Update: Peter is among the group of dearly departed seniors that were rescued and loved by PAH.
Peter
Meet Peter, an aged gelding who was brought to the kill-pen by his owner! Peter was emaciated because he can no longer eat hay, and his former owner did not care to make accommodations for him in his elder years. He is an elder with character, spunk and a strong will to survive.
Update: Peter has passed. Part of our mission is to see them through and keep our promises, but saying “Goodbye”, no matter how old they are able to grow to be, is never easy. We miss Peter and all of our other senior residents that lived out their last days at PAH.
Peter and Joy were good friends. They were both seniors when PAH rescued them from situations were they were severely lacking the proper care. Senior horses are not very commonly come by because, like people, our care gets more complicated as we get up there in years. Something that we don’t think much about for most of our life – chewing – even can become a tricky task. I can remember the proper procedure that we were trained to follow for feeding duties with seniors. Throwing a flake of hay to a near-toothless senior can lead to choking and is horrible. The team of volunteers and care-takers must be caring, attentive and well-trained, especially when maintaining senior equines. Can I tell you something though? They are worth it – so incredibly worth the extra effort, time and expenses. Senior equines are phenomenal. Their friendship, personality, wisdom and mannerisms are special, and to spend time with them, to care for them, to support and know them is wonderful. -SL
