Rural life

My friend from up the road called me this afternoon.
She asked me if I had seen Gus.
I told her I hadn't.
Gus is one of her horses.
He is a very, very old horse.
He had been declining in health very quickly.
She was so worried because he was in the yard at six this morning.
But by this afternoon there was no sign of Gus.
I could hear in her voice how worried she was.
I suggested that maybe he wondered into the woods to die.
She thought that was probably what happened but just prayed he wasn't laying somewhere suffering. I assured her that I would keep a close eye out for him.
Tonight as I drove home from picking up Bug at daycare I drove the back way hoping to catch a glimpse of Gus. An hour later my friend called to let me know that she had finally found him.
He did indeed walk into the woods ...........and right off of a cliff.
He walked off of the normal trail and straight into a rocky ravine.
Unfortunately he was still alive when she reached him.
Her husband had to put him out of his misery.
He left the other horses and went into the forest so that the predators who would eventually find him wouldn't hurt them.
I'm not sure why I felt a need to post this except to show what it's like here in the country.
Where natural beauty abounds and where horses commit suicide to save the herd.