(AQHA) Aledo Pine Girl

'Emily' was my first really well bred mare, and as you can see from her picture,
her good breeding shone through.   She and Egor (see his page) were our first
two family horses, and we did alot together!  Emily was supple and sound, and
very talented - she could spin, was learning to slide, and was getting good at
her flying lead changes. 

Her full brother, a lovely bay, won High Point  (Open) on the Ontario circuit
under Jess Cofell, and we had high hopes that Emily and I would learn and compete
together.  Moving north messed up the plans a bit, as it was a long drive to anywhere,
so we decided to breed her while we got re-settled in the Hastings Highlands.   During
this time, Emily proved to be an outstanding trail horse, and was one of our main guide
horses until she had her baby, Elli Mae, in June 2001. After maternity leave, we were
finally getting things settled with our new home and jobs, so we had plans get re-started
with a talented reiner/trainer in our area, Wendy Hoetzel.  Wendy has a wonderful setup
just 2 hrs away, and we were committed to doing whatever it took to make the drive for
training, at her farm near Kingston, to get Emily finished the RIGHT way.

Alas, it was never to come to pass.  Tragedy struck over Christmas, and we lost Emily
on Boxing Day, 2001.  An emergency trip to the vet, 2 hours away, revealed the truth
- and we were not ready for it.  In the week prior to Christmas, Emily abruptly declined
in weight, and her legs began to swell.   She stopped eating and her coat went dull and
flakey.  In the blink of an eye, she went from shiny and slick to looking like a pathetic
waif, not eating, not drinking - we tried everything but knew it was obvious something
was very wrong.  Her eyes still had their sparkle, but we knew we needed to take
action immediately.   Inspection by equine specialist Rick Conrad revealed a basketball
sized abcess on her left kidney.  Ultrasound and palpation showed it had totally absorbed
her kidney, and finally, after years undetected, her other overworked kidney had failed. 
The strange thing was, that with her AI pregnancy, and everyone and their brother having
their arms in her, (not to mention an ultrasound) no one had detected the mass.

Sometimes, life leaves you no choices.  We had longed to be told 'here's some pills, take her home' and
instead, the doctor told us we were too late, her remaining kidney had shut down, and she was going
to die.  There was no chance that surgery would work, as the mass was too large.   He felt it had been
growing for up to three years, probably the remnant of a kidney infection she had gone through back
in London.  With no option open to us, Emily was euthanized for humane reasons & brought home to bury.

I don't think I've really gotten over the loss of the one special horse in my life.  She was MY horse, we got into
all sorts of predicaments together over the years, and I still think about her all the time, and it's been years
since we said goodbye.  Terribly stricken by her death, I had searched high and low to see what people
thought about the question "Where do horses go when they die?" I have my own ideas on this, but  I guess
we won't know until we ourselves pass on.  At least I know she's no longer in pain.

There is a happy ending to this story.  Because we bred Emily
in 2000 to 'Little Peppy's Star' (see left) a son of the famous
'Peppy San Badger' - we were blessed with an Emily replica with
which to move on in our lives.  Elli Mae (right) is a constant
reminder of Emily - she is the spitting image of her mother, and
although she puts her own unique twist on things, Elli is the
eptiome of the old saying   'The apple never falls far from the tree'. 
We thoroughly enjoy Elli and her outrageous personality EVERY
day, and we thank goodness for the fact that out of everything bad,
there will always be something good to be found.

.....we miss you Emily, and we will NEVER forget you!

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