Randolf "Randy"

An Amazing Stallion
August 1, 2012

On September 14, 2010, the staff at the Escondido Humane Society found Randy with a rope around his neck tied to their front gate. He was emaciated. While he had once worn shoes on all four feet, only one shoe remained. His right front foot had a large amount of his hoof wall torn away. His front left foot was painful from an abscess. And at approximately 35 years of age, he was still a stallion!

The Escondido Humane Society carefully nursed Randy back to health. He was placed with us about six weeks after he had been left at their gate. He recovered well from his castration surgery, so well in fact that it was hard to remember that he had been a stallion until he came to Horses of Tir Na Nog.

The years had left Randy with arthritis in his neck, and front and hind legs. Randy also came to us with neurologic issues. Unfortunately, it was those health issues that contributed to us making the heart breaking decision to euthanize Randy on Wednesday. He had recently injured his arthritic neck, dramatically increasing his neurologic issue. Initial treatments helped him rebound, but the damage proved irreversible, and he had once again lost his ability to maintain his balance. In order to spare him the suffering that would result from a fall, we let him go.

As I said my good-byes and tickled his nose, I was reminded just how amazing this stallion was. Randy carried himself with such pride and dignity. He was always ready to prance about and remind the other geldings at the ranch that he was the "real deal" but he never gave our volunteers any trouble. They were brushing him within days of his castration surgery and they continued to be able to work with him throughout his time with us. He really was an amazing stallion.

Our greatest concern in letting Randy go was his heart-throb, Meg. They have been inseparable since he was introduced to her. You couldn't remove either of them from their corral without taking the other. When Meg needed her feet X-rayed, Randy came along; there was no option. So the thought of their final farewell was heart-wrenching. Dr. Oman had brought sedatives along to help ease her initial pain.

However, Meg's response was completely unexpected. When Dr. Oman arrived, Randy and Meg were standing together in “their corner,” as they did so often. We haltered Randy and led him out without Meg ever leaving her corner. Some time later, long after Randy had left us, Meg still stood quietly in her corner. When Dr. Oman noticed that she was standing so quietly, he said simply, "She must have known it was his time." What a precious gift Randy had given to his special friend, a peaceful heart. What an amazing stallion he was!