It is always heartbreaking when we need to say goodbye to one of our beloved horses. This page is designed to be a testament to the love, inspiration, and magnificence of our beautiful and much-loved horses who have passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Their memories remain with us, always.
Saeed
Tragically, at 2:12 p.m. on May 22, 2020 our darling boy Saeed left us. He fought heroically for five days. His indomitable spirit did not let him down, nor did the overwhelming love that we have for this horse let him down, nor the veterinary care he received and the numerous outcalls and treatments and medications and IV fluids. What failed Saeed in the end was his age and his kidneys.
Even to the end this horse strived to show us how much he loved us and loved being here as part of our lives. With his blood pressure falling, kidneys failing, having lost at least 100 pounds, not having eaten for five days and barely drinking water, in his last few moments with us he playfully picked up a stick and looked back at us as if to say “I love you.” Even the specter of dying could not crush this beautiful soul.
Saeed, your spirit is here with us. We hear you in the wind through the cottonwoods; we feel you in the warmth of the breeze and the sunshine; we know you will be there in the cool calm of the mornings and the copper gold fire of the sunsets that shine brilliantly bright like the amazing gold hue of your coat. You are with us when the wind chimes blow, you are with us when we rattle the chicken scratch container, or lift the lid of the treat bin. You are running in the back lands with your herd and we hear you, we feel you.
Wilderwood and our lives will not be the same without you, and yet you will be here with us in our hearts — always. Thank you for the blessing of your magnificent life and the difference you brought to the many lives that you touched … especially ours.
Run freely, darling.
Odysseus
Odysseus (Odie) was rescued from a Kill Pen and was a starving skeleton who could barely walk when he arrived here. An incredibly gentle-natured 17hh Andalusian-Percheron cross, Ode thrived and gained strength and muscle that was lost. During his five years with us, his favorite activity was rolling in the mud and he loved apples as well as cuddles with people. Tragically, in addition to his arthritis, significantly damaged tendons in both rear legs (possibly from a jumping career?), his Cushing’s disease, and advanced age — (we estimated Ode to be about 25 when he arrived at Wilderwood), Ode developed the incredibly painful dental condition of Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EORTH). With the exception of one upper incisor, every single tooth was found, on x-ray, to be deeply impacted by this terrible condition. The decision was made, in collaboration with our veterinarian, to lovingly euthanize Ode, aged about 30 years, on September 28, 2023.
Ellen, one of our much-loved volunteers gave us a poem by Clinton P. Richardson to help commemorate Odie’s life with us, and we cherish this poem — kept in a frame with some of his tail hair, a rose that bloomed on the day he died, and his feeding chart.
Do not weep for me, dry your weary eyes
My time on earth is done, my journey has begun.
Hear my voice echo through the wind
I am with you as I have always been.
Feel the warmth of a summer breeze,
I am with you and I will never leave.
See the sparrow dance upon the wind,
I am with you as I have always been.
Listen to the leaves rustle with the wind,
I am with you as I have always been.
See an oak tree swaying in the wind,
Smell the rain in a distance breeze.
I am with you and I will never leave.
Del Toro (Digger)
May 7, 2003 – October 16, 2025
Del Toro (aka Digger) was a stunningly lovely Spanish Arabian. He loved people, apples, and ambling about on pasture at lunchtime. Beautifully trained in dressage, trail, and eventing in his past life as a sport performance horse, and with a calm, even temperament, Digger was an integral part of Wilderwood’s Equine-Assisted psychotherapy program (Equitherapy).
We lost our beautiful Digger on October 16, 2025, at the age of 22.
Oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
You’re in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
(Excerpted lyrics from In the Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan)