Freeway

[Koolkat]

This is not my news, but I don't know if he is still "connected" to this forum so I thought I would link it, so many of his friends are still here. . .

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3689221 ... 998103465/

[awa]

Quelah does post here, but I haven't "seen" herin the past week or so.

Could you please give a description of the Facebook post for those of us who don't go there? Thanks.

[Tarlo Farm]

Click on Koolkat's link. Sad to lose "our" Freeway, but what a life finally well lived.

[Chancellor]

Unfortunately, Freeway had to be euthanized.

[PaulaO]

Godspeed Freeway. I remember when Q. brought him home. Seems like yesterday. Hugs to you, Sue.

[Rockabilly]

God Bless his sweet soul.

[hoopoe]

what a sad loss. I too followed the freeway saga and have always used it as an example of what I might face, someday, in giving a horse an upgrade. Very inspirational story

I too an not a Facebook member and cannot see the details of the news.

I hope Q drops in to accept our condolences

[Koolkat]

Freeway had a fast growing tumor in his jawbone which was spreading to the soft tissue.

He was spared ever relearning what it means to suffer.

I'm sure Quelah will come and share their story and hopefully some of those beautiful pictures of a fat, sassy guy of a horse.

[Rockabilly]

He was spared ever relearning what it means to suffer.
.

Yes. Yes he was. I wish I were as eloquent with words.

[Rhianon]

Ah, no.

[angela9823]

Koolkat expressed it so well. Hugs to Quelah and Freeway's buddies!

[digihorse]

Aw... Hugs to Quelah. Freeway was lucky to land with someone who could be strong enough to do the right thing when the time came

[Pippigirl]

Aw... Hugs to Quelah. Freeway was lucky to land with someone who could be strong enough to do the right thing when the time came

Yes, agreed. Godspeed Freeway...a sad loss for his buddies and Quelah

[SandTikiFire]

Godspeed, Freeway. I am sure that you had plenty of equine souls to meet you on the other side!

[fergusnc]

Really no words for this one. Just

[KathyK]

Rest in peace, Freeway. Hugs to you, Quelah.

[bascar]

Damn.

Condolences, Q, and thanks for being a stand-up gal for Freeway.

[Rockabilly]

You know, sometimes you hear that one person can't make a difference. Well, one person not only made a difference in Freeway's life, but gave Freeway the life of a champion which he was. When Quelah has time to reflect on this journey with Freeway she may see it as her finest moment in life.

[stella]

I'll miss him. Here I am again, crying for the loss of a horse that I never met. Thanks for doing the amazing thing Quelah.

[TeresaB]

So sorry to hear that. What an incredible life Q gave to him. I loved reading her stories. Condolences and RIP Freeway.

[awa]

What a great life you gave him, Quelah. It was such an inspiration to read your wonderful stories of Freeway. you made us all part of his life and yours. Thank you and hugs.

[FlyingLily]

Is that Freeway in the photo up top? Looks just like one of his photos on her page.

He was so lucky she found him - an amazing story overall.

[Larbear]

Godspeed Freeway...he was lucky to land with Quelah. What a sad loss

[M&M]

Flying Lily, I do believe that is Freeway up top. Chancellor made him be DDBB horse of the month. Very fitting tribute. He was one of the handful of horses from UDBB's hall of fame, for sure.

[StraightForward]

This is the end of an era. What a wonderful second chance Freeway was given so randomly to live out his days in comfort at chez Quelah.

[Quelah]

Thank you all for your condolences, they mean a lot, the internet UDBB community really was his family. It's still sad and far too quiet in my barn, I apologize for not posting on this thread sooner. I'm cutting and pasting the post I did on the FB UDBB group for those who are not on FB. Hey, I still have an aol email address, I don't judge

We had our last ride a few days before we said goodbye. It was very short, very short, in light of "I know something is wrong but I don't know what" it was really just a nod to what past rides have been. Freeway was completely in charge, and there were cows, I thought both of those things were appropriate given past history with him. I wanted to take him out to see the cows one last time, they had switched from cow/calf on our side of the ranch, to the winter yearling steers, and he hadn't seen them yet. By all appearances I could discern, his jaw wasn't bothering him, he was eating as well as ever, and still enthusiastically biting Phantom on the ass to herd him around the pasture. But I did know that he did have a tumor in his lower jaw, so I didn't think putting a bit in his mouth was wise, and same to a bosal, and I hadn't actually put a halter on him since we'd gotten the X-rays, just taking him in and out from stall to pasture and back, I'd just been putting a lead rope around his neck and leading Freeway in one hand and Phantom in the other, as I always have done.

Well there was that period when Phantom, Freeway, and Prada were going in and out together when I would have Prada in one had, Phantom in the other, and Freeway's lead rope tied around Phantom's neck, and that worked out just fine.

So I thought well, I probably know Freeway as well as any horse I've ever had, save Quelah herself, and I'd do this with her in the same situation, so I saddled him up and put the lead rope around his neck and off we went. I figured if we could manage opening and closing the 16' powder river gate that leads on to the ranch next door, we'd probably be ok. The only time Freeway ever gave me any trouble on the trail EVER was closing that gate…on the way out. He didn't want to stop and close the gate you see, he wanted to keep going. On the way home, no problem, but on the way out, he wanted to go, and see, and do. The 3 day eventing people have a great way of describing a horse like that, "a horse that wants to see what's around the corner". That was Freeway. I always thought if he was ever out on weed patrol and found that gate open, he would probably go quite a ways before he thought to come back to the herd.

He did what he always did, walked up the road through the property, hung a right around the manure pile, and then he sort of runs off with you at a jog. Like you CAN bring him back to a walk, but you're going to have to make an issue of it. But I did bring him back, cause I wanted to make sure this rope around his neck thing was actually going to work while we where, you know, still behind a fence, on five acres, before we went through the gate and had 3,000 acres to discover we had a major communication failure. We made it to the gate, and through the gate, and closed the gate, without really anymore faffing about than usual, and we headed off to see what was around the corner.

And that's just what we did. It's about 200 yards to the break between two hills (on the left side for whatever that matters). That break in the hills opens up to the valley that's over the ridge behind my house, it's, I dunno, probably a couple hundred acres. In the middle of the valley, there's a low spot (predictably) and so there's a cow pond which is all tuled up, meaning it's grown in with tule weeds. Or maybe it's cattails, I'm not really sure, it could be either. The primary difference being that you can (so they say) eat new green cattails by boiling them and buttering them and eating them like corn on the cob. Tule weeds are more just for making reed canoes out of. This is just what I've been told, I have no experience with either use. Either way, I don't usually get too close to tuled up ponds because what they DO do is provide tremendous cover for wildlife and if you get really close to them something always seems to come exploding out of them at your approach.

So we just went that 200 yards from the gate to the gap in the hills, and we stood there looking out across the valley. There were probably 70 or 80 steers spread out. They're almost all black Angus now. When Freeway first came, they were black baldies (Angus x Hereford I think) then Charolais crosses, and now they're all solid black. He's gotten to watch the seasons and the cows change for 8 happy years. He looked across the valley to the single track we usually take up on our short loop and started to step off that direction and I said, no, not this time, and we turned around and took our 5 minute walk home and when we got back I pulled the saddle off for what I suspected but didn't know for sure would be the last time.

Below is the FB post, I'll try to attach the pictures that went with it.

Sad news this New Year's Eve. 8 years and two days after we first said hello to Freeway, we said goodbye. He had developed a lump on his lower jaw last month, we took X-rays, it was determined to be a tumor of unknown origin in the bone. He was fat slick and happy, so watch and wait we decided. But it didn't wait. It started changing, and changing quickly. His demeanor and appetite did not change, but I decided to take him to see his good friends at UC Davis for loftier opinions and better radiographs.
As Gibbs always says, trust your gut, and mine was right. The tumor had escaped its skeletal bonds and was moving into the soft tissue. While he was all kinds of comfortable, the rapid changes on the radiographs in 20 days time said that he wouldn't be comfortable for long, and there was no cure. So I made the only choice I could, and there really was no other choice to be made. I always say if you wait until they've stopped eating you've waited too damned long and in this I had to listen to my own advice.
The Chief of Staff himself held the rope when they put him down, probably didn't matter to Freeway but it meant a lot to me. They'll determine exactly what kind of tumor it was during the post. He always was the best teaching case, and I felt it only fair to the school that did so much to save him to let them get one last lesson from him.
Freeway wanted me to tell you all (because you know he *always* had something to say) Happy New Year and to include the silly hats pic from his first anniversary here, and to include pics of him running amuck in the tall grass and to remember him that way. He also said to include the pic of him grazing at the end, the vets were standing by when I took it, because he wanted you to know that even thought it's not a slick and shiny photo because his winter clip is growing out and the day was overcast, he was happy and eating everything in sight (comments were made about the winter lawn being lacking) right up until the end. He ALSO wanted me to tell you (here he's bragging really) that his somewhere in his late 20's 15.2 hand self strolled across the scales yesterday and rang the bell at 1307 lbs. "Solid muscle baby, solid muscle" he said. HIs message to you all is to remember that old is no excuse for skinny.
So Freeway galloped on across the bridge, he's joined the bay brigade with Billy and Foxy, I can only imagine the shenanigans those three are getting into. I do know that my barn was far, far too quiet this morning. You all were his family too and we thank you for that. Godspeed Freeway, you truly were my diamond in the mud.

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[Quelah]

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[Rhianon]

Every creature should be so well loved and so well cared for.

[Flight]

Sorry for your loss and thankyou for sharing your story.

[Kyra's Mom]

{{{HUGS}}}
Thank you for being a wonderful steward for him for the last 8 years and 2 days. I remember when you got him and the horrid condition he was in. He certainly had no more to worry about for the remainder of his days.

Susan

[amygdala]

thank you, quelah, for what you did with freeway, and for sharing it with us. (((hugs)))

[Wicky]

thank you

[Rosie B]

Thank-you Quelah

[demi]

Another thank you, Quelah. Actually, another 8 thanks-yous from all my animals! I feel good every time I see Freeway's "horse of the month" pic. Such a happy looking boy galloping in the yellow flowers.

[WheresMyWhite]

Godspeed Freeway. Thank you Quelah for loving him as long as you shared your life with him and making the tough decision because it was right for him...

sniff...

[fergusnc]

Tears this second time around as well. I cried for you when I first heard the news of Your Boy passing, and I am crying again picturing how it must have felt for you to tell him "no, not this time" and turning him back around. My heart breaks for you, as I know Freeway is at peace but it can be so hard on those who make these decisions.
When Fergus was diagnosed with EPM for the 4th time, and I was broken as we started treatment yet again, one of our UDBB family responded that if love could make him better, Fergus would be dancing. I feel that way about you and Freeway...

[M&M]

Quelah, I send you my sincere and deep condolences. I also respect the way you handled the end of his life, although I'm not surprised. I know that you have a strong commitment to being fair and faithful to animals at the end of their lives.

I am so very, very grateful for Freeway's sake and yours, that between good luck and good stewardship, he got to go not knowing that he was in trouble. My heart always aches so for those who have a catastrophic injury, and are deprived of the chance at a peaceful exit. Freeway earned his peaceful exit the hard way, but I doubt he had too many memories of his bad times by the time he left.

[Tuddy]

Sorry to hear about your loss. He sounds like he had a wonderful life with you.

[awa]

Thank you for sharing Freeway's story to the very end. It makes me cry and makes me happy.

[chantal]

Thank you for sharing Freeway's story to the very end. It makes me cry and makes me happy.

This. Crying again. I love the pic in the banner. Beautiful boy, showing how much he was loved.

[JanD]

Just found this thread and am so sorry to hear the end of Freeway's story. My condolences to Quelah and all who loved him!

[Figgy]

Quelah, what a beautiful story and you did the right thing by him. I admire you for that.