Vernec

Vernec, June 10, 2019
It’s raining everywhere…and even more so in our hearts.
Whit Monday will have been marked by the sudden disappearance of our sweet Vernec.
Friday, a wound on the elbow following a kick, wound disinfected, slightly swollen, Vernec does not limp.

Saturday, swelling reduced, wound cleaned, disinfected again, Vernec still not limping.
Sunday, short walk, Vernec happy and normal.
Monday morning, off to pasture, all normal. Back from the meadow at 1.30pm, Vernec can’t put his leg down, fever 39.
The vets were unreachable on this bank holiday, so we injected him with a strong IV painkiller and loaded him up for the clinic. 45 minutes later, Vernec is on site, again relieved by injection while X-rays are taken.
The vet managed to get some good shots of this hard-to-reach spot, and the verdict was in: fracture of the lateral condyle of the humerus, no operation possible. We were stunned by the verdict and the fatal outcome. The painkiller no longer worked, Vernec was at his worst… we had to react very quickly… Shocked, we watched this gentle horse with an extraordinary heart fall asleep.
3 vets reassured us that we hadn’t missed anything, but unfortunately it was bad luck…that it happened, a crack that wouldn’t have been visible on the X-ray, then the bone became brittle and broke…
A particularly painful story for the whole team and his foster family.
After being used as a breeding stallion and endurance horse, Vernec was sold to find himself abandoned alone in a meadow, under food Sequestered in 2015, Vernec joined the Refuge and was then adopted. Vernec has rediscovered the joys of being a human and a leisure horse, with a life among fellow humans. Extremely kind, Vernec is appreciated by everyone, horses and humans alike.
But unfortunately, life in a herd also means the risk of getting into mischief, and this gentle horse has paid a high price….
Vernec, a.k.a. Vouls, went too quickly, and in conditions that have left a terrible mark. It will take time for us to accept this inevitability…Hi Petit Vernec…a big void ….a big miss is felt…we already saw you among our herd of retirees….but life decided otherwise…Bonne route l’Ami….you will be sorely missed…