Rest in Peace, Sweet Tahoe

Tahoe has always been the love of my life.  A plain brown horse born in the wild, destined to run free without ever knowing the love of a human. 

Then, along comes the Bureau of Land Management and changed his contract with the Universe.  Tahoe and his brother Reno, along with many others, were captured.  On that day, all of their lives changed forever. 

A few months later, at an adoption auction in Ocala, Florida, my life changed forever.  I adopted two scraggly, unkempt, wild horses - just barely weanlings.  They were pretty sad looking.  My husband, Joe, said when we got home, "Seriously, this is what all the fuss was about!" 

Tahoe quickly took over my heart and soul.  There was always something special about him that touched my heart and took root in my soul.  And yet, he wasn't an easy horse.  At age two, I attempted to sit on him for the first time - he tossed me to the moon!

That began a long string of falls, bumps and bruises.  There are a few who will remember the day he decided to lose his mind and run madly through the woods - he shredded my arms, burned my hands and ultimately dumped me on the ground - only to stand there looking at me as if I was the crazy one!

At age 7, for reasons that will never be entirely known, Tahoe developed a seizure disorder.  An episode would start with skin twitching, then his lips would grimace and then he would start to spin, uncontrollably.  Whatever was in his way got demolished.  I feared he would end up with a permanent disability - he smashed his head so many times, it was amazing his brains were not scrambled. 

Veterinary advice said to euthanize him - put him out of his misery.  And yet, I didn't see misery.  I saw my heart and felt like I wouldn't be able to breathe without him.  So, I experimented with various vets, treatments and drug cocktails until we reached a happy medium.  He still had seizures, just not as often. 

Twice he had a seizure while I was riding him - jumped off both times.  Once he had a seizure in a trailer - not a pretty sight.  So, Tahoe was rarely trailered rarely ridden - although I still rode him about twice a year. 

One thing I did notice was his seizures tended to happen most often when there was a change in the weather - usually when a cold front came through.  One of my clients who has a child with seizures confirmed for me (and there is research that shows the same) that the incidence of seizures increases when there are changes in barometric pressure.

I don't know if that's what happened on November 13, but we did have a cold front and there was a lot of wind.  My sweet, Joe, found Tahoe in the pasture when he didn't come up for dinner.  I suspect my boy had some form of fatal seizure.  I will miss him forever.  He was such a part of my existence - a different relationship than I've ever had with any animal, at any time. 

Run free Tahoe - I love you!