Horses In Transition: A Call to Action
09. Nov, 2009 
19 Comments
Here in Santa Fe, NM at the Tellington TTouch CELLebration I’ve been privileged to be present at a number of awe-inspiring presentations highlighting the variety of applications of Tellington TTouch in therapeutic settings around the world.
Four action-packed days of interactive animal activities and multi-media presentations have my head spinning with new ideas. Luckily, there has been time to squeeze in some socializing with many folks I’ve previously known only via teleconference and email, and to enjoy the wonders of Santa Fe, NM.
Over the next few weeks I hope to share with you the most striking examples of the use of touch and Tellington TTouch in therapeutic community service. Needless to say, horses will figure prominently.
Ella Bittel, DVM, of Spirits in Transition gave one of the most powerful presentations this week. A holistic veterinarian born and educated in Germany, Ella works in many holistic modalities including veterinary acupuncture and chiropractic, cranio-sacral work, homeopathy, TTOUCH and energy medicine techniques.
But when Ella’s beloved dog Momo neared the end of her life, Ella realized that neither traditional veterinary training nor complementary veterinary education prepares a vet to support an animal in dying naturally.
Particularly in the Western world, where we have almost a taboo against aging and dying, the modern trend of the avoidance of death and all its attendant aspects leaves us helpless at a time when we most need support: when our loved ones are dying. Many argue that this lack of preparation and support can contribute to the tendency to euthanize animals when it may be unnecessary. This in turn may cause a host of traumatic feelings which can follow us for quite a long time. It is Ella’s assertion that we often (but not always) euthanize our animals unnecessarily early in the dying process for many reasons, among which are:
1) unspoken Western taboos against aging and dying, which promote ignorance of and anguish over the process of dying
2) misinterpretation of the physiological signs of the process of dying, which can cause us to rush to euthanize rather than to treat palliatively, allowing an animal to die peacefully in its own way, and
3) our feelings of helplessness and pain and loss can cause us to overlook our animals’ great will to continue the dying process naturally as a part of their life cycle.
Ella put it so beautifully when she said,
Just like birth, the dying process is of inherent value and an important part of an individual’s journey
and that we and our animals would benefit from our treating the process as a natural part of life. Her experiences with Momo led Ella to specialize in animal hospice care, creating weekend seminars and online classes for those interested in alternatives to euthanasia in the form of palliative end-of-life care for their animal companions.
Ella’s vision is for a nation- and worldwide support network of resources for people who are caring caring for a dying animal. You can visit Ella’s site to learn more about her passion for hospice care for animal loved ones at Spirits in Transition.
Sunny and Sandy
As I often find myself saying here, so what does this have to do with horses?
This is a request, a call to action if you will. I need information. Ella’s work and research has primarily been with companion animals. Yet every day horse lovers are faced with the same decisions companion animal owners face: how should I allow my animal to die?
My question to you is this:
In your history as a horse owner, have you ever considered euthanizing or been advised by a veterinarian to euthanize a horse but chosen not to do so, only to have that horse turn around, live for any period of time, and die naturally* and peacefully?
If you have experienced this, please either respond here or email me privately. The process of gathering data on this topic is made difficult by the delicate nature of the subject. I would be so grateful to anyone willing to share their story.
As I leave this subject for now, I’d like to point out to you an article, Leaving this Life, in Rhythm with Nature, written by Ella about the natural death of a horse I knew, Sunny, loved by Sandy Rakowitz of One Heart Healing Center in Charlottesville, VA.
* A natural death is a death that results from a natural disease process, one that entails neither needless pain nor extraneous human intervention beyond palliative care.
© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal
website
While I have had that experience with dogs, I have never had it with horses. All of the horses that we were recommended to euthanize, we did it – mostly due to irreparable leg injuries. The only other horse we euthanized was my old mare, she was 32 and age had taken its toll on her. She was blind, crippled, skinny, and then foundered. I made the choice to not let her suffer. I have always been a fighter with my animals – if it is at all within my means or ability to make their time comfortable or cure what ails them, I will do it. But I do feel that there is a place for euthanasia, and I won’t let one of my animals suffer needlessly, if there is no way to restore them to a comfortable state of being. Personally, I wish that I had that option for myself.
Enlightened Horsemanship, loved your very wise words “We don’t always get the best advice from traditional vets, but we don’t question it because we seek release from our own suffering.”
wow… deeply moving, i had to euthanize my mare when she had both front legs broken when a friend took her for a ride, he was untrained and went too fast through a wooded area. tried to jump a short gap that he didnt see. she would never walk again and i didnt want her to suffer. its a horrible, horrible experience. i look forward to reading more about your philosophies
Kim,
You have the poem I submitted to your verse day… that tells a story of my horse Remington and me, one troubled night. THe poem is a completely true narrative — not a fictionalized or metaphoric one.
I believe that animals have a special gift in teaching us about living, by the way they go about dying. This would be true of people, too, if we stayed in the moment with the process, rather than being afraid of the unknown.
We have had many cats and dogs gone ancient and grown wise. I am always amazed by how their character stays coherent while their bodies waste away. I have stories to tell. But not the time to write them.
Also, however, there were the young ones, with especially debilitating disease, accompanied by suffering that could not be alleviated. Kidney failure is awful to watch, and takes a long LONG time to make its course. Anything that obstructs breathing is upsetting and causes panic. These are reasons we have euthanized a few.
Horses are a special case. We have been taught for some reason, that their suffering is less acceptable than a cats or dogs. We don’t euthanize our pets for lameness, arthritis, and “lack of useful work.” Somehow the “justification” of this with respect to horses has turned into a kind of false empathy. That old horse Remington (in the poem) continues to teach and amaze us to this very day.
However, I do understand that some people do not have the economic resources to keep their older horses comfortable. This should be a BIG CAVEAT when someone considers buying a horse– lets say a thoroughbbred off the track– for $ 600 – $ 800 because that’s “all” one can afford.
Thanks for asking the question. I am sure you have touched a lot of people — who like me, may not have the time or wherwithall to comment in detail as they might like to share more.
Also, this video on my blog I believe speaks to this issue
http://alderlore.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/remingtons-healing-session/
…
Interesting to note, that Remington has been “down” now for two days with ulcer pain — awaiting the arrival of gastroguard — which alleviates/ heals his ulcer but is terribly expensive. I might take some short video of him for this discussion — if I have a chance and he seems in the mood to “teach.”
Bonnie
This is an interesting discussion. What I tend to see *more* often than those who euthanize too soon, is those who don’t want to euthanize at all, no matter what. But perhaps for the same “fear of death” you are describing. That “fear of the dying process” can mean a) you euthanize too soon, because you don’t want to watch the slow death or b) you don’t euthanize at all, because you don’t want to see death at all, and certainly don’t want it to be “your fault”. If the animal dies “by itself” then it’s not your fault, right? And if you just wait long enough, they will die “by themselves”.
So the same dread can lead to two different approaches, depending on the person’s outlook on things.
Remington is fine. Running with the young’uns like there is no tomorrow. (maybe there is no tomorrow?)
Bonnie
Michelle
Of course there is a place for euthanasia. Ella most emphatically does not want to communicate to the contrary. I appreciate that you do so much to make your animals comfortable.
I am struggling with a past decision to euthanize a dog prematurely. I now realize after being educated by Ella that I could have given him perhaps many more happy years with us NOT suffering if only I’d been able to face his suffering in that moment with more mindfulness and the awareness that it was truly transitory. We don’t always get the best advice from traditional vets, but we don’t question it because we seek release from our own suffering. Such selfishness leads us to do things we regret. I ask my dog’s forgiveness, and I hope he understands.
I also hope I am able to gather horse stories for Ella and that she can extract useful data from the kind folks willing to share them.
Thanks for sharing!
Eleanor
What a delight to “meet” you. Your site, your book and your blog are wonderful. I can’t wait to delve in in more detail. Readers, take note: this is a good one!
Hi Tom
I’m so sorry to hear your story. How awful for your mare. You truly had no choice, did you? It’s important to note that the philosophies I write about here are not my own, but those of Ella Bittel and the animal hospice movement. Though I share them, I’m writing about it here to publicize her work, which I think is important because we all need to be aware of other possibilities to euthanizing our animals when there are actually alternatives. Sometimes, compassion mandates euthanasia, and sometimes our fear of our own pain gets in the way of doing the right thing. Who knows where to draw the line? It’s an interesting topic, and I look forward to hearing what people have to say.
I found your blog to be very interesting. Particularly the post about horses in the Bible and the Koran.
OH! This is Bonnie from Alderlore, BTW. I am at work, and I now run a blog here at wordpress– didn’t see that I was logged in as kentgreenhouse.
Funny.
Bonnie
Bonnie
Do you have a new blog? I noticed the new setup for your Alderlore site and LOVE it.
I remember your poem well. If you have time, can you repost it here in the comments? I am traveling and can’t find it because I’m lucky to hang on to my boarding passes and my purse, much less a post from the old days.
You are so right to remind folks that enthusiasm plus a “good deal” on an OTTB has repercussions far down the line in time that they may not foresee. I wonder if we feel horses are a special case because their care is so much more expensive in terms of money, time and real estate?
Regrets are much harder to deal with after the fact–I know this from personal experience with my beloved dog Patrick, about whom I may find the courage to write later, in spite of the fact that he was not a horse.
From my personal experience with kidney disease in human children, I know in my heart that if any animal who owns me ever has a kidney problem, I will choose euthanasia as soon as serious illness sets in. It is not living at all, but suffering in inconceivable ways. Perhaps I am revealing my own unwillingness to face with awareness my fear of suffering on behalf of a loved one, bringing in my own baggage, but so be it.
Ok here it is. I would GREATLY appreciate questions.
A Poem with a Happy Ending
For Spider Peg
I
They say you’re in some kind of trouble.
Now, I know for a fact
There are two kinds of trouble.
Good kinds, and bad ones.
But I never developed the knack
Of telling for sure
The difference.
I am the kind
When it comes,
Or calls… sometimes you get “the call”
To go there, in a rushing sort of way
To see what the trouble is,
That’s got me out of bed again
(Cause trouble comes mostly then.)
In my neck of the woods
Trouble usually means
A dog fight or a cat spat
A coyote (or poacher)
Taking down a deer
Or some drunk gone off the road
And hung up in a tree.
Now if you know what I mean
These are not all bad troubles.
I have met friends this way.
I have seen the deeply naked
Eye of killers
And the softly retreating
Eye of the dying.
“Things have to die,” my mother said
“Or else we’d just have too many of them.”
Therein lies the trouble, I suppose.
Too many things to hold on to
And we want to hold on to
Them
Forever.
II
One night,
Roused from sleep under a shiva moon,
I got the call.
“Come quick. Remi’s having
Some kind of trouble.”
In my truck, I drove the
Twenty miles to get to him.
Remington – my behemoth of a horse
A handsome thoroughbred, now
Very old, and riddled with his troubles.
Distressed in many ways,
He seemed to be dying.
“What kind of trouble is this one,
My wonderful friend?”
I asked, of him, and of the night.
I sat in a corner of his stall.
He roared a deep dark sigh that smelled of blood and urine,
Pounded the stall floor several times,
And gently- so gently that I could not
Recall him as a horse-
Laid down, his tremendous head
Gentling into my lap.
His heavy head fit there
Like the baby Christ in his manger
Half in, half out.
His huge eye stared wantingly
Into my own depths.
And I gave him back nothing.
Not kindness, nor sorrow, nor comforting words.
Nothing but my presence.
As if by merely being there
To raise his skull up from the
Soiled bedding,
Was the point of having come
To visit with him and his trouble
This late night.
His huge eye retreated, softly
Into some cavernous region
Behind his skull.
And chased his tongue out
Where it stilled itself against
My thigh
Like a dying flounder.
A terrific stillness followed.
And I did nothing.
I did not move, or weep, or try
To think of better days
When we rode like lightning
Dangerously across the endless fields
Like the mounted warriors of Armageddon.
Then he startled himself
And woke up from the dead
And with the same uncanny gentleness
Stood up, and gave a good shaking
To the wearied body he had abandoned
For a long long long – moment.
And got on with eating his hay.
On the way back
In my truck
The strangest thing happened.
Whatever it was that had left him
And crossed, so to speak
Where bodies do not follow
Scooped me up with it.
And I rode this disembodied thing
Into the farthest heavens,
From which vantage point
I could see my earthly self
Motoring along the country roads
With all of space and time
Still down there, but now within me.
I, the universe, bellowed a primordial laugh
That announced
An extreme kind of trouble!
At times I wonder how that
Was heard in the earthly realm.
Did it rouse the embodied beings
Sleeping there
Under their shiva moon?
III.
Dearest, warmest, wondrous, wisest Spider Peg,
I know you know of such things:
Horses risen from the dead
And humans given wings.
It is as if we’ve rode the same horse
Or borrowed that same pair of wings
From time to time
To rise above the realm
Of mere mortals and men.
Don’t get me wrong.
I know you love it here
As I do.
I know you love the hoof-pocked
Path through the prairies
As the trouble-riddled roads
Of our minds.
Terrible and terrific
Places, where the she-devil dances
Beneath a haloed moon
Giving rise to all that comes forward
Through blood, excrement and tears
Like the living dead on Halloween.
Here.
But never for too long.
Or else there’d be too many of us!
Too long, would be unbearable.
Coyote knows well enough
When to move on.
Here today.
Gone tomorrow.
It’s all a vanishing act.
One day
I shall again ride as you do now
On that horse spirit,
To be swept away deep into the sun
Where we were born out of
Some kind of trouble.
Unlike Icarus
Without the vanity of such things
As wings made of wax
Neigh, on wings of pure laughter
I will see you soar! As
the eagle
who is you
who is she
who is me.
Thanks for the kind words. Also, I remembered a good chapter in a book about death of pets. Its in Dr. Martin Goldstein’s “The Nature of Animal Healing”, fabulous book, with whole chapter devoted to the end of life question. Ultimately I think whatever we do or have done at that point of transition, the souls of pets/animals are incredibly, expansively generous and would not hold anything against us.
Bonnie
This was touching to watch. I found myself managing many conflicting emotions. I didn’t read how the gastroguard worked for Remington–I hope it helped him.
I’d forgotten just how powerful this poem is. I am going to send it to Ella with your permission.
Now I’m going to make a cup of tea and try to recover by absorbing it properly.
Thank you.
I”m going to find that book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Yay Remington! I’m sure if you ask him he will say, “Tomorrow? What’s that?”