On Thursday in this excerpt from the Eclipse Press book Equine ER, Surely Awesome, the gentle, sorrel-colored Quarter Horse mare with the shattered long pastern bone, got laminitis, despite seemingly on the path to wellness for months. In short, the mare did not mend fast enough on the bad leg to take the pressure off the good one. Today, the conclusion of Surely Awesome’s story.

Dr. Ruggles called Susan Blackburn, Surely Awesome’s owner, from his vacation in Wisconsin and told her the news.

“If you need me to come home to be the one to put her to sleep, I’ll do it,” the vet said. Blackburn didn’t want to ruin the vacation for Ruggles’ family.