I can relate to this story since I too lost my soul mate in July, 2006; after having a stroke in 2002 & cataracts in both eyes I couldn't ride him. In July of '06 he dropped dead in my back yard. Now again I'm going to lose another precious pal I bought in 2006 - he has melanomas popping all over but especially a big one in his mouth. He is soooo good; don't want to lose him but I know it's going to happen. It really stinks when you love horses so very much
My Horse Illustrated magazine just came in the mail so as I was eating lunch I happened upon the article about Teddy. As I read the article, tears streamed down my cheeks. I,too,lost an adored equine friend in January. My Morgan, Link, was a part of my life for 15 years after I rescued him from a trip to the slaughter pen. We learned so much together and achieved so many unbelievable feats. And then, one day he was gone. He, too, had a special way of telling me his time was coming. Our last ride was on Christmas Day and was most enjoyable. A month later,I had to make that awful decision to put him down as I didn't want him to suffer. He had a ruptured intestine due to a suspected tumor.It is no easy task to actually tell the vet that it's time. It's no easy task to lose a very dear friend but I like to think Link is around guiding me with my two young companions. My heart goes out to Elizabeth Moyer. She did an excellent job writing about Teddy. I bet there was a lot of Kleenex involved.
I thought your party for Teddy was a wonderful idea. The photos are beautiful and I couldn't help but be reminded of my own special Thoroughbred, Jake, who died very suddenly of colic one day in March at the age of 26. I didn't have time to throw a party for him, but thank you for making it happen for Teddy!