Today I said goodbye to my friend and my teacher. My 27-year-old horse Johnny, who was a registered Arabian horse (Elron Questafire was his registered name, so his first owners gave him the nickname of Johnny Quest), had to be put down today.
My mom called me to say he was laying down and acting funny. I thought she was overreacting (well, that's what I wanted to think, but deep down I knew that wasn't the case), and she called the vet and I left work to be there. During the whole drive there I was preparing myself for having to say goodbye, all the while hoping I was wrong.
When I got to my parents' farm the veterinarian explained that Johnny had cancer and that he was in a lot of pain. He gave me a few options (either prolonging Johnny's life by doing a few procedures to remove a tumor in his colon, or euthanizing him) and I chose to have Johnny euthanized.
While I didn't want to have to say goodbye, I respected Johnny too much to prolong his pain for my own selfish desire of wanting more time.
He taught me so much over the years (I bought him when I was 16 with the money I had saved up from babysitting--my parents gave me half of the money to buy him). He not only taught me how to ride (yes, my horse taught me how to ride him), but he also taught me responsibility and patience.
Johnny also was the one I could go to after school in high school to just hug when I was upset or to spend time with when I just wanted to talk to someone and not have them try to find a solution.
While not everyone likes animals, mine helped me in so many ways and I am thankful for the nearly eight years I had with Johnny.
"A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence." ~Pam Brown
My mom called me to say he was laying down and acting funny. I thought she was overreacting (well, that's what I wanted to think, but deep down I knew that wasn't the case), and she called the vet and I left work to be there. During the whole drive there I was preparing myself for having to say goodbye, all the while hoping I was wrong.
When I got to my parents' farm the veterinarian explained that Johnny had cancer and that he was in a lot of pain. He gave me a few options (either prolonging Johnny's life by doing a few procedures to remove a tumor in his colon, or euthanizing him) and I chose to have Johnny euthanized.
While I didn't want to have to say goodbye, I respected Johnny too much to prolong his pain for my own selfish desire of wanting more time.
He taught me so much over the years (I bought him when I was 16 with the money I had saved up from babysitting--my parents gave me half of the money to buy him). He not only taught me how to ride (yes, my horse taught me how to ride him), but he also taught me responsibility and patience.
Johnny also was the one I could go to after school in high school to just hug when I was upset or to spend time with when I just wanted to talk to someone and not have them try to find a solution.
While not everyone likes animals, mine helped me in so many ways and I am thankful for the nearly eight years I had with Johnny.
"A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence." ~Pam Brown
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