Shannen Doherty Shares Heartbreaking Instagram Post Mourning The Death Of Her Beloved Horse, Picasso

Shannen Doherty is taking to social media to mourn the death of her horse, who passed away suddenly after suffering a ruptured intestine.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a picture of the brown and white horse, who was named Picasso. She shared that he had died of a ruptured intestine, a very sudden and unexpected passing. Doherty wrote about the strong bond she had with the horse and her sadness over not getting to say a proper goodbye before his passing, People magazine reported.

Doherty shared with her followers the story of how she first fell in love with the horse, which was kept at a stable where she had owned other horses. Shannen added that Picasso was being groomed as a racing horse, but she took a strong liking to him and wanted him as a companion instead.

“He was for sale but serious professional riders were looking at him to be their Grand Prix horse. When they were done testing him, I would give him a bath, walk him, feed him carrots and apples and talk to him. We were bonded,” she wrote in the Instagram post announcing his passing.

Doherty said that she was warned against buying Picasso, told that he was too strong and hard to handle and that he needed a male rider.

“I bought him anyway cause I didn’t like how the people who were looking to buy him treated him. He became mine and I became his,” she wrote.

The bond that the two shared — and the fact that the horse’s passing was so sudden that Shannen didn’t have time to really say goodbye — left the actress gutted. Her Instagram post drew some strong reactions from her followers, with many offering condolences to the actress.

Shannen Doherty has been back in the spotlight thanks to the reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210, though the actress recently admitted that she almost didn’t take the job. In an interview with Us Weekly, Shannen said that she was nervous about going back to the project that helped make her famous, and initially, her former co-stars Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling were ready to move forward in the project without her. But Shannen said she came around to the idea, in part to be with her old friends and to honor close friend Luke Perry, who passed away in March after suffering a stroke.