Yes, the world lost a legend today. Everyone that had the privilege of meeting the handsome Licorice was struck by his gentle heart and beautiful soul. The relationship I, personally, had with this magnificent being is beyond words. I can only echo what I have been hearing from so many people that Licorice and I shared a bond and visibly mutual love and connection. Purchasing him 12 years ago, at the age of 17, was, without a doubt, the best and most rewarding investment ever. He found the light in me that I couldn't find. He tolerated all of my lack of knowledge of horsemanship and loved me anyway. He always gave me 100% of his heart. We just knew each other so well.
He developed advanced arthritis in one of his front legs about 8-10 years ago, for which I did my best to keep him comfortable with light exercise and NSAIDs. He would have acute issues where I thought, "is this the end" but he would always surprise me and come back even stronger. He was my Comeback King!
However, a month ago he wasn't eating. I thought it was just some sort of bug and he would shake out of it in a couple of days. Well, after 7 days, it was still a struggle to get him to eat and he was losing weight fast. After a vet check to confirm he didn't have an infection, colic or teeth issues, and his blood work was normal, we decided to treat him for ulcers. This treatment seemed to help a bit, but after 10 days he developed a fever. After another vet visit 2 weeks after the first one, his blood work showed a significant infection, but we didn't know where. So, we now added antibiotics to his treatments. He was improving and he finally broke his fever after 5 days and his follow up blood work, 2 days later, showed significant improvement of the infection. However, something still wasn't right and he still wasn't eating well. We decided to continue on the treatment of antibiotics and then administer anabolic steroids the following week in hopes that would help his appetite. That was last Friday. He seemed to be doing better with his appetite and his energy was a bit improved, but on Monday of this week, he had developed some sort of respiratory issue that was causing discharge from his nose, My barn owner was having a dental specialist coming to do her horses on Wednesday, so I took the opportunity to have this vet check him out and really asses to confirm he didn't have any teeth issues. This vet did a thorough history physical on him before looking in his mouth. When he was listening to his heart he told me that he had a heart murmur. I couldn't remember if I had been told about that as if wasn't a big deal or not and he confirmed that this isn't something benign it is significant and was the cause of the swollen sheath. Now, putting a heart issue on top of the new lung issue really hit home for me. We were now dealing with something that would be very difficult to cure, so I made the decision to send him over the Rainbow Bridge. The vet told me, after watching him walk, that Licorice was in a significant amount of pain. I had been keeping my rose colored glasses on as this is something I deal with every day. Seeing him through someone else's eyes really helped me with the decision, which is 100% the hardest part of this experience.
Fortunately, when this morning came, I took Licorice over to the vacant yard next door to the barn where there is a nice expanse of grass (one that he has visited a few times when his gate got left open) and I let him graze...or at least grab and spit out due to his lack of molars. He was in his happy place. So, I then decided, this will be the place for his final spot to lie down, rather than on the dirt at my barn. I am telling you, the whole process could not have been any more peaceful and beautiful. When the drugs were administered, he went down quickly and was completely gone before I knew it! He was ready!!
He is now running free among greener pastures across the Rainbow Bridge.
I am so blessed, beyond words and comprehension, from all of the unconditional love and support from all of my friends and family.
Broken hearted, but relieved.