Chicks Silouette June 5th, 1986 - February 20th, 2010

I've been putting off writing on this blog because I knew I couldn't write a post about anything else until I wrote about my beloved horse, Silky, whom we had to put down unexpectedly last month.

I received Silky (Chicks Silouette is her registered name) as a Christmas present (can you believe it?!?) in 1990. I had been bitten by the "horse-crazy bug" as a little girl and had been taking riding lessons for a year or two. I don't know how my parents scraped up the money, but that Christmas Eve they blindfolded me and drove to the stable where Silky was being boarded. She was the best Christmas present ever!

First picture of Silky and I, in 1990.

The following spring, Dad put together a barn for me and Silky came home, where she would live the rest of her life. Silky and I did the 4-H horse shows every year until I turned 18. We even made it to state twice!

Silky and I at the State Horse Show in 1994

In 1996, we bred Silky to a handsome stallion name Booker T Boss and the following spring, my little Diego was born. Unfortunately, late in the summer, Diego somehow broke his leg while he and Silky were out on pasture and we had to put my baby down.

Silky and Diego (one day old), 1997

Silky had a couple of barn mates over the years. My mom got interested in horses for a few years. Mom tried out a couple of horses, but her favorite was Sunny.

Mom on Sunny and Me on Silky, 2004

Then, last month, I got a call from Mom after work on Friday afternoon. She said that Dad came home, went out to feed Silky, and found her stuck lying on her side in her stall. She was caught next to the wall and wasn't able to get up. She had probably been like that all day. While Ray and I were on our way out to the barn, Dad and Mom got Silky up. We thought everything was going to be ok.

After monitoring Silky for a little while, we all went into the house. The neighbor called a couple of minutes later to say that Silky was lying flat on her side out in the snow. I ran out, and we got her to get up again. Something was obviously wrong, so we decided to call the vet.

The vet examined Silky and said she probably had a twist in her intestines, called colic. She gave us some options, and the best one for Silky seemed to be to sedate her and wait out the night to see if her intestines would untwist on their own. It was a really long night of checking on Silky every half hour (Ray did a lot of the checking).

By the next morning, it was obvious that Silky's intestines were still twisted. We made the difficult decision to put her down. I pet Silky's beautiful face and gave her tons of kisses while the vet gave her that last injection. Dad was able to find a good spot on the property where the ground wasn't frozen, and Dad and Ray laid her to rest on Sunday.

Silky's last walk with Ray and I on Saturday morning.

Silky had a great, long life, and I'm so thankful for that. Still, I had always envisioned my children sitting on her back in her senior citizen years. I can't help but feel a little cheated - with our first child due exactly 6 months after Silky died.

I'll never forget you, Silky-girl.