Sally’s last gift

After a partnership lasting more than two decades, my beloved mare helped me to accept and plan for a future without her.

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Hope Ellis-Ashburn owned Sally for 19 years. (Carissa Ramsdell/Carissa Lynn Photography)

By the time my sweet, salty half-Arabian mare, Sally, passed away in April 2025, I’d spent plenty of time thinking about what her replacement—if there would be one—might look like. I had owned Sally since 2006, and she had set a high standard for any future horse. But in the last few years of her life, multiple health problems had left Sally fully and permanently retired. As a result, I spent many hours contemplating how life might look after she was gone. The moment of her death, when it came, brought relief as well as sadness.