Good Bye Callie Good Bye Tess

Found the pictures but can't get them here yet.
Yesterday was a difficult day. Dr. Darling and his assistant Ashley came in the morning and we did an evaluation of the horses on our Watch List. This is never done lightly . Every aspect of each animal is considered with quality of life the main focus.
Sweet Callie mule was the first. She came to Home At Last with a broken knee, terrible teeth and a large lump in her jaw. The lump was old and decaying food that she could not dislodge. Dr D did a float plus other dental work. Because her teeth were so bad it was hard to give her an accurate age. She was somewhere between 35-100 according to Dr D. During the cold months her knee was especially painful.
Callie was well loved by everyone who met her. She loved her long ears rubbed and had several special places that she loved to have scratched. Love is the key word. Callie was a love. She was everyone's friend. She wandered all over the backyard and often closed herself in the barn. She did not like baths.
She had begun bumping onto things and could not process her food. Her belly was big, full of hay and grain, but her hips were caved in. Even though she had food she was hungry. She was slowly starving to death.
It was decided after much discussion and many tears that it was time to give Callie the last gift of kindness. She was ready. She walked right into the trailer and said her good-byes. We will miss you, sweet girl.
Tess was next. Tess was a beautiful bay Arabian mare in her 30's. She had belonged to a large herd owned by a former soap opera star. When the man died he had made no provisions for the horses and they had to be rescued. Because Tess was old no one wanted to adopt her.
When she came to Home At Last she and Amira became best friends. Then Marnie joined their circle.
Last fall Tess got the strangles which internalized and she lost a tremendous amount of weight. Though she was shiny and had a big belly, like Callie she could no longer process her food. Like Callie we put her in the barn and gave her grain, supplements and extra feed.
While she was in the barn she and Teddy the Thoroughbred became inseparable. They were side by side day in and day out. We turned them loose in the backyard and they became the Backyard Sweethearts.
It was determined that she, too, was slowing starving to death. It is a painful way to die.
Because of the close bond between Teddy and Tess we led Teddy to the trailer with Tess. After she was put down Teddy was allowed to have as much time as he needed to say good-bye. He sniffed her all over, stepped back, thought about it and then sniffed her again. Finally, he accepted she was gone and turned away. We led him back to the backyard, where first Frankie met him, then AnnaBelle, then Moon Dancer. All snoofed his nose then welcomed him into the herd. Rosie sought him out and stayed by his side all day. They were still together this morning.
Not once did Teddy call for Tess, as he did before if they were separated. Allowing him to say good-bye in his own way provided him with the closure he needed. What a good lesson for us all.
Good bye, Tess. You provided us with beauty and a certain sparkle to life. We will miss you.