For those of you that asked

I had not wanted to post the details but several of you have asked.....and so here is my graphic explanation and I hope it will help you to understand why Sully was euthanized.

Sully had complications of the flu...systemic infection secondary to flu. Perhaps an internal abcess on his lungs or other vital organs which burst. His illness began with a simple flu.......but one that hung on and on....thirty days later we thought he was well again, clean nose, no temperature...we waited another few weeks and then put him back to work......two days into work, he got a snotty nose again and a temp....so we put him back on meds and turned him out. He was to be turned out until October, so that this time he could really rest and get well......however, on Monday of this week, the leg swelling started....we assumed he has scratches, but the Jones farm has no mud and pristine pastures, so it seemed odd.....his legs were washed, cold hosed and Panalog'd.........the the coughing came on and even with medication, things got worse...the swelling got huge to where Sully had a hard time walking. He was administered meds and on Wed, we thought he was better but by Thursday he was much worse.
The decision was made to euthanize him after his coughing could not be quieted and the skin on his legs split due to extreme swelling. I could not/would not ask him to go on in that condition. He was miserable and suffering.

These decisions are hard to make and hard to live with. You never feel good about them....you always wish there was something else you had done, could have done or could have done differently. It is a crap shoot with horses when they are ill.....you do this, you do that, you consult this vet and that vet......but in the end, your gut tells you what to do.

It is easy to judge me I suppose, but I hope you will judge me kindly.... I loved Sully......... Pony UP, as well as me personally, spent thousands of dollars on his care and training in the last year. I point that out, because I don't think people realize some of the costs in the rehab and retraining of our horses. When there is no Pony Up money, I pay the bills. I am not complaining.......I am passionate about what I do and I try to do it right. Sully did not fall through the cracks or become unwanted. We were planning on bringing him home at the end of the month, to finish getting well at the Pony Up farm....we just couldn't bring him home with any obvious flu.....we didn't want to spread it to our other horses. Sully had the best of care right up to the end.