Goodbye to Daisy
Passed away 5/26/25
https://www.thegoldencarrot.org/meet-the-horses/meet-the-horses.html?horse=11&action=detail
Last week, Daisy climbed to the top of our hill, and maybe it was the strain of that effort, which she had avoided for some weeks, or maybe she knew she was dying and wanted the best view. I found her there. Gone.
Daisy came here in 2010. She’d been seized by Animal Services from a home where even the pigs had starved to death. They estimated her to be 30, but Dr. Zadick felt more like 25-27. She is absolutely the oldest horse I’ve ever cared for, as that would make her around 40 years old on her death.
She was thin on arrival, and withdrawn. But IMMEDIATELY became friends with various horses. That never ceased. She was easily the most loved horse here. Everyone liked her. In the final months, she became seriously attracted to Laddie, our lead gelding, and he took very good care of her. The opposite was true with Star, who loved Daisy the minute she arrived, as though Daisy were the mom Star had never had; but in her last months, Star was almost violent toward Daisy in their stalls. Since Star is also one of Laddie’s Ladies, I guess jealousy might have been a factor. And Daisy never reacted at Stars snake face, or incessant kicking of the fence between them. Star was her daughter. And they were always in close proximity to each other.
But who wouldn’t love Daisy? Easy keeper. Darling to handle on the ground. Figured out the routine in record time – with her history Food was always a priority. Pitch black satin coat, white blaze and socks, and one eye partially blue. And just as cuddly as can be. One of my fellow rescuers fell for Daisy the one time they met – hardly seemed to want to leave her! She was calm, and serene, and placid, geeze what other terms are there to describe the peaceful nature of this kind mare? Of course, you can make a case that a mare of her age was likely to be mellow. But it really seemed to come from within, her nature.
I never did figure out if she’d ever been trained to ride. I thought about it, but she was the den mother to the herd, and old enough I didn’t feel it was necessary to ask any more of her. She was physically sound – just needed trims every 6 weeks as she grew a lot of toe. And I bet she’d have been a sweet ride. But …. TGC is about letting them have what THEY want, not discovering what they can do for us. After coming close to starving, and being so happy mothering the horses here, that’s all she had to do.
In her final weeks, she and Tolly seemed to be buddies. At first, Tolly seemed ok. But twice in this week after Daisy’s departure, Tolly has asked to have dinner in Paige’s old stall. I got some help yesterday to rebuild that stall (torn apart first by Paige casting, and then by extricating her remains) and last night, Tolly spent the night in there. But overall, the whole herd has been having a sad week, unusually sedate, with Boo and Pepe going a little off their feed (they are back to normal now). The herd has lost three well regarded mares in these short weeks, and they are feeling it. Daisy’s lovely spirit is a dark shadow where her black coat used to run. I keep looking for her, and every intense shadow might be her, and Cole at a distance makes my heart stop with the same black coat, white blaze (they really don’t look at all alike, but the color makes my eyes blur) and passing her empty stall is a great ache in my heart, and I believe in their hearts as well. Fifteen years is a long time to love someone. I feel like I’ll always love her. We all miss her.