“Enjoy your last walk across the meadow and through the mist. Be not afraid of her for she is your friend.” – the Witcher, Netflix

While I did not own Scoot until 4yo, he was a horse who it seemed was destined to end up with me as we crossed paths again, and again, and again. I was involved in his life in varying professional contexts from birth, and as a result, came to understand him far better than most – I may not have had input in the direction of his life until later, but I was able to observe how his life would come to unfold.

I believe that there are two final gifts that we can offer our horses at the end, when all other options have been tried and failed. The first of these is release – to cease their suffering. The second, to learn what we can from them. To learn better, in order to do better next time.

Scoot was a severely troubled horse. With inconsistent and inadequate training, and an extremely inexperienced owner who should have never been sold a young horse in the first place, it was a recipe for disaster. Factoring in his soundness issues as well, both acquired and genetic, the odds were against him from the very start.

To the less experienced eye, he was a quiet horse – quiet, provided that no pressure was applied. A young horse who needed a firm but fair hand, instead he quickly worked out that his owner did not have the necessary experience and that he could intimidate her into backing off instead of establishing boundaries. As time went on, not only was this behaviour even more firmly established that he was the one calling the shots, but he also became larger, stronger, and more explosive. He may have been young, but he was already becoming an extremely dangerous horse to handle properly.

Longevity means nothing to the horse. Quality of life, everything.