Last fall we dealt with the loss of a horse. It was a devastating blow to the whole barn. It was a devastating blow to me and my wife as well as all of the people who frequent our barn.

The saddest part of this whole tragedy was the horse itself.  The horses name was Robin (Miss Holly Robin).  She was just three years old.  This was only the second horse we had ever lost.  But, Robin was special and this loss left a gaping hole in everyone around here. 

I picked up Robin at the fall quarter horse auction at Henderson’s Arena in Jackson Ohio.  We looked at over 150 horses that day and she was our number 1 pick.  Our trainer at the time, Genn, had a lot to do with the decision to pick this horse.  She loved the horse at first site.  We like Genn, so that had a lot do do with driving Robin to the top of our picklist. 

She was a yearling at the time.  She was small, but she had a soft eye and great conformation.  Her bloodlines were a mix of great Western Pleasure horses and hall of fame reiners like Hollywood Jac and Glenda Echols.  From the time we brought her home everyone loved this little horse. At 3 years old she barely made a height of 14.2 hands, when she needed a hoof trim.  

By the time this horse was three, we had her working beautifully. She was a very agreeable learner with great athletic capability.  She was infinitely calm.  As a three year old, we had 12 year old students showing the horse and placing every show.   We used her for lessons with some of our intermediate riders and performed beautifully every time. 

One night, she starting showing signs of colic.  After 40 minutes and some consultation on the phone with our local vet, it was obvious this was no gas colic or a minor blockage.  So we loaded her and headed for Ohio State University.

The folks at OSU were great.  They were very thorough and walked us through the whole set of issues and decisons to be made.  Surgery was required.  There was definitely going to be a part of the small intestine removed.  Chances for the long term recovery were about 50%. 

At 1:00 am I spoke to my wife and we made the decision.  If Robin showed no improvement on her own by morning, she would be put down.  OSU would control the pain and let us know in the morning.  So, I left for home, leaving Robin behind. 

The call came at 8:30 am.  There was no improvement.  She was in increasing pain.  We gave the ok the euthanize her.  I’d have to say this was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do.  I cried for the first time in many years.  I had not been this devastated since my grandmother died some years ago.  Such a shame… I can’t describe in words how truly great this young horse was.  She was everything you would want your horse to be.  She went peacefully. 

I asked for a post-mortem.  When the results came back, the vet at OSU explained that Robin had Volvulus.  This is where the small intestine becomes twisted in it’s Mesentary.  The Mesentery is the membrane that suspends the small intestine from the ribcage.  This had stopped the digestive processes and restricted blood flow to parts of the intestine.  Surgery would have had to remove several sections of the small intestine as well as reattach the Mesentary.  Her chances of recovery were very small.  I asked what could have been done to prevent this.  “Nothing” she said.  “This happens with a percentage of horse.  The cause is unknown”   

That was November 2009.  It is now June 1 2010.  Everything is different after Robin.  Some of the luster of daily life around the barn is gone.  Things are starting to get back to normal.  We have two young 2 year old prospects that are going to be great horses too.  We just need to get them started.

Through the whole ordeal, everyone was great.  All of our friends, customers, the vet’s, farriers, OSU, chiropractors and massage therapists we’re great.  Everyone was very supportive and understood the pain.  Others felt the same pain we felt.  Anyway, life goes on and we still love what we do here.

By the way,  two pictures of Robin are on the banner of this web page.  They are on the right hand side of the page.

Thank You Everyone
Jim and Becky Dines