Zippos Final Feature "Suzy" 1995 Appaloosa mare 14.2 hands

RIP SUZY We lost Suzy on Dec 31, 2009 to EPM. A couple weeks before Sydney was riding her no problem. The day after Christmas I noticed she was stiff in the rear which wasn't unusual for her since she was pretty arthritic. The next day she was more stiff and it first appeared to be a locked stifle so I called the chiropractor to come work on her. He told me that it appeared to be more bilateral so was likely neurological and probably EPM. The vet was out of town that day so she came out the following day. We tried doing IV fluids with IV DMSO to help with the swelling around the spine but she progressed downhill very rapidly. She was having trouble getting up when laying down. By Wednesday she was laying down more then standing up. When she did get up it was very hard. Sometimes just turning the wrong way was enough to knock her off balance and she would fall. I never could get her to walk far enough to go in the garage where I could confine her so she was in my front yard through all of this. Thursday was cold and raining so everything was slick. She was never able to stand up again. All day & all night Thursday were spent just keeping her warm and fed/watered. Through all of this she was mentally all there. She would nicker to me to bring her food/water. Watching her trying to stand over and over was heartbreaking. She could sit up like a dog but obviously had no use of her back legs. We did one more bag of fluids and DMSO plus the EPM meds praying they would kick in before she killed herself falling over constantly. I checked on her at 5am Friday morning and when I went back out at 8am Suzy had tried to stand but fell onto some logs in the woods. She had managed to get herself from the front yard into the woods. At that point I realize she had cut her front leg badly falling over a log or something in the woods. I immediately called the vet to put her to sleep. It was so hard to let her go. Sydney and I spent her last hour just petting her and feeding her a bag of carrots. I begged Suzy to just rest and to try to stop getting up because she was only hurting herself more. Unfortunately because her mind was clear it was instinct for her to try and stand. Waiting the hour for the vet felt like an eternity. Suzy fought to live to the very end. In the end though I had to make that choice for her. The day I bought her I had told her that she would live with us until the day she died. I just had no idea that the end would be so heartbreaking. Bye, Suzy .. run free and pain free with Sassy and Butterfly! We will never forget you.

The last pictures that I took of Suzy & Sydney. This was July 2009.

We knew the time would come that Sydney outgrew Butterfly in size and ability. It isn't until recently that we realized Butterfly was probably in her mid 20's. Although we could have never asked for a better pony we decided it was time to start looking for a replacement for Butterfly. The first time I saw Suzy on the Internet I loved her and knew she would be perfect but she was priced about $7000 out of our price range. Disappointed that she was out of reach I continue for 2 months looking for just the right pony that didn't cost me more then my car or house. Occasionally I would go back and look at Suzy's ad to see if she was still for sale. I decided to just email the owners for kicks.. I guess I was just glutton for punishment. Sure enough talking to the owners made me want her even more. Another several weeks went by and I looked at the ad again. This time they had dropped the price $5000 lower. Awesome price but still about $2000 out of our range. SO I emailed the owners again, told them about Sydney and Butterfly and what my intentions were for a new pony. They were so happy for the life that Suzy would live that they dropped the price yet another $1500 and we bought her. Suzy has turned out to be everything we had hoped for and more. She is the perfect pony for Sydney. She is so well trained that I even have a hard time riding her because it has been so long since I have ridden such a well trained horse. She packs Sydney around the ring in perfect form even when Sydney makes a mistake. It was hard for Sydney to adjust to such a well trained horse after riding Butterfly  and at first she was unsure of Suzy. Since having Suzy though Sydney has fallen in love and rides her often. Suzy will retire with us. Once Sydney outgrows her then she will remain as my personal riding horse. She will live out her many, many more years as a loved member of our herd.

Sydney & Suzy's first show together. Fall 2006 Champion & Reserve Champion in their 2 divisions.

BACK TO MAIN MENU