Somewhere I was reading recently, I remember a comment, that the equine species works Monday thru 5:00 pm Fridays. After that… its an equine emergency.  On a particularly cold filthy day in MAY no less, it was feed time, when I went to call in my old appy mare, she was no where to be seen, I panicked a little, and trudged thru the mud and down into her paddock, Everything, was a gray muddy color, and Satin wears a gray blanket, and yes, a few of my horses were still wearing their blankets into MAY, my eyes scanned the uneven ground and finally saw a gray shape laying on the ground… I approached slowly, not knowing if she was dead, or sleeping or stuck, when I got to her head, she was just staring into space, I checked that she wasn’t tangled in her blanket, and then began to talk to her, and rub on her blanket, her eye slowly rolled toward me, and I helped her lift her head… the ground didn’t look like she had been struggling, but I pulled her legs forward, then lifted her head again, that seemed to be enough to get her interested in getting up, She and I walked slowly to the barn, and into a stall, and I called the vet, .  A few days later she seemed to be slowly coming back to normal, although her gait was stiff, and she walked very slowly, she was eating, and drinking, but seemed sore.  But on a morning just about 8 days later, she could barely stand.. and I called the Vet again, when he arrived, he examined Satin, She was in so much pain, he seemed to feel, that maybe based on her history, that it may be her time, horses that have been down on their sides, can actually destroy their own muscle mass, and basically it begins to die inside,  The dr. told me to consider my options, we gave her some dex,and some banamine, and pulled some blood.  I knew she was old, but I wasn’t totally prepared to loose her.  While I was sitting with her, thinking of our time together, my mother texted me that she had just put her dog to sleep, and 10 minutes after that, my daughter called me to tell me that the very expensive pony she had purchased as a training project was colicing.. so putting sass to sleep, got set down for just a moment.  I texted some friends of mine, who had more experience with old horses, and downed horses, and the general feeling was that an old horse, that had been down, and wasn’t doing well, was ready to pass , another friend had told me a while back, when she had to put her old guy down, that the veterinarian told her, ” God, isn’t such a bad owner..” so their opinions helped me firm up my resolve.  All I had to do, was decide where she would rest,,, Except, that a few hours later, my daughter called me back, her pony wasn’t doing well, and she was having him trailered to the equine clinic we use in emergencies.. so I climbed in the car, with my credit card, and headed up to help.  The pony required surgery, on a Friday, after 5,  (I currently call him the 10,000 dollar man, )   By the time we were home, and Saturday rolled around, I had decided to just let Satin be.  When the time presented its self, I would have more resolve.  This morning, she cantered from her stall into her pasture, she is enjoying being in the first stall, and getting a bit more attention than before, and my daughter’s pony is recovering well, although, the resale lesson is a tough one to swallow.  They are our worlds these horses…. and they certainly keep us revolving around them..   off to hay…. second cut, which is easier to digest.