Those can be a challenge but if he is basically the same as usual he is probably doing alright.
Someone mentioned that it isn’t fair to euthanize the horse just bc they have KS when they are pasture sound. I disagree — horses don’t have a concept of fair. It’s not “fair” that young steers, pigs and chickens are slaughtered for food either, but that’s why they were born in the first place. Horses were created to have a job — not to be a pet that costs hundreds of dollars to keep every month (and that you may not see often). There’s absolutely nothing wrong with euthanizing an horse when they are no longer able to fulfill the job they were created for. And for the love of god, don’t make lame young mares baby factories!
12 Likes
To add to that, as someone who looked into it, the mares need to be big. At least 16.2 and broadly built. TBs smaller than that are too small to carry and successfully foal WB foals and places are not interested in them. In addition, I’m now at a barn that breeds and does embryo transfer to recipeint mares, and the mare they shipped up from a farm that specifically provides mares for this service, was in terrible shape - skinny, clearly beaten up in a field by many horses (half her coat was missing and scraped off), shy of everyone. We all felt terrible for the poor thing.
I understand your perspective, but for the sake of meaningful dialogue and not just to be a contrarian, I respectfully disagree. Due to the emotional bond that develops between the horse and its owner, owning and caring for a horse is indeed a privilege.
While it’s true that horses, like all animals, don’t have a concept of fairness, they do have a capacity for suffering. Euthanizing a horse simply because it can no longer perform its “job” seems to overlook the fact that horses, like us, have a will to live.
Moreover, horses were not merely “created” to have a job. They are sentient beings with their own needs and desires. Yes, they can work for us, but they also have the right to live out their lives in peace and dignity once they’re no longer able to work.
As for the comparison with livestock animals, it’s worth noting that many people are increasingly questioning the ethics of raising animals for slaughter. Just because something is done, doesn’t mean it’s right or fair.
While horses can be expensive to keep, those who choose to take on that responsibility should do so with the understanding that a horse’s value doesn’t end when it can no longer work. It’s a living being deserving of our respect and care, not just a tool to be discarded when it’s no longer useful.
7 Likes
This is true but at the same time horses (and all animals as far as I know) are not thinking about tomorrow, they are only thinking about the right here and right now. I am not disputing your overall point but I think it’s an important thing to keep in mind when making end of life decisions.
11 Likes
Many years ago I caught one of the feral barn kittens that wasn’t doing well. I thought she had a deformed spine because she was always curled, no matter what she was doing. It was winter, and this kitten was nearly a skeleton when I caught her and took her home.
I put her in the spare bedroom and every day went in and just sat and read my book. She very quickly decided humans weren’t half bad when they offered food, warmth, a safe bed, and scritches. She relaxed and her spine straightened out. Two days later she was dead.
I think she was fighting so hard to live that when she found a safe place where she didn’t need to fight, her body was too weak to survive.
I’ve seen it in my horses at their end as well. My second and fourth horses had some significant pain going on, and when the drugs blocked the pain they were relieved to be able to relax and let go. When his legs stopped holding him up, my second horse was mildly surprised but not concerned as the vet guided him down. His autonomous nervous system prompted one single gasping breath at the end, but that was all. Fourth horse didn’t even do that much.
Sometimes the will to live, the fight to survive is just instinct demanding that any weakness must be hidden rather than desire to continue living.
17 Likes
Found myself trying to answer this question IRL and man it sucks.
4 Likes
I’m so sorry. I have one that’s getting weirder as time goes on - I’m not quite at this point yet but I’m trying to find my lines in the sand.
It sucks.
Thank you for typing this. It has made the situation I am facing (somewhat) easier to bear. In the next 4 weeks I have to find new homes for my horses as we have been evicted from our stable of 12.5 years due to a divorce sale. The ‘young’ horse, it was decided in a conversation between myself and my vet just before the eviction was delivered, would not be moving, as she has, for all intents and purposes been retired (at 11) for the past 4 years do to (diagnosed) hock arthritis and (undiagnosed, but the symptoms and overall unhappiness) myriad other issues. It’s been eating at me that I’m losing my 2nd homebred(and avatar picture) much sooner than I ever wanted, but also that I’ve been keeping her (in pain?) for much longer than I probably should. IF I was independently wealthy, I could do a complete work up, but it likely wouldn’t change the outcome, so for the next 2-3 weeks, your statement will have to be my mantra… 
<Repeats There is no up, there is no up (where are my ruby slippers?) >
5 Likes
