When would you kill your horse?

[newforest]

The best description for my elderly mare was wooden. She wasn't there anymore. She didn't come to greet me anymore when I arrived, although we didn't really know each other as well as I would have liked, I knew her enough to know it was time.

People sometimes say how do I know.
I tend to think that if you can't see the wood for the trees, it's not time.
If you have no trees and you have used all your wood, it's time.
You just know.

Hugs to @OwnedbyChanter and @MrC

 

[Frances144]

When I suck my teeth when I watch him or her in their field just being an equine.

Personally I struggle with the word “kill”. It’s a bit Game of Thrones episode 1, which I have yet to get over!

 

[Cortrasna]

When I suck my teeth when I watch him or her in their field just being an equine.

Personally I struggle with the word “kill”. It’s a bit Game of Thrones episode 1, which I have yet to get over!

I have never watched Game of Thrones, Frances but I take your point and others about how harsh and bleak the word 'kill'' is in this context. But I guess that was pretty much deliberate on my part as I did want to convey my feelings that this is a very dark, sad and frankly bloody awful part of owning any animal and didnt want it to be a fluffy bunny light hearted hypothetical discussion as that dark,sad and awful side is what I wanted to explore and discuss with others on here and see if anyone found it as difficult and complex as I do.

 

[newforest]

I will be completely honest and say I won't be keeping the cob as a field ornament. On my grazing left to get fat she might develop other conditions on top of what's stopped her ridden work in the beginning.

If she is paddock sound, because its hilly she is also capable of inhand work.
I can think of 101 things we could do, but this would be a) because I also enjoy ground stuff and b) to keep an eye on her weight and so her body and mind doesn't deteriorate.

If I can't ride her so be it. I don't think she would care either to be honest!
But, If she cannot be ridden, we will need to go jogging/ hiking. If she can't do that she's not field sound.

 

[Jessey]

I had the paddock ornament tournament with Jess when she was lame, I concluded that if she couldn't be sound enough for even light hacking/walking (20 mins a week unmedicated because I won't bute to work) it wasn't going to work to keep her going because she gets feral and difficult (squaring off with you at the drop of a hat, kicking, herding other horses when you try to get near) after an extended period doing nothing at all. I kept phoenix retired and would have with Bo, they had very different temperaments which weren't a problem out of work. It's such a case by case thing. I hope that by the time she retires her wild side will have mellowed with age and she can live out a happy retirement with me

 

[Frances144]

I have fields of ornaments but that's my choice and I am not sucking my teeth..... yet.

 

[joellie]

It is a very hard and difficult decision to make..but I couldn't bring myself to say I killed my beloved equine friend, sorry for me it will always be pts . It may be fluffy bunny but I just can't bring myself to think I have killed them.
I would only ever get them pts if they were in pain , pain that couldn't be relieved or cured. Not being able to be ridden any longer would never be a reason for me to pts.. Some people seem to have horses come and go and just get rid of because they no longer suit what they are looking. Thank goodness most people,but not all on here seem to keep there horses for the long haul or at least try and find them a good home if they have to move them on.

 

[domane]

Slightly deviating but along the same vein, if you replace the word stable with cage, they don't sound so cosy!

 

[newforest]

Slightly deviating but along the same vein, if you replace the word stable with cage, they don't sound so cosy!

Unless the horse doesn't have any thoughts on it.
Mine was born in a stable, got brought in every night with mum. So it was no big deal it to her, it had hay. I'm a bit similar. If they serve food I will sit down.

 

[Bodshi]

Slightly deviating but along the same vein, if you replace the word stable with cage, they don't sound so cosy!

My OH calls them cages, not for any reason other than he can’t be bothered to learn the normal terminology but logic tells his outside-the-equine-box brain that an enclosure in which you trap an animal is a cage.

 

[orbvalley]

Anyway back to basics - I can see why, especially with people who haven't their own facility and are at livery would make the decision to euthanasia a horse that could no longer be used even if it were still field sound.Making that decision can also often be a financial decision, I do see that and respect those who have to make it based on their personal financial position, and i would not criticise that so long as your decision is an honest one.
.

I'm only half way through this thread but am replying now (interim reply!) as I'll forget where the quote was otherwise
Basically I just don't get nor agree with this attitude/decision making and it puzzles me & disgusts me every time I come across it. I just don't see how owners can justify euthanasia by finances. I can't see how someone can "afford" to keep a horse thats fit to ride but can't afford to keep one in retirement thats unfit to ride. To me its just unjust and cruel to euthanise an unrideable horse that could be happily retired. The arguement of "he/she likes working" or "they're unhappy on rest" is IMO refering to our conditioning of the horse and keeping it in working conditions/livery. Turning away in retirement to its natural habitat with the right care to conditions would to me never produce an unhappy horse!

 

[Kite_Rider]

@OwnedbyChanter and @MrC
My heart is with you both, I dread that day when I have to make the decision.
What is very clear to me is that you both love your horses dearly and they have been lucky to have you as owners.
It is in my opinion the very last gracious thing we can do for them as a thank you for all the joy they bring to us through the years.

 

[Bodshi]

I'm only half way through this thread but am replying now (interim reply!) as I'll forget where the quote was otherwise
Basically I just don't get nor agree with this attitude/decision making and it puzzles me & disgusts me every time I come across it. I just don't see how owners can justify euthanasia by finances. I can't see how someone can "afford" to keep a horse thats fit to ride but can't afford to keep one in retirement thats unfit to ride. To me its just unjust and cruel to euthanise an unrideable horse that could be happily retired. The arguement of "he/she likes working" or "they're unhappy on rest" is IMO refering to our conditioning of the horse and keeping it in working conditions/livery. Turning away in retirement to its natural habitat with the right care to conditions would to me never produce an unhappy horse!

Whilst this is how I feel about Jack (bearing in mind that I don't pay his livery, OH does) I think it would be a far worse crime at his stage of life to try and pass him on as a 'happy hacker' if we couldn't afford to keep him. I would rather he was destroyed while he was still happy than potentially go to someone who would expect too much of him and hurt him. We had an older horse on our yard a few years ago that had been bought as a safe hack for someone who had lost their confidence. It soon became clear that the horse must have been buted to the eyeballs for it to have been sound enough to ride at the trial (it wasn't vetted) and it was pts - the previous owners had had it since a youngster.

 

[Jessey]

I'm only half way through this thread but am replying now (interim reply!) as I'll forget where the quote was otherwise
Basically I just don't get nor agree with this attitude/decision making and it puzzles me & disgusts me every time I come across it. I just don't see how owners can justify euthanasia by finances. I can't see how someone can "afford" to keep a horse thats fit to ride but can't afford to keep one in retirement thats unfit to ride. To me its just unjust and cruel to euthanise an unrideable horse that could be happily retired. The arguement of "he/she likes working" or "they're unhappy on rest" is IMO refering to our conditioning of the horse and keeping it in working conditions/livery. Turning away in retirement to its natural habitat with the right care to conditions would to me never produce an unhappy horse!

I definitely think you should be prepared to retire your loyal friend, I really hope I will be able to with Jess but she has proved very difficult in the past when living the life of riley turned out in a herd and without much daily handling, she can be unpredictable in the field at the best of times. Its not that she isn't happy like that, its that it becomes quite a risk for anyone in the field which is a difficult position to be in if you do not own your own land, when I had to move last year I had to discount a couple of yards as it was herd turnout because I am not prepared to be responsible for someone else being injured if she has an outburst. It doesn't happen often, she's nailed me 6 or 7 times in 14 years, but there's loads more where I managed to get out of the way. Financially I will go without to keep my horses even in retirement, I am a believer we owe them a comfortable life until the end of their days. I would never consider PTS just so I could have another to ride.

 

[PePo]

I'm only half way through this thread but am replying now (interim reply!) as I'll forget where the quote was otherwise
Basically I just don't get nor agree with this attitude/decision making and it puzzles me & disgusts me every time I come across it. I just don't see how owners can justify euthanasia by finances. I can't see how someone can "afford" to keep a horse thats fit to ride but can't afford to keep one in retirement thats unfit to ride. To me its just unjust and cruel to euthanise an unrideable horse that could be happily retired. The arguement of "he/she likes working" or "they're unhappy on rest" is IMO refering to our conditioning of the horse and keeping it in working conditions/livery. Turning away in retirement to its natural habitat with the right care to conditions would to me never produce an unhappy horse!

It's not always as straight forward as this though.

My horse that I had PTS had grown up on a racing yard and latterly a showjumping competition yard.

We don't think he'd been turned out - especially not in company. In the years I had him, we got him OK with day time turn-out for a few hours but he was never truly relaxed when turned out & had two fairly serious injuries through field accidents.

I think it's terribly sad that he didn't know how to be a horse in a field - but, he didn't need my sympathy. It wouldn't have made retiring to a field the right thing for him.

Unfortunately, he had issues that needed movement to help and other issues that movement made worse. When it was too difficult to balance the two, I had PTS.

Eighteen months later I bought Pete.

Do I wish I could still have him? Of course I do. But even if I could have managed his pain, I wouldn't have put him through it mentally just so I can give him cuddles & kisses still.

 

[newforest]

@orbvalley thank you for honest answer. This is how we can have a discussion about things.
It's never black and white. How can some reasons for putting down be ok and some not?
Keeping a sick and injured horse costs a lot more than a healthy one. It's that simple. It takes it out if you physically, mentally and emotionally, so it will do financially.
You have extra costs that you had no idea existed. If I cannot afford those extra costs that horse is then suffering as a result, wouldn't it be kinder to not let them suffer?
I would be being honest about it.
If someone cannot keep a horse anymore due to work, time, loss of interest, confidence or finances etc, they sell them. If they are sick or injured you still have that option- but you could also call it a day.

I think the issues I question is not why someone does or doesn't do something, but whether they have been honest.
Some people cannot have a second, for whatever reason, or they own to ride- be honest if that's the case. Can you realistically own one you cannot ride for what could be the next 15 years!

 

[Cortrasna]

I think the issues I question is not why someone does or doesn't do something, but whether they have been honest.
Some people cannot have a second, for whatever reason, or they own to ride- be honest if that's the case. Can you realistically own one you cannot ride for what could be the next 15 year

I think for me this is it in a nutshell too. I am in the camp if you have horse no longer fit to ride you owe it at least sometime in decent retirement if well enough for them to do so. But although I could and would not ever kill to free up space/finances to buy another just so I could still ride/compete (as far as I know as never been in that situation) ......I do see that there are people who can bring themselves to do that - which is fine and their choice but as @newforest has said just be HONEST about it and be honest when discussing it - then you might not have my agreement on your decision, but that is your business not mine - but you will have my respect for putting forward your thoughts and beliefs as honestly as I try to write/say mine.

Another point of course that hasn't really been mentioned - I gain as much pleasure just pottering about looking after mine as I do riding, even more so as I get older and riding becomes more painful and difficult. So yes it would be extremely disappointing to lose Dolly as a riding horse but it would only rob me of a relatively small area of the enjoyment owning horses and donkeys give me, I would still have all that fabulous time feeding, grooming, mooching about the hedgerows with her etc. etc. and just 'being' with her and the donkeys. But i guess for some, all that is just a minor part of owning horses - for them the ride is the reward and anything less than that is not for them.

 

[joellie]

Another point of course that hasn't really been mentioned - I gain as much pleasure just pottering about looking after mine as I do riding, even more so as I get older and riding becomes more painful and difficult. So yes it would be extremely disappointing to lose Dolly as a riding horse but it would only rob me of a relatively small area of the enjoyment owning horses and donkeys give me, I would still have all that fabulous time feeding, grooming, mooching about the hedgerows with her etc. etc. and just 'being' with her and the donkeys. But i guess for some, all that is just a minor part of owning horses - for them the ride is the reward and anything less than that is not for them.

I whole heartedly agree with bells on

 

[newforest]

Yes and neither way is right or wrong. Unless we bred the horse we currently have, someone has parted with them, for whatever reason.
Your reason for getting them is probably more important than the reason someone let's go.

My first horse was elderly.
She was let go because she could no longer manage what the owner enjoyed doing. Without the owner deciding to sell, I wouldn't have had my first horse, to do what I enjoyed doing.
I only wanted a light hack, but more important I needed a been there, seen it, done it schoolmistress type.
I don't see anything wrong in someone selling an older horse, because there are people out there that this is just what they are looking for.

 

[Bodshi]

I only wanted a light hack, but more important I needed a been there, seen it, done it schoolmistress type.
I don't see anything wrong in someone selling an older horse, because there are people out there that this is just what they are looking for.

Again, it depends so much on the circumstances. It's one thing to sell an older horse that is capable of doing whatever the new owner wants from it. It's not ok (in my opinion) to sell an old or infirm horse knowing that it won't be able to stand up to its new workload. Pass the problem on to someone else.

Assuming of course that prospective purchasers couldn't see my vet records and didn't have him vetted, I could sell Raf on and not declare that he has Cushings (never mind his other problems). He would soon become ill and his new owners might think he was just being lazy or stubborn and beat the crap out of him. If they eventually got the vet and discovered his Cushings I would simply deny all knowledge and tell them he must have just developed it. Then what would happen to him? PTS? Abandoned in a field without medication? My mind runs on, but I could never take the risk. If ever I can't look after him he will be pts.