Bedouin Proverb: "My treasures do not clink together or glitter.
They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night."
(660) 355-4555
Unionville, MO
ellen@antiquityhill.com

(Al Metrabbi x Ozark Wildrose)
March 7, 1981 - October 8, 2004
Click Here for Tribute Video

There are often times that, as a horseman, we may find ourselves falling in love with an individual horse, but seldom are we blessed to find our true "match" and Soulmate. For our daughter Elizabeth, this match was Anchor Hill Azura.

Pictured here with Anchor Hill Azura is Elizabeth Schnakenberg, Age 13.
Ask questions or leave comments about this horse.

As a precocious 8 yr old, Elizabeth wanted to learn to ride the horses on our farm, but was timid. When offered a ride on a friend's pony, she jumped at the chance, thinking that the smaller pony might be easier and less intimidating. When the pony ran away with her, necessitating that Elizabeth make a dive for the ground, Elizabeth was understandably afraid to ride. At about that same time, a grey mare arrived at our farm for sale on commission. We wanted to get some good photos of the mare, so took her to a local show to see how she would do. She did not disappoint. In fact, Elizabeth shocked us all by asking to ride the mare in a class. The effect was clear. She was hooked from that moment on. She bought the mare using her own money, working for 2 years before the sale was completed.

Azura gave many things to our family while she was with us. Not the least important of which was my daughter's passion for horses. Because of our Azura, Elizabeth has grown to be a responsible, loving, giving person with a passion and a gift with horses, and a desire to go into Veterinary Medicine as a career. As a result of that passion, she is not interested in the things that occupy many if not most 15 yr olds- drugs, parties, friends of poor influence. She knows that she was blessed. So do we. We will never be able to repay Azura for her love and attention and her contribution to our daughter's life, and to my own.

Azura was our Arabian Ambassador and the first ride for many visitors to our farm, calmly and patiently taking them around in circles as they clung onto her long, soft white mane. Babies from as young as a year fell in love with her as they dangled from her long white tail, as did adults of all persuasions. Elizabeth helped many beginners learn Showmanship techniques with Azura, allowing them to take her to local Open horse shows and winning many ribbons with them. Azura was the very definition of "patience" standing patiently while beginning hands groomed her in the wrong direction, clumsily picked out her feet or slowly clipped the wiskers on her muzzle. Because of Azura, there are many people who now have a passion for horses that they never before knew they had.

Anchor Hill Azura Unionville Saddle Club & MSSCA Horse Show August 19 2001 Alisha Mossbarger Showmanship Winner At Her First Horse Show

When it became clear that Azura's age was catching up with her, and after a failed attempt at Embryo Transfer was made, Elizabeth made the difficult decision to retire her friend. Her long flowing tail was trimmed after a photo session, the results of which may be seen on this page. She was turned out in the winter, and babied all year long. Her Equine Thyroid condition made daily medications necessary, as did her past history of Laminitis and Arthritis. Front shoes were kept on her as we had promised her former owner, Carol Conley we would do.

In December of 2003 it became obvious that something was not quite right with Azura, as she didn't show her customary gusto at breakfast and dinner times and began to lose weight. She would occasionally stop eating and lay down for a moment or two before getting back up and continuing her meal. After repeated calls to the vet, nothing could be found. As 2004 wore on, her symptoms became more obvious as they occurred with more frequency and strength. She became depressed and continued to lose weight. Her feed was changed but nothing seemed to make a difference. She began to lose weight. By June we were frantic with worry as she was obviously more depressed and having mild colic symptoms every few days. Our vet needed to see her colicky to make a diagnosis, and since the symptoms were so short-lived this was very difficult until July when she had her first day-long episode. The vet was able to come out and see her uncomfortable. After fidning nothing else, he diagnosed Gas Colic and suggested that we worm her again "just in case". (Bloodworms, or Strongyles are the most common cause of colic episodes in horses) Our horses are on a 60 day worming cycle with Ivermectin, so were surprised, but did as instructed and wormed her with Panacur. When she did not improve I mentioned the possibility of Gastric Ulcers to him. After describing the symptoms- stopping in the middle of a meal to turn in circles and lie down- I asked if that could be her problem. He suggested giving her Gastro-Guard for 3 days. "If the symptoms get better, you'll know it's helped, if not- it isn't ulcers". At $35 per tube, this was an expensive trial, but Azura was very important to us. We gave it a go. Fortunately, she did seem better for a period of time, so the Gastro-Guard was continued for about a month. When she began to worsen again, the decision was made to haul her to to the Veterinary College in Ames, Iowa for a scope to see the condition of her stomach. The scope was negative. In fact, everything was negative and as a result the diagnosis was made that she probably had a tumor in her mid- abdomen that was causing her pain. We were told there were other tests including Exploratory Surgery that could be done that stood a small chance of discovering the reason for her episodes, but when asked what the outcome would be, the answer was unanimously under all circumstances- surgery. Azura had already had several feet of intestines taken during a previous colic surgery that she barely survived at a much younger age. We knew that this was not going to be an option for our beloved mare, so the decision to bring her home to keep her as comfortable as humanly possible was made. You know you've got a special horse on your hands when even the Veterinarians at the college are in tears as she is loaded up into the trailer for her last ride home. We all knew what this meant, but how was I going to tell my daughter that her best friend in the world was dieing? Fortunately, she was aware that since I didn't come home smiling, that something was wrong. Not knowing the answer to her questions were, for her, easier than knowing them, so she didn't ask. I finally found the words 2 days later to tell her that her time with her Azura was coming to an end. Never was anything harder to utter.

We thought we could still possibly have months or even years with Azura, but that too was not to be. Only 2 weeks after the trip to Ames, Azura began colicking harder than ever before. It wouldn't let up, so I went against Veterinary advice and administered Banamine to ease her pain in hopes that it would calm down enough for her to once again be fairly comfortable. Within minutes she was up and eating. We had stalled fate, but not for long. The next day she began colicking worse than the day before. Since we had the Equine Dentist coming in only 2 hrs to float teeth and he would be here all day, I had him examine her to try to help. Banamine was once again administered in a smaller dose. Nothing. More was given. Nothing. Narcotics were then given, knowing that if much more banamine or NSAIDS were given, that the ulcer problem would quickly return and we would be out of the frying pan and into the fire. Still nothing. Poor Azura was more comfortable laying upside down than standing upright and spent most of the day that way. After palpating Azura and finding that her small intestines were sitting next to her pelvis, the vet confirmed the diagnosis of possible Lipomas (fatty tumors that often dangle on stalks that can become wrapped around intestines, etc and cause colic). His explained that these tumors are often found in older horses connected to the Mesenteric membrane (membrane that suspends your horse's inner organs inside of him/her). As these tumors become larger, they do 2 things- take up valuable space in the abdominal cavity, and pull on the membrane causing pain. Azura showed signs of both. The vet kindly explained to us that her time with us would be short and that the best we could hope for was to try to control her pain as best we could until she either colicked for the final time, or we decided to euthanise her before she got to that agonizing end. After discussing it with Elizabeth, she knew that her only decision could be to never allow her beloved friend to be in the agony that would surely be her end if we waited much longer. And so the decision had been made. An appointment was made with our local vet for 3:00 that Friday afternoon- 2 days away. We almost didn't make it that far. That following night we simply could not control Azura's pain enough to keep her on her feet. Her moaning told us without a doubt that she was in trouble. She had cast herself for the umpteenth time and I needed help getting her flipped back over as my poor back was just giving out. I decided that it wasn't fair to have her in pain while waiting to die, so I gave her a 2nd dose of Banamine. It worked. By morning however, another dose was needed, making a total of 34cc's of Banamine to control her pain. For the first time in 2 days tho, she began to tentatively eat some hay. Azura was checked on hourly, day and night. Pain became our enemy and meds were given whenever they were needed. It rained all day Thursday, matching our mood perfectly.

By Friday, she was nearly acting her old self as long as she refrained from food. We had made our day planned from the first moment we awoke and simply hoped that the dismal skies would clear as hoped for and give us a perfect day in which to say good-bye. It would be Azura's day. The horseshoer came out to pull her shoes in the morning. Elizabeth had the day off from school and groomed her from top to bottom, then took her for a long and lazy walk thru the lush pastures and hills that make up our home. She let her eat all the grass and clover that she wanted- colic and founder were no longer going to be our enemy. We gave her treats of apples and carrots until she wanted no more of them. Elizabeth was even blessed with the miracle of a last ride with her mare. A quiet ride across the hills to the edge of the woods. No saddle. No bridle. No head-set, no rules, no pain. Aaron (her brother) and I took the photos you see above, and videos. Azura enjoyed the ride so much she even played, bucking and trying to canter a couple of times. Soon the time came for the vet to arrive, but he was late. It was obvious that the medicine was wearing off and Azura began to paw to lay down. Once again she was in distress. I gave her another dose of Banamine which helped some, but the grass and goodies she had consumed had reached the area in her gut where we suspected the stricture and was having trouble passing. This caused her pain, but the Banamine did seem to help make her more comfortable. As the vet arrived, we prayed for Azura and for the strength that we knew we would need to get thru the next hours. We prayed aloud that she would die easily, without pain, and with happiness as her last thoughts. Since we had to do this at all, we wanted to do this well. The vet was very quiet- something that we needed as we said our last tearful good-byes. He waited until, with loving pets and kisses I nodded to the vet to begin the injections that would take our friend out of her pain forever. After the injection of Rompun Azura began to eat grass and clover again. I let her fill her mouth one last time before the final injection was given and she slowly sunk to the ground. I picked up her head so that Elizabeth could hold her in her last moments as I laid my own head across her muzzle (grass still sticking from between her teeth) and we both cried until there were no more tears left to cry. The only thing the vet said was that it was obvious Azura was exhausted from her long fight.

The pain was finally over. She had never had to go thru the agony of the life-ending colic that was only days or hours away . She died happy with a mouth full of sweet clover, laying across the lap of the person who loved her most in this world. She is now buried in the pasture next to Elizabeth's bedroom window where we will plant a tree and fence off a small area to remember her. She is the first thing Elizabeth sees in the morning, and the last thing she sees at night. Though at that point we both doubted that we would have the strength to go on, I knew our prayers for peace had been answered, and we thanked God.

Final Thoughts
a poem by Elizabeth