I’m sorry, Libby. You went above and beyond your best for him.
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Sorry to hear the news. You went above and beyond for this horse, and you made the hard call. I think it was the right one. Thank you for thinking to contribute to research in the midst of such a painful situation. I hope when you go looking that you find the perfect horse.
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What a devastating update. I’m so sorry for your loss - my heart goes out to you. 
Thank you for, even in this terrible moment and your grief, for making decisions to try to help other owners and horses down the road. Your heart is so, so very big. All my thoughts are with you. xx.
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((hugs)) laced with strength and comfort ~
RIP ~ Beloved Remy ~ knowing you will always be loved and remembered ~
I’m sorry for you loss ~
Bless you for sharing his struggle so others may learn ~
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I’m so sorry for the loss of such a lovely young horse. I think you did everything you could and should have- including letting him go. He can run now.
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What Fargaloo said, and what other have said. (I actually cried at work!) DSLD was the fate of this horse in this world at this time, and Remy was incredibly lucky to end up in your care. He hit the jackpot. You left no stone unturned, and any second guesses you might have is because you’ve been constantly thinking of turning over stones.
You did more than what most people could, and you let him be happy on grass before you humanely put him down. You donated his remains to research to further understand this disease. Sending samples of U of Ga was great, because now they have a real diagnosis to match with the nuchal sample they did on him. In a warmblood, which in my understanding is rare in terms of tissue. U of Wisc can sequence his genome.
Some horses just have conditions which cannot be treated. There’s nothing we can do except make them comfortable while we can, and recognize and respect when we can’t anymore.
I’m glad to hear that you’re going to take the winter off of horse shopping. Give yourself a break and mourn and put your mind on other things for a bit. Hug F, pet L, and have fun with your pony doing fun and different things. Your next horse is out there, and will cross your path. You’re a great rider and obviously a great owner, and will gel with many nice horses. Take the time you need.
Bugatti has lots of foals here and in Europe. And the dam side, was she the dam in both of these DSLD cases? All quarters of this pedigree (sire/dam, sire/dam) have lots of foals on the ground that should be easily traced, it should not be difficult for Hanoverian verband to take an active role in tracing the likely origin of this. Statistically, this should be easily traced to a line given the popularity of the lines for sport and who has stood Bugatt in his life. And the Dam’s sire and dam sire. Should be.
My heart goes out to you. You did right by Remy, and major Karma points are stuck to you for this.
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Hang in there. :sadsmile:
You are not alone in having had to make that tough decision, and I know that sometimes it hurts to do the right thing.
Add me as another who respects your decision to bite the bullet and make the right (but difficult for you) choice for your horse.
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Oh libby no!
this wasnt supposed to go this way, im so sorry.
I put down my 6yo just a few months back, and making that decision around the ‘what if’s’ was the hardest thing ive ever done.
i look back now though fairly pragmatically and i see quite clearly it was the only way it was going. Hopefully the same happens for you.
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I am so, so sorry. You did the right thing, both by euthanizing poor Remy and by arranging for his death to contribute to future research. How heartbreaking – go hug that pony.
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You guys…you’re amazing! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your supportive messages. Reading them yesterday made me cry at work too! My family and closest friends know what happened, along with my trainer and his breeder, but I haven’t talked about it much otherwise. Thank you all for understanding.
One thing I forgot to mention that also influenced my decision and the timing: farrier visits were getting worse every time. He pulled his feet away and tried to move around, I’m sure because it hurt. At the last visit, when his RF was being worked on, he tucked his hind end (like he was being sprayed under the tail with cold water) and could barely stay upright. Shoeing was getting unsafe for the farrier, miserable for him, and very stressful for me too. The farrier is due out this week and I’m relieved that no one has to go through that again.
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I’m so very sorry for your loss. Sending you lots of love.
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You made your decision, and it was a good one.
Be proud.
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You let him be at peace and as time passes, you will be at peace with your decision and contributing to the ongoing research. Not to mention all the useful information shared with us in this thread.
I think he was telling you what you had to do in the last few weeks, you listened.
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I am heartbroken for you, but thankful you gave him to opportunity to contribute to research. You truly went above and beyond for him. Hugs.
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Thank you guys again! One more thought on this topic:
Not a single one of the several very experienced, well-regarded sporthorse vets who saw this horse raised the idea of DSLD. Before his suspensory neurectomies (the only decision in all this that I really regret), I listed some symptoms I thought he had and asked the surgeon whether there was any chance he had DSLD and he replied, “I would not worry about that.” That’s a direct quote because it was in an email. After several months more of no improvement I saw another superstar vet and that one also didn’t mention DSLD until I asked, though once I did the vet considered it possible and recommended the nuchal ligament biopsy.
The point of this is: 1) Even amongst the best vets, awareness and the state of knowledge about this disease is pretty woeful. 2) I am super grateful for the COTH forums. Although I had heard of DSLD before all this, I thought of it as a Paso Fino affliction that had nothing to do with me. It wasn’t until I started researching suspensory issues on here that I realized he had some symptoms and thought to ask the vets.
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I am so sorry Libby. You have all of my sympathy. Godspeed Remy. I am with the others, you went above and beyond in every way for Remy and he was so incredibly lucky to have you… and there is some comfort (cold, I know) in knowing the DSLD was confirmed and that he contributed in some way to furthering our understanding of the disease.
Life isn’t fair. ((hugs))
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Very sorry for the loss of your beautiful boy. You did right by him, and that’s what counts.
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There’s been so much new in diagnosing and treating various issues in horses in even the last 20 years it’s mind boggling. If you go back further to when I started in 1970, it’s hard to get your mind around, really. Vets can’t keep up, some can’t afford continuing education financially or in time away from their practice and most don’t have much time for research period. Plus there is still much unknown about DSLD. Is it a PF trait or result of inbreeding? How about WBs, hereditary? Is there a definite test to confirm or rule it out?
Answer is we don’t really know right now. In that sad fact, Remy and you made a huge contribution. Try to take comfort in that.
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I have just read through this entire thread and add my condolences to everyone else’s. But what a true horsewoman you are - putting your horse first no matter how much pain it causes you. Remy was lucky to have you in his life.
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Oh, so very sorry for your loss and heartbreak! You definitely did the right thing for him and I applaud you for that. Happily, he is no longer in pain. And thank you for contributing to further study of DSLD - that is so commendable.
Praying you find comfort this winter, and your next horse comes your way at just the right time.
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