RIP my sweet Belle...

[BlazingColours]

I made the tough decision to euthanize my beloved broodmare, Golden Belle, yesterday. She got quite sick back in November 2008 and was sent to Guelph. We fought and tried everything with her for a good year. So MANY tests, many different vets, tried about all antibiotics available to horses/humans, tried some non conventional therapies and nothing worked to return her to her former glory. She got to the point that the only way she would eat is if she was given bute 2x a day (at an increasing dose every couple months) and an ulcer med called sucralfate to help her tummy feel okay from the Bute. There were days she simply would not eat or drink. This past week her feet started to get very sore and she was having a tough time walking and wanted to lay down a lot to rest them.

So I made the decision on my own and planned the whole day around her. She enjoyed her final hours nibbling at a round bale with the foals from '09 and '08. She loves babies. And then she was laid to rest. She can now run in for every green fields free of pain and pain medication.

She had four foals. A gelding that Equusanna now owns, a stallion in the US, a soon to be gelding I still own and a wonderful mare I am keeping for my program.
Here is Golden Belle in her glory days...

[TrueColours]

I am really sorry to hear that

I liked that mare a lot ...

Godspeed to Belle ...

[skywatcher]

so sorry to read your news, she was simply gorgeous!

RIP beautiful

[SpecialEffects]

I'm very sorry for your loss
RIP Belle

[Desert Oasis Sporthorses]

So sorry for your loss. RIP Belle.

[color]

I am so sorry I loved that mare very much she was so pretty and well proportioned.

Off to greener pastures to enjoy green grass forever. RIP

[helen in FL]

God speed Belle Girl.

[angrovestud]

RIP Belle xx

[BlazingColours]

Thanks so much everyone. She was a very special mare that was so powerful and graceful before she got sick. It was sad watching her get worse, but then she would go through a couple weeks of getting better to only then get worse and each time when she got worse is was a bit worse than the time previous. I kept hoping and trying to get her to stay on the up swing but that would never last more than a couple weeks and that time got less and less. So while yes it was quite difficult to do, I knew it had to be done. I did not want to keep her going just for me; she deserved to have a quality life where she could run and play and I realized she would never again be able to do that in this life time. And that is how I knew it was time to let her go.

I am very happy to have a cremello mare (White Beauty) out of her and I still have a palomino/white colt (White Pharaoh). She has a gorgeous gelding (Gold N Glitter) that is doing the hunters right now with an ammy owner and she also has a stallion son (White Magic).

Here are some picts of Belle and Beauty. And a link to Beauty's page http://www.blazingcoloursfarm.com/whitebeauty.html

[spex4me]

You made a very tough and agonizing decision, but I hope you find solace in knowing she is pain free and continues to live on in her progeny. She was quite gorgeous, R.I.P. Belle.

[Derby Lyn]

So sorry to hear about your loss.

It almost sounds like a brain tumor, or some sort of issue like that. They get worse, then get better, then get worse then before. My older mare had the same exact problem. She was 30 this past summer when we put her down. She would be bad, losing weight, not eating anything. Then all of a sudden she would do wonderful, only to go downhill worse then before. Not sure if you looked into that, and not sure there would have been a cure.

I wish you the best with her foals in the years to come.

[Jessi P]

So sorry, what a lovely mare Belle was. She lives on for you through her kids. Hugs for you. RIP Belle.

[reedhill]

She was a wonderful BM! Jessi's right, she gave some true beauties to you! RIP beautiful Buckskin Mamma, you did a great job!

[summerhorse]

I'm so sorry, she was a special mare.

[Truly]

So sorry to hear this
I had wondered how she was as I remember you posting about her being ill.
Take comfort knowing you did the best for her and that now she is pain free.
I'm sure she is galloping around with my Maddie up at Rainbow Bridge
Hugs to you xxxxxx