04/09/2025
REPOSTED
From Personal Profile.
After a sad few weeks, loosing our Tinkerbell- the day finally arrived and Hamish’s journey ended.
….
2025… what a year 💔
Well the day I feel like I’ve been anticipating for the last 10 years arrived - over the last 3 years it’s been more up and down with lots of TLC to manage and implement due to small factors of old age and care and so I was ready….
As ready as you can ever be for what this morning brought us.
Last night, after a fabulously chilled start to the Autumn term with great weather and everyone in good spirits, Hamish got impaction colic. He was fine one moment, happily eating his hay net and a few hours later was calling and in pain. Vet came, gave treatment and told us to give him time. We spent all night camping outside with him and Layla in the school in the rain. Moving him, syringing liquids and giving him lots of love and care. In the early hours of the morning, despite some signs of improvement he dipped to a point where we knew it was time to stop.
It was peaceful, quiet, beautiful and sad. Layla cried. Thunder and Wilfred said goodbye and a lovely company came to collect him whilst we hid inside with Layla howling his procession. It was everything I wanted for those last moments of ours.
The anxiety of owning such an elderly horse and always worrying about how it would happen has been worse than the actual time to action it, obviously the colic part wasn’t great but it could have been much worse and it felt like a dignified time where all of us were in agreement to let you go out strong and not to suffer in the long term.
Master Hamish. The mighty beast. 34 years old this summer. My life, my soul, our angle.
We’ve had the best summer. Rides at Shouldham where you literally cantered off up hills, running in the fields, kicking your door down for food, making new friends, seeing family and friends, grooming all your buddies and being the gentle giant to everyone. Being told off for being strong and naughty up till your last moments! Great rides in the last few weeks and a nice sunset photoshoot the other day.
I had questioned whether to make the call this Autumn and I think subconsciously I’ve known for a while but everyone I’ve confided in said he was looking so fit and well, healthy and strong and so it wasn’t time. Until fate took it out of our hands and gave us the time for you to depart, luckily it was private with no liveries currently here and the perfect time to miss winter and any more drama elderly horse life can bring.
So we are at peace. Sad but strong. Grateful to be surrounded by lots of fur babies who we built as a family around Hamish. The horses will miss their leader but they have each other.
I’m so pleased he was fighting fit, healthy and strong as he left - that’s what he would have wanted and I knew this morning that he would keep fighting because he is stubborn and he’d do it for me. But I didn’t want that, we made a call years ago that he would never suffer at the end and we’d be dignified.
I could share literally 200,000 photos of every moment and memory I have with my boy. Every moment was magic, riding him felt like flying and fit like the perfect glove. We were in sync and will forever be. We made lots of friends and great memories. In the last 10 years I took more photos cause I was always aware he’d never be there forever but in these photos and memories he can be. And he will forever be in my heart.
From the day I laid eyes on him as a 14 year old girl, now nearly 34 year old woman myself, I knew we were going to be together from that moment on. At 18 I took over his ownership and since then his well being has been my priority. He walked me down the aisle, we brought a home for him, got him friends, moved work around for him and he gave me everything- and over the last 12 years Peter to.
Thank you to everyone who loved him or who supported us in our life together.
Please don’t be sad or sorry. Be proud of that handsome shire old man who was everybody’s best friend.
I hate sympathy and relate much more to a Harry Potter - Dumbledore loss image where everyone raises their wands in love, solidarity and appreciation. So please, no words of sorrow, sympathy or sadness - just love, respect and peace.
Feel free to raise your wands or glasses to Hamish tonight and comment with a little black Hamish heart to send us your love - 🖤 .
So there it is 3rd 9th 2025. My Facebook profile has always been for- Hannah and Hamish hopefully the memories will live here always. Forever …. My boy… 🖤
Here’s to you- always. X👑
Thanks Victoria for the image x