With a broken heart, I want to let you know that my sweet Abby was killed this morning by a lightning strike. Sadly, Two Socks was with her and also died. Sultanna is away being bred, but Hokey was present when it happened. He shows no physical injuries but he is very shaken and spooked and does not want to leave the old barn.
I am devastated at Abby's passing as is Tim at the loss of sweet and oh, so young Two Socks.
I will write more when I am able to.
Lynn
Her loss is still devastating, and I miss my girl every single day.
I will always grieve for her, but enough time has passed that I can also focus more on the good times that we had together than the way that she died. So, so many good times.
Rest easy, Abby. I love and miss you, but I will see you again.
It's been a year. A long year. A hard year. A year where often I felt adrift and horse-lonely.
Originally I'd planned to commemorate today with a whole week of throwback posts and my favorite pictures. But I couldn't do it. When I'd try to write about her or look for pictures, the tears would start. Just as they have now.
I simply can't.
So, here is my favorite photo of the two of us together, a gift from HorseyReader Trinity who embellished the photo with with silver metallic thread, framed it, and gave it to me just after Abby died.
And my favorite video, one of Abby's pied piper moments. (Oh, how I miss those times when she would follow me all over the pasture!)
Normally I would start my annual look-back-at-the-year posts today, but I'm not going to do that for 2024. There were two major happenings in my life, one very happy and positive, and the other devastatingly negative. I just am not up to revisiting all those posts and sorting out ones to use.
The Loss of Abby - June 29, 2024
So much of the latter half of the year was centered on Abby's tragic death by a lightning strike. But I do want to share some favorite pictures of the two of us together.
Abby and me in September, 2019. This was just a few weeks after I'd had a softball sized precancerous mass removed from my pancreas. (Along with half my pancreas, my spleen, and a whole bunch of lymph nodes.) It was a very difficult surgery and knocked me flat.
Since I was not yet cleared to drive, Craig drove me out for a visit with Abby and he shot this series of photos. They are my favorite of all the pictures that I took in the twelve years she and I were together.
She was so happy to see me since I had been in the hospital for a week and then home recovering for another week before I was strong enough to spend any time with her. I was equally glad to see her so it was a very joyous reunion for us both.
At the JCs^2 wedding, Trinity surprised me with this framed picture of Abby and me from that series. She'd used a sewing technique I'd never seen before - using fine silver thread to give it a starburst effect. I cherish this gift and it is on the shelf right behind me in my office where I see it many times a day.
JC and Jayci's Marriage - August 2, 2024
These are the people I love the most. What a wonderful day that was!
Mountain Mama Jessica put together a legacy video for Craig and me after the wedding was over. I can't tell you how many times I have watched it, I love it so much.
2024 had its ups and downs for me. There was great joy but there was also deep grief and mourning. Here's hoping for a good 2025.
Are you wondering why, despite the blog's title, there isn't much about real horses currently being written here?
Well, it's because I am still struggling to go to the barn. It no longer feels the same - one of my happiest places on earth now feels empty and sad. No one nickers and comes running to see me, no one is there who likes to tag along and follow me. Abby had a very big personality and presence, and without her, the place is so still and quiet. All I feel is Abby's loss when I am there.
While I am so thankful she and Two Socks have been buried on the property and that I can visit her grave, it's a long walk across uneven ground to get to it. That walk has become a physical struggle for me.
Even worse, I have to walk past the tree where she died and see that splintered, broken, and burned wood. It brings back the terrible shock of finding her and knowing that she was gone.
I'm sorry but I just can't do it right now and my blog is reflecting that.
