killing of Little Blacky

The horse was dying of heart failure after running for miles. He put him out of his misery.

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As others have pointed out: It's quite possible to run a horse to death.

And as someone who grew up with horses, this scene is still almost unwatchable for me. Chokes me up every time.

But anyway... the real question is: Why?

1. Ned's horse was still standing there out in the open. Rooster could've taken it and switched horses during the trip. Even if Ned's horse would've had to run at the same pace as Mattie's pony, he would've been running with only a saddle on. Less weight = less exhaustion.

But I will concede that having a riderless horse along might have been a bit too cumbersome and impractical in this particular situation.

Still:

2. Why not let the horse run at a steady pace that wouldn't have killed it? It's all about getting to help as quickly as possible, right? Rooster pushing the horse as hard as he did resulted in him having to make the last part of the trip on foot - which is surely a lot slower than riding even a trotting horse. So overall, keeping the animal at a "safe" pace (reaching the store on horseback, not on foot) would probably have been quicker than going all out, losing the horse due to exhaustion mid-trip and then having to walk.

Plus: If it's all about Mattie getting help quickly, relying on an overweight, chain-smoking drunk to complete the last part of the journey on foot is kinda risky anyway... :)

Of course: This scenario would've been less dramatic and would've had much less of an impact on Mattie as a character.


S.

The horse had a heart attack. He killed it so it wouldn't suffer through its death.

Ran the horse till his lungs burst. Shoot him or wait and the horse lungs would fill with water and he drowns. It is like the final time in a hospice with people they withold water because you can't exhale it right anymore and your lungs fill up.