Sadly, Prince Loses His Battle

It is with a very, very heavy heart that I write this tonight...we lost Prince at about 8pm this evening. I went to check on him at 5pm and he was down in the stall, breathing rapidly and could not get up. His legs had been shaking earlier in the day and he was really unsteady.

He had trailered in from Philly and we had no idea how thin and weak he was...we were all shocked when he got off the trailer. We also found out that he was in liver failure (we are awaiting a call back from the agency that first got the call about him to determine if they pulled blood or not) and probably endstage kidney failure. My vet said he was suprised he had survived this long and we all agreed he was the most emaciated horse any of us has ever seen.

He had been starved a very, very long time and his body just gave out. I want to thank Clare who sent out the troops for us immediately...Ben arrived to help try to get him up, then Clare showed up with Mike...Clare closed her store to be with us...and then my husband came home to me in the barn in tears...then our vet who was on the way from my first call arrived.

I want to tell everyone reading this that these 5 people treated this horse with more kindness, respect and love in his last hours than he probably saw in the last several years. Ben and Mike and Greg made sure he was laying on a mat and Ben made sure that a towel and soft flannel jacket was under his head at all times...he was with us only a very, very short time...we tried to fill his last days with lots of love and kindness...we are all better people for having had the chance to hold him, just for a little while.

I am too upset to write anymore this evening...thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Prince...my husband has lovingly covered him with a warm blanket and he will be taken care of in the morning.