Totally agree with @Impractical_Horsewoman. The old man has had a great run already, and the younger one has a condition that could go wrong at any time. Better to let them both go peacefully at the great home they have known for years than to risk something going wrong in the move. They don’t know they are “supposed to” have “so many” years. You were able to give your TB the retirement I couldn’t give mine because I have to board already. I put him down at 10. While he may have lived like yours for another 15 years, there never would be a “better,” and it would take the input you have in your old man to do it. I had to be fair to both of us. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this decision on top of moving, but we’ll all be here to hold your hand through it if you want. 
She didn’t say this though. She said she couldn’t afford ALL their expenses. And the 17 year old has no special issues. If she’s lucky she will be on the hook for spring shots and that’s it. If she’s unlucky, and faces a big vet bills, she can revisit euthanasia then.
I said in my 1st sentence I am not opposed to euthanasia in this situation. But, for me, it is not a decision to be taken lightly, or before I investigated any feasible options I might have. If there are no options after trying then euthanize.
I am the companion home that everyone wants. Small, well maintained private farm, 24/7 turnout with shelter always available, knowledgeable horsepeople. I have a dear friend’s retired broodmare in my front field right now, keeping our retired pony company.
I took her because she is zero maintenance and very, very easy. She’s not rideable, but that’s okay. She requires almost nothing in terms of care. I kept a friend’s retiree for years that required Previcoxx, Prascend and a very tactful farrier; but I kept him and cheerfully paid his maintenance because he was rideable, the perfect guest horse and the best boy ever.
A companion home for a horse that has maintenance needs and isn’t ridable is extremely rare.
You have to ask yourself why someone with no prior history or experience of the horse would take over their care when someone who DOES have history with them is finding their care financially burdensome.
Exactly. Which is why I never advocate for someone to find a companion home. Who out there wants to spend tens of thousands on a horse they have no history with?? (Answer: basically no one, including me!).
That’s why I suggest a lease situation with the owner paying vet and farrier. Way cheaper for the owner, and for the companion home. And of course these situations are super hard to find too.
And the other side of the companion home, the pasture pet, is that the horse may not do well with the move.
I wonder if we sometimes get wrapped up in our own emotions, and miss what the horse most wants. And doesn’t want.
Older horses don’t always adapt well to a move, no matter how well intentioned. Especially if they have been in one spot for years.
A peaceful passing where they are doesn’t put them through that disorientation and stress. Not to mention the uncertainty of a future in the hands of someone whose situation may change, and impact their horses.
The peaceful passing gives them just that: peace.
OP. You are the steward… the historian … the caregiver of your animals. Making this decision is agonizing. I have been that companion home. But I can tell you they are a few and far between. And most of the time it’s not a good freaking end. Even when it sounds like freaking horse heaven With people you don’t know or homes you can’t follow. Trust your gut.
I remember reading a post on FB a year or two posted by a smaller transport company. It seems someone had two older mares, I think late 20’s, that they were hired to haul to their new homes. These two mares had lived at their old home for years and most of their lives. Somebody “bought” (I sure hope nobody paid good money for them) these two mares and a vet cleared them for transport. Not a long trip but I think several hours. When they got the two mares to their new home they opened up the trailer and one of the mares had died in transport. Of course this was very upsetting for everybody involved. Including the new owners. The transport company was upset too and did not charge the new owners after this fiasco, even though they did nothing wrong.
So the transport company was making a public service post asking people if they had this situation to please consider euthanizing your old horse instead of sending it off to live in a new place in their old age. Especially if your horse has been living in one place all of its life. Something to think about.
Just over the last year, with these two other aged horses on my mind (not mine), I’ve gone from supporting the big effort to ‘find them a pasture home!’ (which may mean splitting them up) to realizing that these two do not want to change their lives. The ‘pasture home’ is the humans emotional-izing. It would be so much kinder to let them go where they are. They will never know of the decision.
I can only hope that humane euth will be the decision by their owner. After so much time of the unsuccessful search for some stranger to give these horses a ‘pasture home’ that will be utterly strange to them, after a highly stressful transport. The horses want that the way they want to be kidnapped by aliens – that is what it will be like, to them. In their late 20’s.
In no way did I read she is taking this lightly, indeed quite the opposite.
A 28 year old horse and a horse you have already supported for 10 years of retirement? Zero guilt if you chose to euthanize both tomorrow. At this point if they can’t comfortably manage in a true no frills retirement (hay only, group field living, no shoes, no maintenance) then also no guilt to euthanize.
You have done well by them both so far. Sometimes, the maintenance more and more as they get older prolongs things incrementally over time and it does add up. It’s ok to say enough is enough.
I board retirees and have had many horses in their late 20’s shipped here with no problems. One 28 year old came here (ny) from Indiana.
I don’t think the OP is, either.
I get the vibe, from some posters, in some threads, that they jump to euthanasia without investigating all options. Please note I say investigate. Not that anyone has to take a different option. Euthanasia is such a final act that I think it makes sense to have all facts/options considered. That is all.
I don’t think you’re being fair to the posters in this thread. The OP has already said that she’s exploring companion situations as well. What all of us have said, though, is that they tend to be unicorn situations and she shouldn’t feel bad about having all cards on the table for consideration when she makes her decision.
Additionally, people were affirming that for unrideable horses that require maintenance OR who are relatively young and will likely live a long time, finding a good situation can be much, much harder. It’s not like say, a small, elderly scrubby pony you can tuck in a field with feet like iron who can live on air. (Which is what many people want for companion horses.) And agreeing to pay the vet bills on such horses won’t solve the OP’s problem.
What I wrote doesn’t disagree with any of this!
Moreover, I agree with what you’ve written.
Nope, often not the case. The OP stated that the vet and farrier care was a strain for her even when she was keeping them at home. Continuing to pay vet, med and farrier bills will NOT solve her problem. Again, as someone who has taken in companion horses, I’d be very leery to agree to this deal, knowing that the owner’s promise to pay for these things is well intentioned but may not be possible. That is, I may end up paying those expenses anyway.
@SMF11, I do understand where you coming from. Euth is a final decision, and it would be easier to believe that there’s some sort of less awful alternative. But the fact of the matter is, the less awful alternative is extremely rare, the transition may be stressful for the horse, and the horse may end up neglected despite the owner’s best efforts.
And anyones financial position can change. So finding a good retirement home is really only good if you can monitor that home for the rest of the animals life. And what about the instances where someone gave their retired/old horse to someone that promised the best of care only to find out that your horse was sold and you have no idea what happened to them.
The quote from the OP that you reference includes board cost. This is easily the biggest expense (barring something unusual). $500/month is a pretty safe assumption, and if the OP is lucky vet bills for the year could be $3-400; farrier for the year could be $600, whereas board at $500/month s $6,000.
Now, only one of the horses potentially fits this financial scenario. AND I stipulated that if a sudden vet expense happened, a euthanasia decision could always be made. I also stipulated that finding a companion home even with retaining ownership and paying vet/farrier is very difficult. My point was it is slightly less difficult if the horse can be given back and has his expenses paid.
I am not sure why anyone would argue the OP shouldn’t investigate all options before euthanizing. It kind of boggles my mind! And again, if, after exploring all possibilities the owner finds euthanasia is the best decision, I fully support that! I just think doing a little research isn’t asking too much. That is all.
I re-read the OP’s first post and her subsequent posts and it seems to me that she has very carefully considered all her options and the likely outcome of them.
She is struggling with the inevitable conclusion she has come to, as would any good horseperson.
To then suggest she hasn’t done her due diligence and that she should spend more time looking for a solution that everyone admits is highly unlikely is unkind.
I have a lot of sympathy and empathy for the OP. In her 1st post she asked for words of wisdom, and my response was that in making a euthanasia decision it gives me comfort to know I have investigated all options before pulling the trigger. I don’t see that as being unkind. Rather, I am trying to help the OP have peace of mind with her decision.
I board retirees and have for a long time. I have faced end of life decisions, I would guess, many, many more times than most of you. I feel I do have some wisdom to share, and I certainly intend sharing it with kindness.
I do not know how to quote a post from my phone, so here is a screenshot of my first post on this thread:
Yeah I think the thing is it really just isn’t necessary to investigate all options first. As has been said many times, even if you luck into finding the most perfect situation there’s zero guarantee it remains that way. It’s perfectly reasonable to think it all through and decide to euthanize without doing a single other thing.
