Last day :(

Last Day

It's the last day today :(. I kind of sad, kind of excited to have more free time. The end of May project really does signify the end of high school work. That's such a strange thought, one that hasn't sunk in yet, and I'm not sure if I want it to sink in.

Two horses were transported to Mizzou for euthanasia today, the incredible sweet, big teddy bear of a horse, Summit the Percheron. Summit was looking a little rough. This is one of the quarantine horses I mentioned earlier. She wasn't gaining weight as fast as the vet wanted her to, and her cataracts had gotten severely worse. Luckily though, she did live a pretty long life to age 22, which is middle-aged for a horse. It's sad to think that a large portion of her life was spent in abusive and neglectful hands. The other horse sent for euthanasia was a quarter horse named Shaw. This was very surprising as Shaw was a spirited horse who, on the outside, you would guess was perfectly find. Shaw had already gone through quarantine and was actually up for adoption. Apparently over the weekend Shaw was diagnosed with a debilitating illness and the vet urged Long Meadow to him down. Shaw played in the pasture with his friends up until the day he was diagnosed. It was incredibly surprising and so sad to see this happen. Euthanasia is a tough decision to make when you're in the position of the Long Meadow staff. Do you spend extra time, energy, and resources on a horse that has a bleak future or put those resources towards a horse that needs them to be rehabilitated or same from an abusive home? It is especially tough when the horse is like Shaw, who seems, on the outside, perfectly normal. I believe Long Meadow made the right decision, and now Mizzou students can practice an inevitable procedure for their time in vet school.

Kind of a bummer of a way to end the run, seeing some of the horses you've bonded with go, but I still had an incredibly valuable time with unforgettable memories. And after the trailer returned empty from dropping Summit and Shaw off at Mizzou, Katherine and I were tasked with cleaning it: a perfect way to end the experience. We started with cleaning the trailer and finished with cleaning the trailer.