In December, we got a call from a sheriff’s deputy asking us to take in a horse from a neglect case. She was tiny, and they were told she was a weanling. Her size certainly made her look like a weanling. Of course, she hadn’t been handled before and probably hadn’t even seen people until the sheriff’s department pull up, but she needs us. And it was Christmastime, and we all need a little Christmas miracle, right?
So a couple of our fabulous volunteers set off to get her. She was so weak they were able to halter her and could pretty much pick her up and put her on the trailer. They’re experienced with neglected horses, so they took their time getting her home, but she went down in the trailer. We thought we would lose her that night, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. And we weren’t going to give up on her. Her veterinarian put her on fluids and after a while, she got up. It looked like she was going to make it, and I cheered at that news.
Unfortunately about a week after she arrived, she went back down again and this time, she was in a lot of pain. It seemed she was in organ failure, a consequence of her long-term starvation. Because this little girl, who we were told was a weanling and who was the size of a weanling, she was actually four years old. She had probably never been fed decently in her entire short life. And we could not save her, so we let her go surrounded by loving, compassionate people.
The beautiful part of this is: When the foster home contacted our Fostering Coordinator to let her know it was time, Denise asked the foster home if they had a name for her. Denise said that seconds before the foster home answered her, “Little Sunshine” just popped into her head. And then the foster told her she had been calling her “my Little Sunshine”.
To me, this exchange between our foster home, Kelly, and Fostering Coordinator, Denise, just shows how connected the hearts and minds of our volunteers are. It is why we’ll bend over backwards to give a starving horse a chance. It is why we don’t just care about the horses, we care about each other. It shows that even during a sad time, we can lift each other up and support each other.
And, excuse my sappiness, because I’m not normally sappy, but I think it shows how these horses reach out to us when we need it and lift us up. Little Sunshine connected Kelly and Denise (and then me) when all of us needed it. Because losing a horse you want to fight for is so hard, but sometimes all you can do for them is love them, hold them, and ease them on across the Rainbow Bridge.