Our gentle giant, beloved matriarch, and a horse who taught us that love sometimes means letting go.

 

Daisy was a Belgian draft mare in her twenties, standing an impressive 17 hands tall. Though we will never know the full story of her life before Soulstride, her body told us she had endured years of hard work and discomfort.

Despite everything she carried, Daisy was remarkably gentle with people. She had a quiet, grounding presence and a sweetness that made it impossible not to love her. Within the herd, she was our matriarch: patient, tolerant, but never afraid to establish her boundaries. She formed a particularly special bond with young Barneby, taking him under her wing and offering the steady guidance only an older mare could provide.

Daisy came to us with significant arthritis, chronic soreness, severely neglected hooves, and a fractured tooth. We surrounded her with thoughtful nutrition, veterinary care, bodywork, and consistent hoof rehabilitation, doing everything we could to help her find comfort in a body that had given so much.

But Daisy's journey taught us one of the hardest lessons in rescue.

Following concerns during her hoof care, radiographs revealed severe damage within her foot, far beyond what we had understood from her outward symptoms. Despite the care, professional guidance, and love poured into her rehabilitation, we came to understand that her pain was greater than we could reasonably overcome.

In September 2026, we made the heartbreaking decision to give Daisy a peaceful goodbye.

Even in death, Daisy's story continued to serve a purpose. We chose to honor her through an educational dissection, allowing us to better understand the physical challenges she had endured and carry those lessons forward into the care of other horses.

Daisy was never just another rescue. She was a teacher, a matriarch, a gentle presence, and a deeply loved member of our family.

We couldn't give Daisy back the years she spent in discomfort, but we could give her a final chapter filled with compassion, dignity, and people who saw her as more than what her body could do for them.

Her legacy lives on in every horse we approach with greater curiosity, every subtle sign of pain we take seriously, and every difficult decision we make with their welfare at heart.

Rest peacefully, sweet Daisy. You mattered long before you came to us, and you always will. 🌼