Shawbi
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Arabian
Approximate Date of Birth: 1/1/1979
Sponsor:Today we lost a piece of our hearts, we lost our beloved Shawbi.
Shawbi came to us through our former resident volunteer Andrea in 2009. He had been placed in a forever home in 2008, and a year later he found himself joining the ranks of "at risk" horses with no one to provide him with the home he so deserved.
Shawbi was the first full-blooded Arabian to join the herd of Horses of Tir Na Nog. While he had the renowned poise of an Arabian, he lacked the "spirited" temperament that often creates behavioral problems for this breed. In fact, Shawbi was the perfect gentleman. His gentlemanly temperament was evident in his interaction with volunteers. From fly spray to wormer, Shawbi was ever-patient. Over the last year and a half, he introduced dozens of new volunteers to horsemanship. He always enjoyed the time volunteers spent doting on him, brushing him, and braiding his mane.
What Shawbi loved most about life at Horses of Tir Na Nog was being out and about with Milton Burro. He loved visiting his girls, and it was clear they enjoyed having a gentleman caller. Shawbi was the first of the herd to befriend Deveny’s Ruckus. He spent hours just being near her, assuring our frightened filly that life at the ranch was nothing short of wonderful.
In July, Shawbi was diagnosed with colitis. This diagnosis was later changed to lymphoma. At 31 years of age, we had hoped to find a medication regime that would provide Shawbi with the same quality of life he was used to without affecting his life expectancy. Initial prescription medication failed to yield the results we had hoped for. Our wonderful volunteer Lora added several herbal treatments to our protocols. On Friday, our vet came out to evaluate Shawbi and to make an adjustment in his meds. Unfortunately, he had developed a ventral edema. While standing "at rest," both his heart rate and breathing were elevated. This indicated that his system was shutting down. Our gracious gentleman Shawbi was being so stoic that he wasn’t letting us know how much of an effort he was expending just to keep up appearances.
It wasn’t surprising that Shawbi would be so stoic. In order to save him additional suffering, we held our gentle fellow, told him how much he was loved, and how lucky we were to have had him as part of our herd as we bid him farewell.
Our gentleman caller will remain in our hearts always.