I just spent the past five hours with a beautiful animal fighting for its life. My friend Hattem's beautiful stallion, 'Mamowi'. He had colic, which is abdomen pain (tummy problems) which can have a number of causes in horses and can be hard to detect early on. A lot of horses here get colic, and sadly a lot die of it here in Sudan.
I had held his beautiful head in my lap as he lay, struggling to breath under the weight of his pain. He could not manage to stand, even though we tried to help him, numerous times. There is little else in this world more painful than watching an animal suffer - animals are innocence and pure, unaffected beauty. To see a horse unable to rise to its feet, and try, over and over again - is a site perfectly able to break your heart.
He seemed to be improving and it was getting late so I reluctantly left the stable to head home for some food and rest. And one hour later I got the call that he had gone where 'Allah had willed him'; - he had died.
Animals touch our souls so deeply. And they leave us in such a dignified mannor, no complaints, no requests, just quietly slipping away into the night. They give us so much and they still honor us in death. Your spirit will always gallop in our dreams Mamowi, you gave us delight and joy in witnessing your beauty. And for that, our lives are better. Al humdulailaah.
