A Tough Decision

I walked into the barn about an hour ago, around 10 pm. The smell of sweet alfalfa hay greeted my senses. The lights were already on in the barn for the visit I knew I would be making late tonight. The horses were all calm. The pregnant mares were still munching the hay we had fed them late this afternoon.

Satin was in a separate area with the two yearling fillies. She was munching on hay as well while the two fillies were already laying down for some rest. The barn was calm and quiet except for the sweet sounds of horses chewing their hay.

My eyes searched out the horse I was looking for. His herd mate, Thunder was outside the gate that divided Cody from him. Thunder was waiting for his friend to return to the pasture with him to go back to the bale of hay for the night.

But Cody wouldn't be going back out tonight and maybe he will never be able to join his buddy in the pasture again. The next few days will tell the story.

Today started out with the temperature outside being bearable. As the day wore on it became colder and colder. Eleanor had come to help groom the horses. On her recent visit here she noticed that we went to great length to groom the horses in the barn. We tie each horse and put their feed out to them. Then we start to groom each horse as it eats. Then they get their hay.

She hung around the house with us all day and finally left to go home about 5 PM. Bob had already gone to the barn to start the feeding and I soon joined him after she left. He was watering the horses and I walked over to talk to him. We were chatting when he suddenly said, "Look at Cody. Something is terribly wrong with him." I looked and sure enough. He was walking around but he looked more drunk than sober.

I rushed to the house to call Gretchen who owns Cody. I did not get her at first so I left a message and called the vet. Gretchen soon called me back and I relayed the message from the vet to her and suggested she call him directly to get his assessment of the situation. It was decided that Dr Thompson would need to come to see him. That is exactly what I would have done.

Dr Thompson drove up to the barn and we entered the barn as he was examining the patient. It was not good news. It is the vet's assessment that he has picked up a disease that horses get from possums. It is very serious and the treatment is iffy and expensive. So Gretchen is struggling with a decision tonight. Does she spend the money to "try" to save her 18 year old gelding or does she say "good bye".

When I entered the barn and walked around to where Cody was stalled tonight, he was standing but he was weaving back and forth. Doc had given him a shot of anti inflammatory and hoped that would give him some temporary relief. He is not in pain but his back legs are weak and it causes him to wobble.

Cody fell while Bob was leading him to the barn and again when the vet was trying to halter him. It is so pitiful to see. He is a big strong horse and I have feared his back feet from time to time. He kicks at the other horses over feed sometimes and once he kicked out at another horse and threw mud on me. That was too close for comfort. But to see him standing in the stall weaving back and forth breaks my heart.

Gretchen ask me what I would do. I could not tell her. I do not know if I would let him go or spend the money to try the course of medication that would in all possibility will not cure him.

It is an option we will all have to face one day. I have already faced it with Holly although that was much more clear cut than this one is. Worse yet, Bill and I went through the same thing when he was sick. Although there was no option for him, good or bad. He had a condition that ran it's course and took his life.

It is a situation we will all face one day in one way or another. Because of the fallen state of man, we will all face death. Sometimes it will be a beloved pet. Other times it will be a faithful friend that has carried us through trails and over green pastures. And then there will come the times it will be a good friend, a close relative and then our own turn to face the end of our time on earth.

It is something we don't want to think about but sooner or later we must.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are saved and those who are not. Have you decided which one you are? If you are, you know it. If you aren't sure then you aren't. What are you going to do about Jesus? You either tell him yes. Or do nothing about Jesus and you are telling him "No".

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care. I pray you will seriously think about where you will be spending eternity.

Regards

Mary

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16