On the Loss of a Friend · 1:44am Mar 2nd, 2014

Howdy folks, V here with a bit more of a serious post.

This here is Sparrow. Sparrow was a 13yr old off the track thoroughbred, and was one of the two thoroughbreds that my wife and I own.

He is also sadly, no longer with us.

Last week, Sparrow was kicked by another horse and experienced a fracture to his back right hip. After an initial vet visit, things were to be taken day by day. By Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning, Sparrow was still not putting weight on the leg. The decision was made to take him up to Ohio State University to be looked at by their veterinary hospital program.

Further complications ensued, including possible damage to his kidneys and bladder. After the next day (5 days after the initial incident), due to the amount of weight he was placing on the other three legs, Sparrow developed a condition called "founder" (a term colloquially used to mean the hoof disease laminitis in his other back leg. Laminitis is an extremely painful, and at the stage it was at is generally incapable of being treated and fixed.

The decision was ultimately made to put Sparrow to sleep, in order to end his pain. This occurred on Thursday 2/27/2014.

Sparrow was an incredible horse. Having raced at age 2 all the way to age 7, he found his way into the hands of a friend of ours who wanted to find a home for him. We took him and my wife trained him for dressage and jumping. He was a very willing boy, and loved everything he did.

So... this is dedicated to Sparrow. May you run wild in the life beyond, waiting for the day where we will join you and ride you once more. You will be greatly missed.

- v

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