| Tilly's Page |
| Tilly T Trotter was found on the internet. I rang her owner, Liz, who told me she was out on a trial loan, so was basically sold. I chatted to Liz who realised that the loan had gone on for too long with no offer of purchase. Consequently she rang the lady who had her on loan and found out she had been lame and she had not been told. The lady concerned had given her the best care but was not in a position to buy her. I was. I went down and saw her and met Liz and Ray (who have subsequently become good friends) and said I would like her. I invited Liz and Ray over to see where she would be kept, they came and the deal was done. Tilly Trotter, as she was known then, earned the "T" part of her name within minutes of arriving. She pinched the bun from my burger! Hence, Tilly the Tealeaf "T" Trotter. Tilly loved bananas and ginger buiscuits and hated Big Tractors and Lorries. She wasn't naughty, she would just dance up and down in a "fiery arab" way which was quite funny really. We had many enjoyable drives out with Tilly. Did my first driven show with her, my first driven long distance drive with her, did my first show drive with her. She was a very very special lady. It was on that show drive that disaster struck. We were at Ackworth Show. A BDS (no less for our Tilly) show where we were late. What a lovely bunch. They saw us come and said that this was our class - oh no! No probs for our friendly branch of the BDS (thanks Jan and Den). The judge was promptly given a cup of tea and told to have a bit of a rest for a minute or two. Within seconds of us turning the engine off, there were people everywhere. Someone unloaded the carriage, someone else unloaded Tilly, someone else the harness and soon I had a harnessed, clean, put to horse ready to go into the ring and all we had to do was change. Where else would you get that sort of help from your fellow competitors? Well, we went into the ring and the judge rubbed his hands and said "At last, a proper driving horse" Turned out he drove traditional coloureds himself. What joy! Well we did our bit - bearing in mind Ray hates showing - and then it was off to the pub - er I mean off on the show drive. Ray asked where we were going (he didn't know about show drives), I told him and he said that he liked this kind of showing, twice round the ring and off to the pub! We never got there. Tilly "twisted her ankle" and we walked back to the box. I hosed her down and put her on the tether to rest. We took her home and met the vet who put her on bute. Two weeks later, still one very lame Tilly. A specialist vet was called in by ours and he gave us the bad news! Tilly had damaged her suspensory ligament beyond repair. There was nothing he could do to help her. If she was to live, she could not be ridden/driven/go out in the field/have a foal - nothing. She would have to live in her box for the rest of her life, waiting for the other leg to go as it had to bear all Tilly's weight at the back. She would have to be kept under strict diet control - starved basically - to minimise the weight. What could we do?? The decision was made to have her euthanised so that she would have no more pain. Our vet was more than helpful. We were with her at the end and she went knowing she was loved. She is now back home with us and lives in the front bedroom. Ray always said she would end up in the house! Thanks Tilly, for the memories - You always did your best! |
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