Is euthanasia a reasonable choice here?

[CanteringCarrot]

I’d euthanize. It sucks, for everyone involved, but given the circumstances it is totally reasonable.

The horse is only 4 and already in pain/has fairly severe limitations on its future as a riding horse. The rearing is also dangerous and again, limits the prospect as a riding horse. Rearing is likely due to pain in this situation. Take the initiative and bring up euthanasia, don’t wait for the vet to bring it up.

Let’s be real for a minute: how many people out there are looking for an unsound young horse that to even make remotely sound needs maitenance, again at age 4, and has a potential rearing problem? Even if someone is looking for a pasture puff or companion, they want one with very little to no maitenance. When there is a not a market for a horse, their fait is usually not so great when put up for sale or put at auction.

Are there any vet schools or the like in your area? You could inquire about donating the body for educational purposes if there is a need.

@TWH Girl What do you propose is doing right by this animal?

[SMF11]

I would talk with your vet, who knows this horse in real life and not so much a bunch of internet strangers. If the vet feels there are reasonable options I personally would explore them. Note I said reasonable.

[Pennywell_Bay]

@enjoytheride

Excuse me?

The only thing the OP lied about was who the horse belonged to, which I have no issues with since she doesn’t want the judgement. She’s getting a divorce, she has a lame 4yo that she’s now afraid of because it’s rearing out of pain. Now she’s running out of money to both continue to attempt to fix, train, and sell this horse. Blowing through Equioxx is my vet’s line in the sand for euthanasia.

Personally, I think that a horse that rears in response to a pain issue might not ever rear again when that pain issue is resolved so while I might mention it to a buyer I wouldn’t consider it a big deal.

However, it sounds there’s a lot more involved than a simple issue and with limited funds on a 4yo the OP is making the right decision. Who wants a 4yo that’s had extensive lameness issues? It’s not like the horse is a schoolmaster. She’s running out of money for board, training, and vet work.

^^^^^^^Yes.

OP- I am sorry for you and the horse you are going through this terrible situation. Euthanasia is not a cop out.

I’ll give you a different scenario, not quite the same as yours. I spent thousands of dollars diagnosing and treating one of mine- because I can afford it. She wasn’t critically in pain, but euthanasia was on the table as offered by my vet if I did not want to pursue options.

I continued long after and thousands after the insurance said no. My vet cautioned we could spend thousands and may never have her right again. Even my extremely supportive husband said- you’re spending all this on X, what if something happens to your competition horse who is sound? Will we have the funds to treat her? Is this maxing the horse budget on a horse that has a poor prognosis?

Long story short, after a year of rehab, treatment the horse with a known issue- she had to be euthanized after suffering a huge setback.

I am so sorry for you and this horse.

[summerfield]

I do apologize for being duplicitous. It really sucks to be going through this again. I am honestly not trying to “justify” my choice, because I have been through this before, and in the end, I have to deal with the emotions. No one on the Internet can provide that kind of solace.

I really want to do right, but for me, that means reasonably making sure the horse has a chance at finding a good home (and I have >2k in vet bills trying to do just that), not ending up in Mexico. I don’t think it is wrong to put down pasture-sound horses, and maybe that is where some of us differ, and I totally respect that.

If there were multiple posters on the thread reporting success in similar cases, it would absolutely affect my decision. However, the written report was not very encouraging. On the original evaluation, the horse was 0/5 on a straight line and 2/5 on a circle. Now it is 1-2 on a straight line and 2-3/5 on a circle (one side is slightly worse). This is after 3 weeks with Equioxx and minimal work (i.e. 5 min W/T to evaluate soundness). Blocking the slightly worse ankle basically made the horse still mildly bilaterally lame. It didn’t block 100%, and the vet acknowledged there could be other joints causing pain. The written prognosis also was more like “we can’t be sure.”

I did ask the vet about euth. over e-mail. It’s a hard thing to ask.

Most TB rescues will euth. pasture sound horses, and New Vocations says the #1 reason is due to joint pain.

I don’t want a heated argument. I am still making decisions, and I like to hear from others with experience.

[summerfield]

@SMF11

I would talk with your vet, who knows this horse in real life and not so much a bunch of internet strangers. If the vet feels there are reasonable options I personally would explore them. Note I said reasonable.

Thank you. I am not sure this thread is productive and I don’t want to cause a fight. I am absolutely doing that.

[kashmere]

I’m sorry you’re in this situation. That’s really really hard.

If the horse is comfortable enough right now - i.e. delaying treatment or euth doesn’t mean that the horse is sitting there in awful pain - why don’t you give yourself a set amount of time where you look at options: rescue, etc. At the end of that time, you reassess and either euthanize or go forward with treatment.

I find sometimes when you get a bunch of new “info” - both the vet’s opinion and the rear count as “info” it can be really overwhelming to make such a big decision without time to process.

[Laurierace]

Come on, we all knew it was the OPs horse from the beginning or at least should have. I don’t see how that makes any difference. Having spent the better part of three decades doing animal rescue I will choose euthanasia over rolling the dice that the animal will have his needs met adequately for the rest of his life every single time. I will also keep that decision to myself once having made it for the reasons that are easy to see in some places in this thread.

[btswass]

I almost had to euthanize my 12 yo horse due to a career ending suspensory tear. He was just sound enough for walk/trot. And was in no way a walk or walk/trot horse. I was able to donate him to cornell university where I’m told they use him to teach vet students how to diagnose a suspensory tear. But if they wouldn’t have taken him I would have had to put him down. He probably would have just reinjured himself as a pasture horse anyways. Not sure how close you are to a vet school but see if donating him is an option.

[Mulligan314]

We had to do this semi-recently with a TB mare. The mare came to us with advanced DOD as a yearling. She was never sound, never ridden, barely even halter broke(that part was purely my fault). All our farm did was give her a soft landing spot for way longer than she would have gotten anywhere else. She just hung around and ate food. We had her for 14 years, and about 10 of those 14 years were spent going back and forth on euthanizing her. She was unpredictable, dangerously herd bound, and gave zero sh!ts about your personal space…but would have moments of being the sweetest mare in the pasture. The stability in her bad leg dramatically decreased over last winter, so once the weather cleared up, the final decision was made. Our vet was incredibly understanding…and had been for years. It had way more to do with us finally deciding to make the call for the horse. The relief the farm has felt since having her move on to greener pastures is unmeasurable. Not just the relief within the herd, but the relief of not worrying that she is going to hurt someone.

I fully support your decision because I’ve been through the long haul and it isn’t worth it.

[kelo]

OP, I’m really sorry for what you’re going through with your horse and also your divorce - both take an extreme toll on you and your financial situation.

You are trying to do right by the horse, you’re working with a vet, you’ve consulted them on potential euthanasia, and you’re exploring possibilities (like here on the message board) just incase group sourcing could help.

I would ask, is there a teaching hospital within reasonable reach of you? Because if euthanasia is the best option – and frankly it sounds like a good option to me – maybe it would help if your horse could help teach young vets in the process. Just thinking that that would maybe help me with my decision, were I in your shoes.

[Dressagelvr]

Convenience euthanasia is deplorable and only done by horrific people.

The ONLY acceptable time to euthanize is when it is in the ANIMAL’S best interests.

I’m always astonished by how many people on this forum just use horses like bicycles and have absolutely no respect that this is a living, breathing creature whose life has value.

[Laurierace]

@Dressagelvr

Convenience euthanasia is deplorable and only done by horrific people.

The ONLY acceptable time to euthanize is when it is in the ANIMAL’S best interests.

I’m always astonished by how many people on this forum just use horses like bicycles and have absolutely no respect that this is a living, breathing creature whose life has value.

So you will be sending a shipper to pick up this horse soon I presume? Preventing a horse or any other animal from suffering is in the ANIMAL’S best interest.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@Dressagelvr

Convenience euthanasia is deplorable and only done by horrific people.

The ONLY acceptable time to euthanize is when it is in the ANIMAL’S best interests.

I’m always astonished by how many people on this forum just use horses like bicycles and have absolutely no respect that this is a living, breathing creature whose life has value.

Wow.

[Another_Poster]

OP, I am sorry that you are in this situation. Sounds like life has dealt you some really shitty luck.

I do not think choosing to euthanize an animal in pain is the wrong decision. His future sounds very uncertain. I would feed him lots of treats, let him have a good last day and euthanize.

[CanteringCarrot]

@Dressagelvr

Convenience euthanasia is deplorable and only done by horrific people.

The ONLY acceptable time to euthanize is when it is in the ANIMAL’S best interests.

I’m always astonished by how many people on this forum just use horses like bicycles and have absolutely no respect that this is a living, breathing creature whose life has value.

Keeping an animal alive to be in pain or suffer an unknown fate in the hands of others is only done by horrific people.

The ONLY acceptable time to euthanize is when it is in the ANIMAL’S best interest. And in this case, it looks to be that way.

I’m always astonished by how many people want to keep an animal alive just to cling to the fact that it’s living which must be better than dead. This demonstrates absolutely no respect that this is a living, breathing, feeling, creature who is in pain. A pain which is unlikely to be manageable…and has gotten to the point that the horse now acts out somewhat violently under saddle.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
Also astonished that no one is offering to buy this horse right now and has already arranged transport. :rolleyes:

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Now who (not going to name any names here) is going to show up and tell us about how this is a training issue and the OP knows nothing, the vet knows nothing, the trainer knows nothing, we all know nothing?

[findeight]

Easy to point a finger and condemn an owner already in the hole for more then 2k looking at a horse in constant pain despite strong pain killers daily to even walk around and looking at continuing and escalating vet bills with poor prognosis. There’s nothing convenient about this whether it is PTS or continues on in constant pain. Not like she used him up either, he came lame.

Yes, you can proclaim somebody will take him, are you hitching up to come get him or recommending a rescue in OPs area not requiring a long, painful trailer ride? Is there a rescue in the area that will take a chronically lame horse needing strong painkillers daily just to walk around ? Anybody want to send money to OP, who is going through a divorce, so she can persue 2k worth of diagnostics on top of the 2k already spent?

Didn’t think so. All this horse knows is hurt and he hurts every day. However, it might be more convenient for this horse to pass on in peace and comfort rather then sent down the road to a future with an even poorer prognosis then his lameness.

Set a date, spoil the heck out of him, let him leave in peace with a belly full of sweet feed and carrots and without fear.

[horseshorseshorseshorses]

@summerfield

I do apologize for being duplicitous. It really sucks to be going through this again. I am honestly not trying to “justify” my choice, because I have been through this before, and in the end, I have to deal with the emotions. No one on the Internet can provide that kind of solace.

I really want to do right, but for me, that means reasonably making sure the horse has a chance at finding a good home (and I have >2k in vet bills trying to do just that), not ending up in Mexico. I don’t think it is wrong to put down pasture-sound horses, and maybe that is where some of us differ, and I totally respect that.

If there were multiple posters on the thread reporting success in similar cases, it would absolutely affect my decision. However, the written report was not very encouraging. On the original evaluation, the horse was 0/5 on a straight line and 2/5 on a circle. Now it is 1-2 on a straight line and 2-3/5 on a circle (one side is slightly worse). This is after 3 weeks with Equioxx and minimal work (i.e. 5 min W/T to evaluate soundness). Blocking the slightly worse ankle basically made the horse still mildly bilaterally lame. It didn’t block 100%, and the vet acknowledged there could be other joints causing pain. The written prognosis also was more like “we can’t be sure.”

I did ask the vet about euth. over e-mail. It’s a hard thing to ask.

Most TB rescues will euth. pasture sound horses, and New Vocations says the #1 reason is due to joint pain.

I don’t want a heated argument. I am still making decisions, and I like to hear from others with experience.

I fall in the euthanize humanly category. I want to tell you I think you are doing right for your horse and looking at practical options within your monetary means. I think if you can, also speak to your vet about placed you could donate your horse for study. If your vet school can’t take your horse a farrier school may take their legs. Not the best but at least your animal will be productive both in life and death.

I have been in your situation @summerfield with a horse that was young-ish (12 yo) who had a joint injury to the stifle. I didn’t have the $8k for the experimental procedure my vet recommended, I was heading to divorce, my ex-husband was in and out of work and I had poured $5k into him for diagnosis, pain management and additional actions I needed to to keep him sane on stall rest. I had poured 4 years into this horse to make him rideable because of a major fear issue that caused him ot wheel in hand and under saddle. If he reared on top of wheeling he would have been euthanized long before his injury because he was pretty dangerous at times. Sweet as heck, tried his heart out but dangerous. I chose to stick him in a pasture, pay for him to enjoy his time and had him euthanized at the local vet school before he hand issues getting up and down. I got shit from a few people in my horse and non-horse life but I held firm and made it 100% clear my vet, farrier, trainer, trainer’s uncle who also took on horses like him, specialty vet and body worker ALL agreed with my choice.

Give your horse as much pain care as you can to give them time to be a horse for a day/week/month and let them cross the rainbow bridge to pain free pastures. If you need any other support PM me. I’m happy to lend an ear.

[Ghazzu]

When I was a 4th year student, I was on a case which might have appeared to this group as a “convenience euthanasia”. The details are irrelevant.
I spent some time with the neurologist whose service I was on trying to wrap my head around it.
What he said has stuck with me for many years.
Among other things, he said, “Animals have no sense of time. They just know whether they were loved and how they were treated while they were alive.”
The OP here isn’t simply saying, “oh, I don’t want this horse anymore. Let’s kill it.”
She’s faced with a large expensive to keep animal that is unlikely to be “useful” to herself or anyone else, and that will require expensive maintenance to be comfortable.
Under those circumstances, absent some philanthropist who wants to step in and agree to take on this horse for the rest of its life, with the provision of the expensive care, euthanasia is a reasonable option.

[hoopoe]

The only cop out is the person who put this horse out for sale or adoption with no concerns for it’s future.

Gentle OP there is no shame in with euth as a choice. The vet is duty bound to provide you with options.

You can start over when you’re settled in your new life.

[ChocoMare]

@Ghazzu

When I was a 4th year student, I was on a case which might have appeared to this group as a “convenience euthanasia”. The details are irrelevant.

I spent some time with the neurologist whose service I was on trying to wrap my head around it.

What he said has stuck with me for many years.

Among other things, he said, “Animals have no sense of time. They just know whether they were loved and how they were treated while they were alive.”

The OP here isn’t simply saying, “oh, I don’t want this horse anymore. Let’s kill it.”

She’s faced with a large expensive to keep animal that is unlikely to be “useful” to herself or anyone else, and that will require expensive maintenance to be comfortable.

Under those circumstances, absent some philanthropist who wants to step in and agree to take on this horse for the rest of its life, with the provision of the expensive care, euthanasia is a reasonable option.

What Ghazzu, a respected veterinarian, said ^

And as I always say, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

To let this horse go, regardless of age, would be the most self-less thing to do. Remember, the word “euthanasia” comes from the Greek – “eu” meaning “goodly or well” + “thanatos” meaning “death.” So, euthanasia is literally the “good death.”

While earthly healing would be wonderful, you know within your heart that is not possible. So… give this horse permanent healing.

It sucks
It hurts

But … “this it be right.”