First off, thank you all again for your kind words about Subi. Very much appreciated. I still can’t believe he’s gone and yet I have no regrets. I know, 100%, it was the right choice.

Nay Nay has had a bit of a rough time without Subi. He was the saddest thoroughbred every for a few days. It’s funny. They weren’t best friends, but he very much depended on having him around. The first several days were rough, very rough. We moved Jimmy into Subi’s stall where Nay Nay could watch him like a hawk and that made things better. It took a few days (and a stall guard), but Jiminy likes his new quarters.

Nay Nay is better in some ways. He’s stopped calling for Subi or running around when I first turn him out. I have stopped feeding breakfast since he’s not eating it at the moment and instead I feed a morning mash of cubes and soaked pellets. He and Jiminy both enjoy this. But, in the last few days he’s stopped eating hay at acceptable quantities (he was eating for the first week) which tells me his gut is bothering him.

I had started him on ulcer treatment in preparation for losing Subi and in hindsight, I think this was the worst idea possible. I don’t think Nay can handle proton pump inhibitors. He seems to flare up every time he’s on them. So, we’re in the process of weaning him off and quickly and safely as possible. If he needs further treatment, he does ok with Sucralfate. So we can do that. In the meantime, I’m giving him extra chopped hay (he’s cleaning that up) and alfalfa outside and he seems to be eating that.

He’s definitely uncomfortable (nice job, Sarah), but hopefully he’ll start feeling better as the PPIs leave his system. I was so determined to help him out and I did the opposite. Next time, if I want to pre-treat, go the sucralfate route. This horse does NOT tolerate PPIs! Of course he doesn’t.

Meanwhile, he’s missing a shoe. He’s been missing a shoe. I need the farrier out but I’ve been waiting for him to normalize a touch then these gut issues came about. If it’s not one thing, then it’s something else! I almost wonder if I should just do a full cycle barefoot. I’m definitely pulling shoes next winter… But, the way life is going, he might be off for several more weeks anyway…

Finally, to top things off, I finally got covid. So, I’m trying to make all my chopped hay, cubes, and pellets last, but I may need to order from Tractor Supply to make do until I can get to the feed store. They don’t have Nay’s preferred chopped hay, but they do have chopped hay. Some is better than nothing?

We said goodbye to Captain Hoagie Man, Mr. Subi, on Tuesday morning. If you’re on my social media, you already know this, but for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to bring myself to write this post. I also should probably share that Subi is pronounced Subby which confuses just about everyone. I didn’t come up with it or the spelling. He came that way.

After almost 17 years together, Subi was ready to go. He was tired. He went very quick and peacefully, but he leaves behind a huge chestnut sized hole in my heart.

He was the original chestnut. The original horse. My first horse. He taught me just about everything I know about horses and the thought about him no longer being here is just… there aren’t any words.

I still don’t have many words so instead, here are some photos throughout the years.