RIP Wielki Prozcero (01.05.1994 – 10.04.2007)

It’s with a numb right arm, stiff back and a heart in pain that I write these words. The horror that took place April 10th 2007, a week ago, have given me and all involved a lot to think about, like all the images that just keeps flashing when I close my eyes. It’s not a great story, I’m no real writer, but it tells you what happened and it’s the reason why I haven’t been active here. I could go, as I’ve done with a good friend, into very specific details, but I wont’t. I tried at first to write very detailed, but it turned out bad.

A week ago two girls were riding a trip in Maridalen, Oslo. One of the horses was Wielki Prozcero, Mimmi’s (or my eMili) own horse. The trip they were taking was one of the regular trips in the forest that even I’ve walked while Mimmi was riding. What happened was this: Prozcero’s front right foot got stuck between two stones (flat, large ones). Of course, as horses usually do, he panicked and tried to get his leg out. He pulled and he pulled, fiercely. Then his leg got twisted and snapped. Prozcero fell. His rider, Synne, and the fellow rider, Line (riding Tingen, the other horse), spent about an hour and a half with a horse that had doom written all over him. I can’t imagine how terrorizing it must’ve been for them, seconds feeling as hours and minutes like years. They couldn’t do anything except comforting Prozcero who was lying on the ground, with a broken leg. He tried several times to get up, even before I got there, but Synne and Line succeeded in keeping him down.

When I got there and got to see Prozcero on the ground, breathing heavily and seeing his broken foot – which was still hanging by a thin strip of flesh – I knew he had to go. There was no way around it. And I, as Synne and Line had already done before me, started crying while comforting and keeping Prozcero down. Mimmi’s mother was also there, she arrived with me, and she helped out comforting the girls. Those poor, poor girls, being terrorized by such a situation where they couldn’t do anything till a veterinarian got there. I’d talked to Mimmi several times, she was at work when the accident happened and she couldn’t leave. She knew the situation was bad, and I told her when I saw the broken leg, that his time here was over. We all tried to comfort Prozcero, and when Mimmi got there (about 15-20 minutes after me and Mimmi’s mother) we all cried even more. Then it got worse.

Prozcero himself couldn’t have felt the pain we thought he’d do, since he tried more and more to get up. And he got up at last – I believe he did it because he wanted to show Mimmi how strong he was – giving the rest of us a even worse situation than it already was. He still had his saddle and bridle on him, but thanks to Synne we got the saddle of him. Now I know you can’t really imagine how horrible it actually was, but you can try to imagine a 450kg white horse (thoroughbred Arabian gelding) trying to stand on a bloody stump of bone where his front right leg should have been. I was later told that when horses get into accidents like that, their bodies produce large amounts of endorphins – known as “natural pain killers”.

After he’d gotten up, Mimmi was sent away as it wasn’t for her to see. My insticts took over – I grabbed the reins with my left hand and got a firm grip on the hair on his forehead with my right hand. There we were; the two only boys, me and Prozcero. My insticts and logic told me to always get him to stand on his front left leg. When I think back about it, the two of us were dancing the Dance of Death. We fought a fight where the loser was already decided before we started. You can’t believe how shocked I was feeling then, and was driven by instincts and adrenaline. I knew the vet was on its way, but to me – as it must’ve felt for the girls – every second was washed away by the painfull feeling of infinity. I told Prozcero several times that he had to calm down, but my voice was harsh and loud – not soothing at all. In the middle of it all, I got help – much appreciated help – from Synne. She talked and talked with Prozcero, while I was holding him as firmly as I could. He even fooled me into some of his favourite bushes, so he could eat some – to reduce his level of stress. After about 40 minutes after Prozcero had got up on his three legs, the vets finally came. As I told one of them; if they had come 5 minutes later, I’d give them some serious strong words and maybe worse. (I know it wasn’t their fault, as the accident happened in the forest and it gave them a hard time to get there in a car.)

Before the vets came over to Prozcero and I, Prozcero reared three times – as if to salute and say goodbye to everyone, especially Mimmi. When the vets came over, he calmed down. They first gave him sedatives, 5-8 seconds after he was hanging with his head, drugged and gone. Then they gave him 4-5 large shots (can’t remember exact number) of drugs, and left me standing there with him. I was the last one to hold him while he was alive. At April 10th 2007, 20:05 Wielki Prozcero staggered to his knees, then fell down and died.

I really miss him although I ain’t a horse-person myself. I’ve sat on Prozcero’s back and I’ve spent alot of time with him – so on 10th I lost a friend. I’d like to thank everyone involved, especially: Synne, Line, Anne, Mimmi and Mimmi’s mother. They all know why I thank them so I will leave it at that. Rest in peace, Prozcero, my friend.

Wielki Prozcero, b: 01.05.1994 – d: 10.04.2007.