Kuhn Performance

12/10/2024

What does it really mean to "let them go on a good day?"

It means it will be your hardest day. It won't matter if you've never done it before, or if you're gifted a dozen good days, each good day is always the hardest one.

It means they won't know what the fuss is about, why they're getting so many treats and extra belly scratches and hugs.

It means you will second guess your decision right up to the very last moment, the very last breath. You'll second guess yourself afterwards.

They'll knicker at you when you arrive, just like any other day.

The weather, perfect. They are content. They look sound today. They are breathing well, eating well, they get up easily enough from a nap in the sun....the list goes on. Whatever issue they struggle with, today they aren't.

Today you euthanize them.

This is what going on a good day means: sending them out while they are happy, while they are healthy, while they are eating well, walking well, etc. You make the choice to do it before an emergency takes the choice away from you, before your horse has to experience any more trauma or pain.

Their last memory will be filled with love.

It'll rip your heart out every time.

We can see the patterns and the increasing trends. We can predict it a little. We can obsess over the past and worry about the future.

Fortunately, horses, all animals, live in the moment. They don't worry about those things. They aren't worried about winter. They aren't worried about July, or allergies, or progressive diseases like cushings or dsld. They don't think about the close calls they've had before, and they certainly aren't thinking about the close calls that are destined to come, as their body continues to age and break down. They just are. They are happy and healthy, or fearful and in pain, on that day, in that moment.

It is the most difficult, most loving gift we are blessed to be able to give.

And that first ice storm will come, that first deep snow, that first heat wave....and you will find a little relief, no longer doubting the choice you made.

They were happy, and safe, and loved. That is all that matters.

It is never easy. ~Kelly Meister, author

11/14/2024

𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝑺𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 $700 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒅!

𝖦𝗂𝖿𝗍 𝖢𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗌:
𝖲𝗎𝗇𝗋𝗂𝗌𝖾 𝖢𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖢𝖺𝖿𝖾
𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖢𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝖫𝖺𝖽𝗒
𝖧𝗈𝗅𝗒 𝖥𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒 𝖵𝖾𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝖧𝗈𝗌𝗉𝗂𝗍𝖺𝗅
𝖠𝖽𝖺𝗆𝗌 𝖱𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗁 𝖭𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖺𝗅 𝖡𝖾𝖾𝖿 𝖲𝗁𝗈𝗉
𝖮𝗅𝖽 𝖥𝗅𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖽𝖺 𝖢𝗈𝖿𝖿𝖾𝖾
𝖢𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝖱𝖾𝗉𝗎𝖻𝗅𝗂𝖼
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𝖢𝗁𝗂𝖼-𝖥𝗂𝗅-𝖠 𝖢𝗁𝗂𝗉𝗈𝗍𝗅𝖾
𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖿𝗅𝗂𝗑
𝖡𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝖡𝗈𝗐𝗅𝗌
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𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 - 12/15/24

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03/11/2024

Rest is wildly underrated.

Rest is not a reward.

It does not have to be earned.

The amount of rest you need is not determined by how productive you have been.

It is determined by how you feel.

If you need rest, take it.

You are always worthy of the amount of rest that you need.

Rest as if you have never been afraid to hit pause.

Rest as if you know how to surrender.

Rest as if you know how to give up control.

Rest because your body yearns to unravel and be soft.

Stopping sometimes is truly the magic sauce to a richer life.

Because when we create space to pause, we give ourselves the freedom to reconnect to the deepest parts of ourselves.

The depths that hold our creativity.
Our inspirations.
Our wisdom.
Our clarity.

In a world cultivated around siphoning our life force energy.

Take your power back.

And rest.

01/24/2024

01/24/2024

If heaven wasn’t so far away💓

01/14/2024

❤️ 🐴 ❤️

01/14/2024

Learn about the unique needs of old horses, and meet five over-30 horses with age-related ailments.

11/12/2023

😅

10/24/2023

🥹💔❤️‍🩹

A tough topic about an even tougher decision.

It would be easier if they just made the decision for us. Laid down to rest one warm fall afternoon surrounded by their herd mates, never to wake again.

Easier also is in the face of dire emergency, where the only choice is clear, the path to quick mercy.

Unfortunately for us as horse owners, there are blessed few who have that decision made for us. Most of the time, it’s up to us to make that last call.

The majority of us are left with the horses who served us well right up until the end, maybe even enjoying years of retirement. When you see them out in the pasture and wonder, “is this the end, or just a bad day? A bad few days?” “Oh – they look perky today, maybe things are looking up. What I thought I had to think, I don’t have to – today. It’s a good day.”

But the writing is on the wall. Their eyes are less bright, their weight hard to keep. Their gait shuffled, surviving, but no longer thriving.

All symptoms of the fact you have the hardest decision of your life to make, and soon. I wish it on no one and grieve the day I have to make the decision I advocate here for; the decision to let them go on a good day.

We are having a blessedly long and beautiful fall, but time is waning if you are only beginning to contemplate whether your trusted partner can face another barren, brutal, frostbitten winter.

You are the only advocate your horse has. His health is and has always been in your hands. In loving him as hard as you have for all these years, I hope you can love him hard enough to let them go on a good day, while there is still time.

10/13/2023

💓

The magic of a horse imagination