Shylow		2006

Shylow came to us along with Otis and I must say, she looked way older than she actually is. She had a huge hole in her back leg, and was very thin and judging from her eagerness to graze, she was very hungry. We unfortunately get horses like her all the time, and not knowing where they come from we just take the same approach with each of them until we can determine what we need to do. As with all, especially the younger ones, they are fed feed and given hay. If all the feed and hay is gone in the morning, our thoughts are the horse was just not fed. The older ones can have potentially different problems. We did not know how old Shylow was for sure, but, late teens at least. But judging from the picture taken six weeks later, you can see all she needed was fed. We did take her to the vet, and he floated her teeth and wormed her good, she is now with Amber just living the life of leisure. I did ride her and she was great. I ponied a five year old who considered him in a race with her, so I spent my time holding him back and Shylow did her part of staying focused and did not let him get to her. Shylow really came around. She was the most consistent horse we had. Did not matter how often or how little you rode her, she was the same every time. Due to a physical problem with my leg, I must have a horse I can trust all the time. She was that horse. Sadly, she died in March, 2006 from complications of colic. Shylow, was not an affectionate horse. She was one of those horses who could take loving...or not, all she asked was "just don't be late with my feed!!!" After finding Shylow is severe pain, she was taken to the vet. Putting her down soon became the most likely option. She was really bad, but our vet was not ready to give up on her at 6:30pm, so it was decided the he would check on her at 10:00pm, and make a determination. But at 10:00pm she was still fighting. At four, she was checked on by Keely, one of my girls, and though in pain, she was still standing. Was that a good sign?? I went to her at 7:30am before I went to my job, and she spoke to me as I pulled up and got out of my car. I walked over to her, and lo and behold, she came over to me in the pen and allowed me to rub her between her eyes, something she had only tolerated before and never asked for it. But while I loved on her, it was obvious she was still in pain, despite the medicine. So I went into the vets office and let the Dr. the message to do what he felt was in her best interest. I again went outside and spoke to Shylow as she circled her temporary pen. I drove off. Just a few minutes after 8:00 am, Dr. Hobbs called to say that one of his employees walked out after I left and apparently Shylow had laid down right after I drove off and died. It was as though she was waiting on me to come say good bye. "Good bye Shylow" May your days be filled with sunshine and green grass.