Epilogue

Sometimes we reach the point where there are no band-aids left in the box. Our's for Tim just ran out.

I found him unable to place his right front hoof on the ground as he groaned in pain. He kept calling me to help him. Somehow in the night irreparable damage was done to his shoulder. There wasn't a band-aid big enough to save him this time. He managed to lay down in his stall to rest. I knew he could never stand up again. Surrounded by love and attended by his angel, we let him go.

The day before was a good day for Tim. He walked the farthest he had in years on his own. He appeared to be conversing Fancy and Czardas, as they stood with their heads together, he ate whatever new grass he could find and generally had a fine time for himself.

I like to think that he needed this last bit of his life to find a replacement for himself, someone to take care of me, after he was gone. Perhaps that is what he was talking to the mares about. My best friend Timothy Daniel James how can I live without you?

And so we try very hard to let the horses decide when they've had enough, but sometimes we just run out of band-aids and the choice is taken from us. Now, all his pain is over – may we find each other again in paradise. Amen-

Nina