anybody to ride, she considered keeping him. However, she already has three other horses and no one else in her family was interested in riding. She sat on it for a while because she liked the horse.

She mentioned this in passing to her neighbor who said he was interested in the horse. He doesn't ride much but he has cows and it would be nice for him to have a horse he could get on occasionally without a whole lot of trouble.

Well, that's Otis and he's got some cow to boot.

Quite frankly, the neighbor is an asshole. And this is how my friend learned this.

After overusing out of shape Otis, he came up with a stifle injury. He was left without attention. As it got colder he did not get better. He also did not get enough feed to sustain his body weight so lost about 200 lbs.

My friend went by his place and found Otis lying on his side outside on the ice, by himself. She said he'd been eating ice/snow. She bundled herself up, brought some bute and quite literally took Otis out of the pasture and brought him to her barn. This was back in January. We had a terrible winter here in MN.

She stalled him and while he had a hard time standing, he was hungry. She was able to feed him up and get him standing normally again. The neighbor gave her some money for the care she put into him, but she flat out told him he was not getting the horse back. And he isn't, he hasn't tried and they don't speak anymore.

I just saw Otis yesterday. I wish I could show you all what he looked like BEFORE. I do have photos of him but my computer is being a pain about uploading.

Sadly, Otis' stifle injury is not going to heal. He is getting around fine right now, but come winter with ice and bad weather, it will be tough on him. The vet has recommended putting him down before winter and my friend is taking the advice.

Currently, he is a happy boy but anyone can clearly see he is not sound. If he lived down south, it probably wouldn't be much of an issue (milder temps - better footing). I racked my brain trying to think of someone who would have a good situation for him, sadly I can't. I can think of a friend in OK who would be able to care for him but I'm not sure how he would do on the drive down...and I'm not sure if she could take him either.

I am just so sad for this horse. He spent his life as a good horse, only to end up like this. At the age of 20, with his temperment, he WOULD have been able to find a "job" just about anywhere.

Such a waste and such a shame.