We made a 800-mile trip to pick up a pregnant PMU mare (GYPSY) which I planned on keeping from the very first moment I heard about her.... Without ever seeing a photo, I committed to taking her in and keeping her and her foal. We picked them (Gypsy and another horse) up on Saturday, stopped 12-14 times on the way back to check on them and let them rest, and we finally arrived home at 4:30 am. Gypsy stepped off the trailer, followed me into the stall, started eating and drinking, and not even 20 minutes later she passed away.... My husband and me are VERY, VERY angry, sad and just plain devastated. I didn't know we could cry so darrn much over a horse that we only knew for about 10 hours and that didn't have much of a chance anyway.... Gypsy was a PMU draft-mare, about 14-16 years old, approx. 300-400 lbs underweight, was lame with possibly an abscess in her hoof, has probably never been vaccinated or wormed, and was due to foal in only a few weeks. We are not exactly sure why she died, but due to her condition there were definitely multiple things "wrong" with her that could have caused her death. At pick-up we didn't even know if she could be saved at all, but I knew I had to take her home and try, but we lost before we even had a chance to fight.... We only knew Gypsy for about 10 hours, but that doesn't make the pain any less intense. This changed our lives, and I'm unable to explain in what way. Gypsy and her unborn foal were OUR horses, and I so hope that she knew that she was finally home and felt that we loved her and her baby.... She passed away in our presence, in a clean, dry and warm stall, on a bed of fresh shavings, after eating some hay and drinking clean water.... There was no chance to save Gypsy's unborn foal. I've never felt so power-less in my whole life. I always knew something like that could happen anytime, but I was NOT prepared for how hard and devastating it would be. For some reason, my husband and I believe that Gypsy's unborn foal was a boy and we named him "King". Gypsy and King are buried here on our property and will always be surrounded by us and many other horses who were able to get a 2nd chance....
