Rest In Peace Bailey of Tir Na nOg

This photo was taken in July. Bailey was out, as usual, and Sean was sitting on his tramp pulling grasses and enjoying the sunshine. Bailey was enjoying getting treats from Sean too.

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009, our beloved Bailey was humanely put down by our vet. We guessed that he was around 34 years old. We had had him since Dec 1999. Bailey was our first horse and although Sean only rode him a couple of times, Bailey brought happiness to us in many ways. He taught me how to care for a horse. He taught me how smart horses are. He was the horse you could put anyone on, especially kids. He beamed with any attention given him, and he got lots of attention with us - physically with his care, mentally with the tricks I taught him, and emotionally with being engaged and interacted with on a daily basis for all of those 10 years. Sean was safe around him, and Bailey loved getting treats from Sean.

But recently, Bailey had made it clear that he was plum tuckered out. Our cold weather was incredibly hard on him. He could hardly walk, his coat was thin, and he had stopped enjoying his huge morning tub of senior feed and beet pulp. He had begun leaving almost all of his hay. His daily naps had become longer and longer. While he did go out into the pasture every day, the trip out and back took him a long time. It was my honor to listen to him and help him when he needed it, to find a painless peace. And so, sadly, we have had to say goodbye to our Bailey. He is buried on our property.

I remember the day Bailey arrived at the boarding barn in Jan of 2000. I hadn't been able to sleep for 3 weeks since I found him! I was SO excited! I had wanted a horse since I was 6 when my family moved away from our place in Michigan where we had our own horse. So Bailey was home! I was beside myself! My friend Vicki, who trailered him for me, looked him over once he was in his corral. She noticed his jaw was locked. She made a phone call and within 2 days an equine dentist came out, floated his teeth, and found a huge long tooth very far back in his head which had grown so far down that Bailey could not close his mouth without cutting his jaw. Horses need to chew their food by grinding their jaws together. And because horses' teeth keep growing their whole life, those teeth need to be filed down, or "floated" on a regular basis. The dentist said there was no evidence that Bailey's teeth had ever been floated! This tooth had caused his jaw to be cut and consequently, he couldn't close his mouth to chew. It took about 2 weeks for his jaw to heal. The amount of food he ate was cut down nearly in half and he still gained weight and began to utilize all the nutrition he was eating. He had been slowly starving to death because of those teeth. And he was at least 20 years old. When I had the vet come out 2 weeks later, he pronounced his opinion that Bailey was probably more like 24 years old.

I'll write some Bailey stories because he sure has been inspirational all these years. We miss you, Bailey!
Nancy