My parents had one horse who lived to be 43 before he committed suicide. He was still in his prime when we first got him. Moon Ace was a retired race horse. He was actually very gentle and not high strung like many other race horses. He got loved by three generations of kids, first my brother and sisters and then our children and then our children’s children.
When a horse reaches 40 years they look pretty awful compared to a young horse. People were constantly calling and reporting us for animal cruelty. He had no teeth left by the time he reached 40 and he had to be fed special senior horse chow. He didn’t like the senior horse chow very much and was constantly trying to get to the other horses’ grain. One day he somehow got into another horse’s stall and he ate a big portion of grain.
It became impacted in his stomach and intestines and by the time we figured out what was wrong with him it was too late. He was a fragile old soul and it killed him. It was a very sad day, but he had lost his long time companion Morning Star the year before who had lived with him for thirty years. We like to think that the two of them are running together in green pastures in horsey heaven.
Sounds to me like a guy who’s lived a great life, but one day looks down at the tofu the doctor wants him to eat and says “The heck with it!” and goes to the steak house.
Good post