# R.I.P. Gizmo



## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

Hi, everyone. I have been a member for a while now. I haven't been on in a while do to going to school and getting all that fund stuff. But I wanted to make a dedication post to my beloved Gizmo who I lost this year.

Gizmo passed on St.Patricks day 03/17/14. 

I got Gizmo five years ago from one of my friends who had too many horses and wasn't using Gizmo at all. So I bought him for 1,200 most I had ever paid for a horse at the time. I wasn't sure of him at first. He had moon blindness in his left eye and I didn't want a horse that was blind and was going to freak out at everything he saw. But I went over to ride anyways. Really I just wanted to go over and go riding with my friend that I hadn't seen in a while. Well I ended up buying him when we got back. 

He was so beautiful. He was a wonderful chestnut color with a flaxen mane and tail. He had a star tripe run down his face and went crooked on his nose, it made him look kind of goofy sometimes but that's what I loved about him. And despite being blind in one eye he was no in anyway spookey and he was the most gentle horse I knew. 

We would ride everyday. I lived in an area that had a ton of trails and we would ride all day long. I didn't have anyone to ride with so it was just me and him all the time. Best buds. We bonded so much, of course he was my only horse at the time too, but he was amazing. I would let him out to free graze the field and if he would at the top all I would have to do is call his name and he would look up and come galloping down stopping just short of me. It was AWESOME! The first time my boyfriend ever saw it I think he had to pick his jaw up off the floor. 

Though he had his health issues. He foundered about two months after I owned him. The vet still doesn't know why or how he did it because it was in November and he didn't get into his feed or anything and I showed her what I had been feeding him and there was no way that could have done it. So I was up every morning at four to make pads for his feet our of styrofoam and ductaping them on. My heart was broken thinking he might not make it through, but he did! And we were actually riding again by Christmas Eve! 

He was always there for me. When I was having a rotten day or wasn't feeling good he definately knew and would cheer my up. He was a big goofball and he knew how to make me laugh. I loved every minute of having him and I wish I could have had him longer but that was not God's plan for him.

In November for 2013 I moved to a different town with my boyfriend at the house we are in the process of purchasing. I had him boarded at a nearby farm for a week until we could move his barn to our house. During his time there he wasn't acting right so I called the vet and we found he now had a tumor in his right eye that was blocking his pupil and about 90% of his vision. He could really only see some light and shadow at that point. But other than that he was completely healthy and happy horse. So I bought him a companion, Dixie, a minature horse.

They definately loved eachother and were best buds. But at the end of February of 2014 I was working 12 hour shifts at work and going in for 5am so I had to be awake at about 3:45 in the morning to feed the horses and get ready. Well I went out to the barn and went into his stall and his eyes was litterally bleeding and there was white goop runnining down his face. I tried to remain calm as possible and tried to see if he had cut below his eye or it was his actual eye. But he had his eye **** tight. Oh and this was his moon blind eye btw.

So I fed him really quick to make sure he was still eating and he was and then I ran inside and called the vet and they came out on an emergency. The vet that came out is the one I use all the time now she is a really nice lady and she went to Tufts so she is very smart. 

She examined him and said it didn't look good. At some point he had gotten and ulcer in his eye. She did some test and were were really unsure how deep it was at that point. But we talked about it and with his other eye having a tumor the chances of removing his eye and then having the tumor spread to his nasal system was very high. And I knew that would be incredibly painful for him and in that case I would just be prolonging his pain to have him with me longer and that is something I didn't want to put him through. 

We decided to bute him and give him some atibiotic topical cremes on his eye. I had to do one once a day and the other one twice a day. And made an apointment for her to check him in two days. 

He ended up getting better with the cremes even though he really didn't want me sticking him in the eye with stuff. When she came out again he was doing better so she took some blood from him and and spun it and I had to put the syrum in his eye. Well he REALLY didn't like that, but I forced him to do it anyways. Then we made an appointment for a week out at this point both myself and the vet were hopeful. 

But a day before the week was up I woke up again in the morning and went to feed him and again his face was covered in goop and I made a call the the vet again. She came out and examined him and saw that there was another ulcer spanning off of that one and the ulcer that was there the bloodlines were not getting to it and seemed to be reciding. She thought it was possible his tumor had already spread and was in that eye and blocking the good things in his body to reaching it.

So I had to make the hardest decision in my life. I decided to have my boy put to sleep, even now talking about it I get teary eyed. I started to cry and he let out a big sigh and put his head in my chest like he was saying, "it's ok mom, I'm ready to go."

So we said our good byes and the vet got him ready. I will never forget that seen and the sound he made if anyone has ever had to put a horse down they know what I am talking about. He went very easy though as if he was ready. He just sighed and fell over and then he was gone. I laid with him for a while after words. 

And now I am bawling... It still hurts everyday thinking about it and knowing he wasn't there. The first few weeks were really hard. I kept expecting to walk out the door and here him yelling at me to feed him, but it was silent. (My mini doesn't say much) And she was very lonely too she would just look out the gate at where we put him to sleep and was very depressed. I was really depressed I didn't want anything to do with anyone and I really didn't want horses anymore either. 

But Dixie kind of helped me through it. I started trick training her and then something awesome happened. I was out with her and she reached up and pulled my zipper down. She had never done anything like that before, but it was something that Gizmo had always done with me. So I knew he was there. 

So I began searching again for another horse that I could call my best bud and that is when I found Sonny, he looks nothing like him. But his attitude and temperment and his totally goofiness is so similiar I have even accidently called him Gizmo on more than one occasion. He needs a lot of TLC but he is only six and I hope I get to have him for a long time. Five years with my Gizmo was far to short. But someday I will see him again. 

I have attached some picture of my Gizmo. The one with me holding the baby was taken a few years ago, but that is the one I used for his headstone that I had made. And yes he is tattoed on my back. I got that the fallowing June after I got him. He will always have my back.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm so sorry. He was a lucky boy to be so loved & that you gave him the best gift ever, a loving goodbye.


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## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

Thank you. It was the toughest thing I have ever had to do but it was for the best for him.


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## Gizmo (Dec 19, 2010)

Thank you. It was the toughest thing I have ever had to do but it was for the best for him.


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## Spiritandjuniper4711 (Apr 12, 2014)

It seems like u had an amazing bond with this horse. I couldn't imagine what you are going through now. I get teary eyed at the thought of selling my boy and him going to a good home - well I guess it's close to the same thing - ur boy will be in a good home and feel better


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