Farewell Nibbles and Tabby

With Henry out of action, and Christmas looming, I’d decided to bring Nibbles and Tabby back into work. I’d discussed with Leanne, who offered them their semi-retirement home, contacted my farrier and organised some days to go out and gently work them, to build up some fitness. 

The main prompting for bringing them back into work was I had received 2 phone calls, from both funeral homes we do work for, requesting a pair in the coming fortnight. I was looking forward to driving the greys again, given they were always pleasant and easy to do anything with. 

About 10 minutes after one of the funeral booking phone calls, I received a photo of Tabby from Leanne, indicating that something wasn’t right. It was feed time, and she was lying down looking miserable. We had a brief phone discussion, and I headed out to see her. 

Leanne had her up, but she wasn’t interested in food and looked very unwell. We took her for a walk, looking for fresh poo’s, but found no sign, so contacted the vet, and took her up for a consult. I was already fearing the worst, but hopeful that it was just a mild colic. 

She travelled like a pro, as she always did, but even the float ride didn’t encourage any poo. After a drench and some pain relief, we decided to bring her back to my place, to a yard, where I could monitor poo. We got her home at about 8 pm and settled her as best I could. The pain relief on board would keep her comfortable overnight, we had backup drugs in case she deteriorated badly overnight, but we’re hoping we didn’t need them. 

By 10 pm, from inside my house, I could hear her calling relentlessly for Nibbles. She had all the other horses nearby, but it dawned on me, that in 20-odd years, this would be the first night she had spent without him. If it were going to be her last, she needed to have Nibbles by her side. 

I made a mad dash out to Hartley, to collect Nibbles. He was a bit confused and liked to throw in a bit of Nibbles tanty, but with a bit of encouragement, he loaded in the float. I got him home, and once reunited with Tabby, they settled. I had him in a yard next to her, but at my 3 am check, he had broken through the fence to be with her. 

By morning there was no sign of improvement. She wasn’t pooing, no sign of wee, just wanting to lay down. A friend who is a vet came out and we drenched her with paraffin oil and gave her a rectal, where about 10kgs of poop was removed. Following this, she did a really big wee, and for a brief period, she looked vastly improved. She started looking for food and we were mildly optimistic that she may pull through. 

Unfortunately, this was the last of the good news. She didn’t want her tea, so we gave her some bute and gave her one more night to try and recover. By morning it was evident that it was her time. We believe the melanomas that she had, (as do most old grey horses) had started attacking the nerves in her spinal cord. She had no control over her tail, so couldn’t lift it to poo or wee, and she was unsteady on her back legs. 

I gave her some strong pain relief, to make her comfortable while we made the necessary arrangements. The heartbreaking part of this was Nibbles. He and Tabby had been together for 20 years. He likely wouldn’t cope without her, and even the night before he had broken through the fence to be with her. Nibbles had his own health issues, and while not acute like Tabby, we were finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his weight. His teeth were so ‘old’ that he could no longer graze effectively. He also had multiple melanomas so really for him, it was just a matter of time. In discussions with Leanne, we decided it would be the kindest thing for them to be laid to rest together. 

Leanne kindly offered them to be buried on her property, so with a heavy heart, we took them on their last journey back out to Hartley, where they were put to sleep together, resting just as they were in life. 

While they hadn’t been an integral part of our team for 6 months, they were still greatly loved, both by us and by Leanne and her family. They were such beautiful souls, always giving their all, Nibbles had that little bit of spunk making him loved by all who met him, and Tabby was an absolute unicorn in all aspects.  

I personally was very surprised by how quickly they got old after retiring, however, it was reassuring that we had made the right decision to retire them earlier in the year. Given they were potentially 31 (their actual age was never really known) they had a really good innings. 

We took Nibbles and Tabby on 4 years ago, knowing their advanced age, and thinking if we had 6 months with them we would still be in front, to have learnt so much from them for 3 and a half years, we feel incredibly blessed. 

Thank you Nibbles and Tabby, you made the dreams of many people come true over the years. Thank you for everything.