I just looked it up! Very good idea, thanks!!!
Thanks for your input! I’m actually a small
animal vet so all too familiar with quality of life discussions. I truly think it’s more a footing issue versus her just randomly falling. She’s thin but not losing weight and has had a stable weight for awhile. Certainly will think more about this if it continues to happen though and appreciate your advice!
I’m honestly not sure. We so happen to have a pulley system in her stall. I’m hoping that footing will help for now.
I would consider where and how she was when down. Was she cast in the stall? Could not get her legs under her? That can happen to any horse who rolls in a stall. The outside times, was she on slippery ground? No grip for her feet? Situation she is in, low ground with legs uphill, not able to get hooves under her or firmly planted to push with, could prevent a more agile horse being able to get up again.
If it is situational, I would have her shod with ice studs, snowball rim pads, let her have grip to enjoy being outside.
With getting cast in the stall, learn to roll her over, get her legs away from the wall. Usually takes 2 people, two 2" tow straps which get wrapped on her hooves/pastern area. One strap on both fronts and one strap wrapped on both hinds. Straps lay upward across her belly, while the two people stand behind her spine. Pulling together, sraight back, lift the legs and moving back, allow her to flop over on her other side. Step away, drop the straps, to allow her to get organized and probably stand up. If she makes no effort to rise, pull the straps away, out of the stall, then one person watch and wait a bit to see if she gets up. She may be exhausted, fought while cast, needs a little time to recover. Finally after letting her rest, ask her to get up. She should if it was just a stall accident.
The studded shoes should provide traction if that was the issue with being down in the turnout.
Either way, you should be able evaluate her abilities by considering these two situations she was in. I am among the first to say let her go if she gets stuck being down often. But looking at the conditions of her being down COULD paint a different picture for you and her. She sounds healthy enough, congrats on getting her to this age!
We had an older mare who just seemed to pick bad places to lay down! Rolling, she slid into a depression, could not get her legs under her! Another time she rolled into the drainage ditch, 4" lower than pasture surface, lower enough she was stuck again! She was not elderly, just got herself in poor places to arise from. We rolled her once to get her out. Then another time we pulled her body (NOT BY THE HEAD!!) using a wider tow strap, then moved her out of the ditch with the tractor a few feet, so she got her feet under her and got up. Seemed she had no issues after that year, we used her often and she lived a lot longer without getting stuck down again.
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So sorry to hear about your old guy. It’s too far from the house for WiFi so trying to figure out how to set up a camera system.
I’m a small animal vet and truly feel I have a grasp on her quality of life right now. Had
I euthanized her after the first episode, she’d have missed a year with most of that being pasture grazing and truly enjoyable times.
Certainly if this continues frequently, I’ll need to consider it but I’d love to help reduce it for her if I can first…
Our camera is on the back of the house but it gets a good enough view of the paddock we had him in so I could check on him throughout the day. I was hoping you could maybe do the same.
The cast in the stall episode does not bother me at all. That happens to horses or all ages. If there’s something about the topography or situation that makes it such any horse would have a hard time getting up, of course you wouldn’t euth.
Down twice but can’t get up on stone dust is a very different situation. Stone dust, even wet or snowy, isn’t that slippery. It’s not a good situation.
I know being a small animal vet, you are capable of making this call. I will say that as a large animal person I think MANY small animal owners wait too long to euthanize. I use my large animal vet for my small animal end of life decisions because he has a much more realistic, IMO, view of quality v. quantity of life.
Given you have a pulley system you can wait longer than most of us.
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Look into a cellular game/trail cam. Wal-Mart has them.
I run a 6 stall retirement facility (youngest horse is 28- oldest is 30++) and have recently invested in a ReoLink camera- its all weather, solar charged, and functions on its own SIM card (no wifi needed) to watch the paddocks when the “geezers” are out since one of the horses has been having difficulty getting up when she rolls “upslope”… the camera has an android/iphone compatible app, and I gave the log in info to a few horse friends- we all check the camera periodically to make sure everyone is up and comfortable- or if they are down, that they get up with in a reasonable amount of time
https://www.123securityproducts.com/gopt.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA6t6ABhDMARIsAONIYyxcdX0mjFK23vVBzC5l1_klaeEK9LtBlXQN5FOkVKX9uE5F5j8b8LYaAvFtEALw_wcB
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I wrote a long post awhile ago about my mare had her from the time I was 7yrs old till I was 33.
She was my everything. Kept me out of major trouble as a teen and kept me tied to working and always paying bills and even putting her before my own happiness in life and relationships for yrs.
Anyways, she started going down, we pulled her up, assumed it was the footing, had to drag her out of a stall Easter 2019. Made a sling for her from a stall mat and 1k tow straps and used a bobcat to lift her. Me, 2 friends who own the barn, their husbands, all busting their a&&es to keep her alive one more day, one more week… I even started doing B12 injections weekly to help with her energy. As others have said, looking back I should have called it way before I did. She went down 3x in one day and I asked my friends when are the lesson kids leaving…it has to be done tonight, she has had it. You can tell in their eyes. Maybe I am pmsing and drinking and emotional, but have you had her checked for stifle issues/tried previcox/ injections/ how hard or dangerous is it to roll her over to get her up?
My mare was always calm thank God, when I sat with her that night she had been aced till the vet could get out, head in my lap. I got up to pee n even though she had 3 ppl with her and her best senior pony mare friend next to her she whinied and screamed and tried to sit up till I came back.
It was her stifle joint that did her in. I would get that side that you have to roll her off of looked at first. I know you are a small animal vet so you already know but I will say it anyways:
“When you are keeping them for your own peace of mind, that is when you know it is their time.”
Ugh here comes the tears…big hugs to you OP!!! I hope with the spring coming she is able to get up n down for you again!!
Sorry for another long post!
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