Ella

When She Gets Where She is Going

There is a Brad Paisley song entitled "When I Get Where I'm Going." The opening verse says, "When I get where I'm going, on the far side of the sky, the first thing that I'm gonna do is spread my wings and fly."

No doubt that is what Ella did this week as she passed over the Rainbow Bridge &emdash; she "spread her wings and flew." What marvelous wings hers must be!

Ella was a bit of a celebrity. She was part of the herd of horses that "made a run through" Chula Vista in March of 2010. Ella's story is the story of an entire community caring for a group of stray horses. U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Humane Society & SPCA, Chula Vista Animal Care Facility, and County of San Diego Department of Animal Services all came together to keep Ella and the other horses safe. Most of the horses ended up with wonderful new homes. Thanks to a grant from the ASPCA to the San Diego Equine Safety Net Coalition, Ella found a forever home at Horses of Tir Na Nog. Ella's journey was a remarkable testament to local collaboration for animal welfare. Horses of Tir Na Nog was honored to be part of that story.

Unfortunately, while Ella recovered physically from her run through the streets, she carried scars both inside and outside that told the story of a very difficult life. She was given the name Ella based on the Ella Fitzgerald quote, "It isn't where you came from, it's where you're going that counts." However, in spite of our best wishes for her, Ella always carried worries and wounds of where she came from.

Ella has had a series of colics in recent weeks. While they started out being fairly mild, they became far more painful for her. Recurring colics can often be an indication of tumors or intestinal stones, both of which tend to get worse with time. The difficult decision was made to say goodbye to Ella rather than allowing her to suffer increasingly frequent and painful episodes.

Brad Paisley's song captures our collective prayers for Ella, that "when she gets where she's going, there'll be only happy tears. She will shed the fears and struggles; she has carried all these years, and she'll leave her heart wide open; she will love and have no fear."