I have an older gelding that is a medical nightmare and now his companion (large pony) is having a mild laminitis episode – both mid 20’s. The laminitis is very mild – sore on hard ground/turns – but no laying down, no heat, no pulse, no reaction to hoof testers. Stands normally – usually resting a hind foot and not at all rocked back. I work full time and only have the two at home. Just have a couple of acres fenced – so they are not on a lot of grass and I normally do day turnout in winter and nights in the summer so they get acclimated to the grass as it comes in. I’m trying to add a muzzle to the pony but so far has been an epic fail but still working on it. His buddy thinks he has something attacking his face so he must assist in removing it. My old guy has a lot of health issues – Cushing’s and very colic prone if anything in his routine changes – especially lack of turnout. He also has trouble digesting hay so the grass is much better for him. Stall rest for one is not really an option. Separating into two fields not really an option either – very attached – guarantee they’d run or someone would try to jump. Both are retired – not ridden or worked at all – just trying to let them live out their days as happy as possible. How do you manage one when what they need is the exact opposite of what the other needs? I’m stressing myself to death trying to manage them and spending far more than my mortgage on meds every month. I really don’t want to put either of them down – but how do you structure care so that you do the best by them but not kill yourself?
It’s hard 
Have you ever separated them by a fence? Or is the assumption that neither would be safe?
You can ask your vet about trazadone for 1 or both of them, starting a few days before any separation.
You could try a pony pen of hot tape within the old guys pasture. Step in posts, hot tape and a solar charger - simple, relatively inexpensive, low likelihood of major equine damage if the poop hits the fan.
When they have completely different nutritional needs, your only real option is to separate them. Pony on a dry lot and horse in the grass with a shared fence line to they can still interact. You’ll have to let them run and scream for a bit until they realize this is their new life.
Or keep them both in a dry lot together 24/7, separating into stalls to feed. Feed the gelding that needs more food a high quantity of soaked pellets, which are easier to digest than dry hay.
What about putting a round pen with a shade cover out to put the pony in? You can move it a little bit every few days so pony has some grass to eat. Horse friend will feel comfortable wandering around outside the round pen eating grass.
Has the pony been tested for cushings? My gelding’s only symptom is slightly sore feet. If the pony has cushings but isn’t insulin resistant there will be no need to change his living conditions. Just add pergolide.
Blood work being pulled in a week to test for Cushing’s. I thought the same thing. I don’t think I can make a field within the field - no where to place it so they could see each other the whole time. But might be able to block off half of my pasture so they have less grass. Just need some rain to be able to get step in post in the ground. Am still trying the muzzle but my old guy started herding the pony today while he was wearing it… Normally they are pretty chill unless the weather is cool/rainy. What I can’t quite figure out is why the pony moves so much better after being out moving around than he does coming out of his stall in the AM. On 1/2 gram bute AM and PM and started remission supplement. Have reduced turnout time by several hours as I keep trying the muzzle. Also soaking hay - trying to reduce sugar where I can.
Movement has always been better for horses than being cooped up in a stall, and even more so if they are arthritic. Immobile joints get stiff. Moving joints loosen. You need a dry lot and for this pony to be out 24/7.
Can the one who doesn’t need a muzzle, wear one that has enough of the bottom cut out that he can still eat freely? At least that would reduce his ability to play grabby face with his friend
This is a hallmark of arthritis. Motion is lotion.
I tried a muzzle on the old guy once - he almost blindly ran through a fence. And this was after several days of wearing it for some time in his stall to adjust. When I say he is the most difficult horse to manage that I’ve ever been around - I’m not kidding! From broken coffin bones, to bone infections to 25 colic episodes - he’s a medial/management nightmare. I’m hoping for the time being will I continue to work on the muzzle for the pony I can try turnout from 3 or 4 AM to 10 or 11 AM when the grass has less sugar until I can find a better solution.
In an ideal world I agree 100% - but with a second horse that has very thin soles and can not tolerate 24/7 turnout - it makes it difficult. I live alone and have to mow/weed eat/take care of horses and work 50+ hours a week. So trying to find a way to sleep on occasion and manage two horses with very different needs. Have had no issues until the last couple of weeks but as they get older things change - so trying to find ways to manage that the best I can. But I don’t have unlimited funds or time so sometimes the best we can do isn’t always perfect.
which muzzle? The traditional basket styles are claustrophobic to a lot of horses, covering up their whole muzzle. Newer styles like Greenguard and Flexible Filly are much less obtrusive, a lot lighter, and allow a lot easier breathing. Just another option if they aren’t what you tried 
Honestly it has been a few years so I do not remember the type of muzzle I tried. I’m trying the tough one with large nose area for the pony right now but planning to order the Greenguard one tonight to see if that works better.
Huh. I’ve never heard of this. I mean, I’ve heard of horses with very thin soles, of course (I have one), but I always thought being out moving around was better because it improved circulation in the foot which would make for a healthier foot and that would encourage better sole growth.
Have you tried anything like Durasole? I use that now and then and it really seems to help, especially if his feet have gotten spongy from wet footing. He has thin soles, verified by x-rays, but he’s barefoot and out 24/7. Gets ridden and does flinch over some things (larger rocks, sticks in the woods, etc) but is otherwise fine.
What about feed wise? Lots of good “foot food”? Copper, Zinc, Amino Acids, Biotin? I’m almost fanatical about making sure my horse gets high levels of all of these.
We have a pony mare (Arab/Lusitano cross, I think, but she’s pony sized) at the barn who has to live in her own little dry lot pen that opens up from her stall. She has horse pals in the pastures that surround her little pen. She’s been separated from other horses for many years, so she’s used to it. But a set-up like that, with the pony able to come and go from his stall 24/7 onto a dry lot and the bigger horse’s stall opening into the field that surrounds the pony’s dry lot could be great. Or the same thing could be accomplished using a run-in shelter, half designated to pony and half to horse. Pony’s half opens to his smaller dry lot, horse’s half opens to the field. That way horse can stay as close as he wants. Make the fence something the pony can’t possibly jump or escape from (tall round pen panels?)
I feel your pain. I truly do. I had my own place and had horses with varying needs. I did it alone too. It’s a lot to take care of a farm, work full-time, and provide individualized care to special needs horses.
Thank you - it is a lot some days! I think my biggest hurdle for 24/7 turnout with my thin soled guy is my footing - quite hard and rocky. If I had softer pasture I think he’d be better. Also he is missing part of his coffin bone in one foot - so I try to be very careful not to let him get sore. He has never grown much foot - even as a 2 year old it was an effort to get him to grow foot. He gets a hoof supplement by horse tech, very little grain and a multi vitamin. Alfalfa/Orchard hay and soaked teff pellets. He can’t digest/chew anything but soft hay or soaked pellets/cubes. I have two stalls with back doors but the way they open I’m not sure if I could make a small lot off of one and have the other open to the main pasture or not. I hadn’t thought of that - might certainly be something to look at closer! If they could both come into stalls as they chose they might be less likely to have a melt down… Thank you for that idea!!!
Oh, yeah. Rocky, hard footing is a different story. I can understand why you’re careful. Poor dude.
I spent a lot of time at my barn standing around staring at things and figuring out how I could finagle them to suit my needs. Go do some standing and staring and figuring. LOL. Best of luck to you!
Try adding a fly mask with a nose over the grazing muzzle. It adds a layer to get removed, slows them down.
Otherwise you will have to separate to manage which stinks.
I’ve had the best luck with flexible filly muzzle for muzzle hating horses. It’s very airy and light.
They do like to make our lives complicated. I think I missed the actual problem, though ---- is the problem that the footing is rocky, or that one needs grass and the other one needs no grass?
If the problem is rocky footing, throw some boots on the delicate flower!
If the problem is grass, well, it doesn’t sound like you have that much grass anyway, and if you turn out at night, that helps alot since the grass won’t have as much sugar. Depending on where you are, your fella’s laminitis now may not have anything to do with grass. Or, you could just make a drylot for the two of them to share, and put out lots of low-starch forage.
A muzzle threw my late horse into depression. I couldn’t take it. I ditched the muzzle and horse realized he had a good thing going and in his relief, did fine even without the muzzle, and years later died of something else that could not be blamed on Mom (thank you, horse).
Good luck! Sometimes there are no easy answers with these beasts.
Thank you! The issue is my old TB needs 10-12 hours of turnout on grass and the pony - as of last week needs less grass. You are correct I do not have much grass - some spots sure - but 2 acres of somewhat rocky/hilly pasture - it is never anywhere close to lush! I think they just like to give me grey hair…
@luvmymorgan, since your post is titled: Ethical question, I sense you’re asking if there’s a point when caring for your 2 senior horses is too difficult to continue? I don’t want to make any assumptions, but that’s what I was reading between the lines. If that’s what you’re asking, it sounds like you’ve done everything within your ability to manage their needs, but it’s now become overwhelming (expense, effort, your own mental well-being) and reached a tipping point. No one wants to put their beloved animal down, but there comes a time when finances or capacity to provide a quality of life isn’t sustainable. Only you know if you’ve gotten to that point. As an objective reader of your situation, I feel it would be totally ethical for you to give your animals a peaceful, painless ending vs. “stressing yourself to death” to manage their lives at the expense of your own.
