Buying a pony on daily bute?

[palominosunite]

Finally found a nice, quiet, older (18ish) pony gentleman for my timid kid. She really just wants to ride W/T. Temperament is perfect. The concern is, pony has ringbone and has been on daily bute for 3 months, after presenting with mild lameness. Totally sound when we tried him. Owner left him on Bute, never tried to wean him off or tried equicoxx/Buteless supplements. I spoke to the attending vet on the phone, he seemed nonchalant and was like, sure, pony is fine for w/t, try other drugs if you like, but not at all concerned about long term Bute usage. I have a different vet doing a PPE (not mine, pony is 1.5 hrs from home) this afternoon, but pony is still on Bute.

Is this worth the risk? Pony is dirt cheap and owner is willing to take him back if it doesn’t work out.

[Highflyer1]

Under those circumstances, knowing you can give it back, yes I would risk it (or better yet ask if you can do a lease).

[2DogsFarm]

My TB was on daily bute - 2g - in his mid-late 20s & never had a problem.
No diagnosed ring/side one or notable arthritic changes. Given at vet’s recommendation to keep him comfortable for his age.

ETA:
He was 27, still sound, when I lost him to a trailer accident.

[JB]

The terms sound like there’s no risk to take him to see. You can always do some basic kidney health blood work every 6 months to keep tabs on things, then every 1-2 years if he’s fine after a few of the checks.

[Renn_aissance]

I would not hesitate a second to buy a walk-trot pony who needed a daily bute dose to be happy in his job. I’d run annual bloodwork and check his gut health.

I might be inclined to ask the seller if I could vet him without bute to make sure I had a full picture of how much his comfort relies on it; that would prepare me to take care of him.

[joiedevie99]

@Renn_aissance

I might be inclined to ask the seller if I could vet him without bute to make sure I had a full picture of how much his comfort relies on it; that would prepare me to take care of him.

This. I wouldn’t hesitate to take a pony on bute for that job, but I’d want him off it for a few days before the vetting so I could understand how lame he was without it, and I’d pull blood to check kidney function.

[Zu_Zu]

Pass ~ hearts are involved

[StormyDay]

Id take the pony for that job, and just expect to switch to equioxx once purchased. If pony just does better on bute, I’d schedule in breaks (maybe no bute in January, no bute for a week or two in august when it’s super hot) just so the body has a break.

[SMF11]

I have had horses here on NSAIDs for years (I board retirees) and my experience has been that they can be fine for years, until suddenly they are not. As a result I am very leery of daily use, unless the choice is pretty much euthanasia or daily bute.

(One horse here developed colitis, and the other bad ulcers).

All that said, my situation is entirely different from yours OP, given that I deal with old horses not currently being ridden. I only posted to say bute – or equioxx – isn’t entirely benign, and to consider giving the least amount necessary. Speak to your vet also if there’s something the pony could be fed to help prevent ulcers. (One of the horses here was switched to Ultium Gastric Care, which may be too high calorie for a pony. I believe Outlast is the “gastric care” of the Ultium, and it can be fed separately).

[Renn_aissance]

The bar for “sound to be trotted around by a small child” is about two millimeters above “pasture sound,” and so I would be making all my decisions based on quality of current life rather than quantity of potential life. And kind, tolerant, affordable child’s ponies are not so easy to find that I would pass up on this one. I would simply want the vetting to tell me how best to take care of him for as long as he cared to be among this mortal coil.

[2bayboys]

Ponies such as you describe are very hard to find, especially cheap ones, and a daily dose of bute would not bother me at all if that is what this pony gentleman needs to keep him comfortable for your child.

[candyappy]

I would be inclined to just leave him as he is , on what he is, vet him and bring him home. I hate to mess with what is working .

Maybe look into a supplement that can benefit him while getting bute.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Oh no! I’m so sorry.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Kids get very attached to their ponies. If the bute causes ulcers, or another problem crops up, and you want to give the pony back, you’ll likely end up with a heartbroken kid. I’d keep looking.

We took in our niece’s 9 year old Shetland pony when she was 6 and my BIL lost their farm. Our niece handed the pony down to our son when she was 12 and he was 4. He loved her just as much and grew up riding her all over the farm. Now, our niece is in college, our son is in high school, and I’m driving the pony so she has a job. She has Cushings and barely any teeth at 25. She gets her senior feed and bolused with a Prescend pill every morning. Ponies are long term family members. I would find a younger, healthier one.

[jherold]

On the other hand, death is a part of life. This is a timid kid and a younger pony might not be suitable. Depending on the age of the child a discussion about the aging might be appropriate.

[Highflyer1]

It’s very hard to find a young, healthy, extremely saintly pony, unfortunately.

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks. It was over 10yrs ago & he still has Pride of Place in my heart. Best.Horse.EVER!
But there are others there too, and current Herd O’ 3 keeping me busy.

@Zu_Zu With kids, hearts get broken when ponies are outgrown. But they heal.

[poltroon]

I woudn’t hesitate. Indeed, I wouldn’t really expect to find a pony that’s perfect for a young timid child that didn’t need some medication.

I’ve had two elderly horses get into their late 30’s, one on daily bute, the other on daily previcox, for over a decade. Talk to your vet about the best options and maybe pay attention to the dose (especially consider if the pony is getting a pony sized dose) but that pony would already have come home with me.

[trubandloki]

He sounds like the perfect pony for this job.

Like most everyone has said, a saintly pony for a timid walk trot kid is a hard find and pretty much anything you find will require maintenance of some sort.

Hearts are always involved with pets. And as we say about horses, they get up every day trying to find new and creative ways to kill themselves. If protecting hearts was a requirement no one would ever buy their kid a pony.

[Bluey]

We had the best, most wonderful ranch horse ever, loved all in life, people too, that was diagnosed with low ringbone involving the joint RF when he was 12.
As per the vet, he was put on bute, no other at that time long ago and we rode him lightly.
Vet said regular exercise as tolerated was better than retired.
He was fine for two years or so, no side effects, then it quit being sufficient.
He was retired then and a year later we had to let him go.
His declining quality of life and intractable pain made the decision for us.

You may have several years where he can and should be ridden, lightly, as you intend, then make the next suitable decision, according to where all of you are in life then, horse, previous owner and yourself.

Good luck, he sounds like a wonderful horse.