Shalom, Sabbath
On November 18, Mom called me in France and left a voicemail. Sabbath, the gorgeous bay mare that had bred to Sirdar (Isis’ sire), died. I’ve included Mom’s email below. Sabbath was by Ibn Amoura, a gorgeous stallion that I had wanted desperately to breed Isis too. I made the decision not to breed Isis because of her insulin resistance. Mom and I had worked out a deal: I took Rajiyyah, worked with her, and sent her back to Mom. In exchange, Mom bred Sabbath to Sirdar. Sabbath was six months in foal with a colt.
I’m very sorry to report that Sabbath was put down this morning.
She colicked mildly–it seemed–last night. The vet came out, stayed quite a while to monitor her after treating and palpating. She had many normal signs, normal manure, a desire to eat. I checked on her during the night. At 6:30 this morning, Sabbath’s blanket was soaked through with sweat. We took her to the Marion duPont Scott Equine Center in Leesburg, but we couldn’t get her off the trailer. The vet there said she was shocky and would probably not make it through anesthesia, let alone surgery. A few minutes later, Sabbath lost focus, her eye began to flicker. The vet said she was dying. The most humane thing to do was to put her down to stop the pain. They will do a necropsy this morning to find out why Sabbath died, but they suspect a rupture.
It’s very, very sad to lose this wonderful mare. It’s very sad to know she was carrying a 6-month old fetus by Sirdar–Kim’s long-awaited foal. I’m glad we still have Sabbath’s 2006 daughter Kasane.
We will miss Sabbath tremendously.
Love,
Mom
Oh, K – I’m so sorry to hear this.
Thank you. I got Mom’s message when I was in France. I was in Uxeau (near Mont Dardon) at the time. Mont Dardon has an interesting site: a Gallo-Roman temple and a later medieval Church that had a graveyard dedicated to both fetuses and children up to the age of four. In Sabbath’s and the foal’s memory, I left a rose with a rose bud on the site of the temple. (From Roman literature, we know that roses are sacred to Epona.)
I saved Mom’s voicemail on my phone and was listening to new messages last night. That is what prompted me to post this. Mom was so incredibly upset.