Putting an 11 year old horse down.

[elizabeth]

I am trying to figure out whether to donate my horse, Buster, to Cornell University, where they will use him for academic purposes for a few months, then put him down.

He is 11, and he has been lame on and off for the two years I have had him. He has navicular pain in his front feet (clean X-rays) which require $150 aluminum shoes and pads every four weeks. He has ringbone behind, which requires injections once every 8 months.

For about 9 months last year, he was sound, doing flat work and jumping once a week(now he is lame), but he is a costly horse to maintain throughout the process. However, now that I am on the west coast and he is on the east coast, it is becoming an expense that I cannot even reap the benefits of, since I never see him.

I am afraid if I give him away to a kid for a backyard horse, they will not be able to shoe him every four weeks. I am afraid if I give him away as a companion horse, he will run like a maniac, make himself lame, and his new owners will send him to the sales.

When he is turned out, he runs so hard on his navicular feet that he cannot walk for days. On four grams of Bute, he is STILL lame from running like an idiot a full two weeks ago.

I am just thinking it is better to give him to Cornell, let them use him for several months (to teach the vet students how to deal with navicular horse), and just resign myself to the fact that they will then put him down.

Can anyone give me any advice or share how they made such a decision? It makes me sad, but I also just cannot dignify putting Buster in a place where he might someday suffer (e.g. in someone’s backyard).

Will I regret this?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

[Picturesque]

Elizabeth,
You are in a very difficult situacion but I think your inital thoughts on sending Buster to Cornell or having him put to sleep at home where you can always know he is safe is the best decision. I have had navicular horses come into my barn and horses with ringbone as well. I have nerved and given away the navicular horses and found them excellent homes but there is one problem with that. The horse will eventually need to be nerved again. The nerves do regenerate and how can you be sure that the person who took your horse will give him the medical attention he needs or not sell him/give him away without disclosing the fact he is nerved. Unfortunately with ringbone it just progresses and I have looked into helping or stopping the growth but it was not feasable. Vets told me there was only a 5-10% chance that it would help my horse if he did not summer terribly and then develop an infection at first.
My aunt is a board certified surgeon and tenured professor (large animal) at Cornell. I would be happy to privately give you her number as she is very well known and respected as a surgeon and teacher as well as an animal lover. When I had to put my favorite pony in the world down due to cancer, I would have done anything in the world for him. I vowed to God that I would even give up teaching if he would just let my pony live. Well my pony started to degenerate and the time came to act. I did not put him down at my house because I could not bear that but I sent him to Marion Dupont Scott Center where they had been trying to help him through this. There he was peacefully put down (witnessed by a friend since I could not bring my self to be there) and studied so that there was hope to learn more about cancer and how to cure it. He was only 14 years old, the best little guy you could ever ask for and in a report later that month I received a very kind letter which stated that Willy must have been living on sheer will and love for me because 60% of his major organs were infested with cancer.
Sorry, got a little choked up rememebring him. That was 9 years ago. I will never forget him but will always remember my good decision. Good luck and we are thinking of you.

[tle]

While it is commendable that you want to do your best by this guy… you are being unrealistic. It seems to me that no matter WHAT you do with him, you want to retain final say so and knowledge of what he is doing. That just isn’t so! Once you relinquish control, you essentially have NO control over what gets done to him. Sad to think about in many cases, but it’s the truth. THAT is what you have to deal with. Can you give him away or sell him AND deal with the fact that you have no say in what becomes of him? Once you answer that question your choice on his future becomes rather easy. If you can deal with the knowledge that his control/fate is in the hands of another and you have nothing more to do with him, then you are free to pursue Cornell, or Auburn, or whatever. If you cannot, then you must, for the sake of wasted energy, dismiss those as alternatives and decided what YOU can do (which is either, find a good home for him via a friend or whatever where you are essentially boarding him regardless of his/your physical location).

Good luck whatever you decide. I’m not envious of your position at all. I have a 15yo mare that I can’t stand the thought of what will happen when she has to be retired.

[Duffy]

How cool is that!!! Go Buster!!!

[doubletake]

elizabeth> I am sooo glad to hear that! It is a wonderful end to a tough situation, and I am really glad that things worked out for both of you! Give him a hug and a kiss from me!

[Rockford]

Ok, this is just a suggestion because I have no sort of experience in this field whatsoever, but I was thinking…

Could you donate him to a Theraputic (sp?) or Handicapped riding program where he could be useful to lead kids around on when he’s sound? Maybe if someone had a purpose for him, they wouldn’t mind paying the money to get him shod well and often.

I have no idea what those type of situations are like, but it was just a thought. I’m sorry your horse is in pain

[weeble]

I have found that the few times in my life with horses I have had to make a decision like this, I struggled and struggled and then suddenly somehow it just became clear what I had to do. I hope something similar happens for you because I know you want to honor the great guy Buster is and be at peace with your decision.

[AAJumper]

My friend had a horse that had an extreme case of navicular disease by age 8. She loved the horse very much and didn’t want to just dispose of her. She found a place in So.CA (near my barn in fact) that had 2000 acres for horses to roam. She pulled her shoes and turned her out, and she was sound in a year! Now, I’m not saying that Buster would improve, but have you considered that having the ability to constantly move around over various terrain might make him more comfortable? I mean, he might run initially, but any horse truely out to pasture soon seems to lose the impulse to really run around, IMO. And the more you don’t let them run around, the more wild they are when they do get out.

I also faced the same dilemma with my first horse, Whitney. She was in her 20’s and I was a poor college student. She was really off in the hind end, apparently from an injury that never seemed to heal in the stifle region. Plus, her hocks were not so good, and this was in the days before Adequan. So we finally decided that the arthritis and old age had taken it’s toll and had her put to sleep. It was horrible, and I still wonder if I made the right decision. Whenever, I think about it, I get really sad. But also, I just couldn’t afford to keep a horse as a lawn ornament and keep paying for expensive tests/treatments, etc…not on a Target cashier’s salary. That still makes me feel guilty…that the financial part of it all came into the decision.

So I would suggest that if you are willing and able to pay for him to be turned out to pasture, you might want to consider trying it for a month or two, and if he is too miserable, then consider other options.

[Twister]

Elizabeth, PamM made some extremely good points. We all say, ‘I’ll NEVER sell.’ or ‘I’ll care for him to the VERY END.’ Yes, we owe our horses, all our pets actually, a good life and a dignified end. Do not cringe from putting him down because you think he DESERVES something else. What he deserves if for you to control his future and prevent a ‘bad end.’ If you put him down, it is over. He has lived a good life, you have provided him with excellent care and he dies. May we all be so lucky…

[Merry]

elizabeth: I guess I’m not understanding clearly how sound/unsound your horse is. That’s one of the problems with communicating via cyberspace: you cannot hear the intonations in someone’s voice, or ask for an immediate clarification.

Horses are very much like people in dealing with pain. I, for example, had colon surgery ten days before the year-end championship show, and though I could barely walk, I snuck out to the barn and rode, just to see if I could stay in the saddle without passing out long enough to make it around a hunter course. My husband, on the other hand, gets a headache and you’d think he had a brain tumor.

Some horses do remarkably well with low grade chronic pain, especially if it can be controlled with low doses of bute. Only you and those who know your horse can see the signs that tell you your horse is suffering: listlessness, lack of appetite, obviously lifting weight off his sore foot/feet while standing, lying down a lot to keep the weight off his feet, a change in attitude, etc. With Beezer’s two old show horses, I had to be the one to tell her, “It’s time.” One would have paralyzing back spasms so bad that I’d have to run out with an IV shot of Banamine to get it under control. The other one finally got to where it spent hours lying down to relieve pain in his joints (and that WAS on 4 tabs of bute a day). It was no longer possible for them to just amble around being lawn ornaments.

It’s obvious you’re really deliberating over this, but I’ll bet in your heart of hearts you already know the best decision.

[In_The_Gate]

That’s great! I’m so glad he didn’t wind up at Cornell. Good luck, and have fun.

Valerie
~VWiles02@yahoo.com~
Valerie’s home page

[FatLilPony]

Elizabeth-donate him to a farrier school. See if you can find one on the west cost, and ask them not to put him for sale, if they want to get rids of him, to give YOU a call. This way he will frequently be shoed, and let out, and you won’t have to worry about his feet.

*Callin me mam’ is like puttin’ an elevator in an outhouse…it just don’t belong.

[Twister]

Elizabeth, you could also consider just putting him down from the start, unless there are fnancial reasons to donate. I’ve always found it sad that horses can’t seem to make the connection between the pain and the activity which causes it. If you do end up donating, I’d send him to the closest place that meets your criteria. You’ll end up spending a good bit shipping him to Auburn when the situation at Cornell would be roughly equivalent and shipping cannot be too comfortable on his feet. Best to you…

[Merry]

Okay, I have to toss in my two horror stories of giving horses away to what I thought were good homes. Warning: This is not meant to mean that everyone who gets a free horse doesn’t look after it, okay? I’ve been given 4 free horses over the years, and they lived out wonderful lives with us as babysitters/pony horses… but that’s not always the case…

1. Glady was an older TB broodmare we used to breed race horses. She was also a nice riding/pleasure horse. She became unsound due to flare-up of racing injuries, and barren. I gave her to a fellow who provided me with references. He had Glady for years, and took beginner dressage lessons on her. But when HE could no longer use the mare, he gave her to a woman in who claimed she’d put her out on her pasture with another retiree and her 2 mules. Yadda-yadda-yadda… years go by and I’m judging a schooling show and low and behold I’m in the shedrow of this equestrian center and I see a leather halter with the nameplate “Glady”. How many can there be? A girl led me outside to the most pathetic sight I’ve ever seen: my once beautiful, regal Glady was a rack of bones! She had a huge tumorous growth of proud flesh on one ankle. She was all scarred and banged up. It turned out that that Gary had suddenly gotten the urge to check up on Glady and found her nearly starved in that “pasture” which turned out to be a dirt lot. He rescued her and was attempting to give her a few good days at the end. Unfortunately, it turned out she collapsed and died the next day. I often feel guilty about that. Glady served me well. I should’ve put her down myself. I know I trusted Gary, but he, in turn, passed her off to someone else. That’s the problem with giving a horse away. You can’t control what happens with the next step.

#2. Now I’m really bummed, so I’ll make it brief… I had a nice, black appendix quarter horse I showed L.A. county and A circuit in the amateur hunter/eq. divisions. He got terrible navicular. Nothing helped. I gave him to a couple who ran what I thought was a lovely, reputable riding school. He was to be used as a walk/trot & crossrail horse. Well, 2 years later, I see an ad for him in a magazine, with a photo of him jumping a sizeable fence, and he’s for sale: for $5,000!

I guess the moral to this story is that there’s no such thing as a sure thing once the horse leaves your possession. A therapeutic riding program is a really good idea; most of them will sign a document that they’ll euthanize the horse if it becomes unuseable. But will they provide the necessary upkeep? I have no clue. The Cornell donation… hmmmm. Can you truly control what they’d do with him? How do you know for certain that he won’t be used like an equine guinea pig? Nerving is an option, but it’s certainly not a cure-all, and you said he has ringbone behind, which is only treatable with injections. And 4 grams of bute a day? Geez, no offense, but eventually your horse may develop ulcers or anemia… but I guess if the trade-off is being dead…?

We’re very fortunate that we can maintain about one lawn ornament at a time. Not everyone is so lucky. It’s a tough decision, but I’m sure you’ll give this lots of thought and make a humane, ethical one.

By the way, you don’t have a friend back east that either has or could recommend a retirement pasture/paddock that’d cost you a nominal amount monthly? They could keep an eye on Buster for you. If he does eventually run himself crippled, well, then, he’s had a blast for a while, and then the decision is made for you.

[Laurel]

You are in a tough situation. I only have one comment to make about donating your horse to Cornell. I do not know anything about the methods and practices that Cornell uses when they euthanize a horse. I can tell you that the method that two very large and very well known vet schools use is not very nice. This is something you might want to consider if you donate your horse. I can honestly say that I would be having a hard time making a decision too if I was in your situation. My thoughts are with you and your horse.

[This message was edited by Laurel on Mar. 03, 2001 at 11:09 PM.]

[elizabeth]

Twister, thank you.
I haven’t said anything since last night b/c I have been thinking this all over.
PamM and everyone else has raised good points.
I think I am going to e-mail Picturesque this afternoon for her aunt’s number at Cornell.
All I keep thinking is if I bring him out to CA, and he gets off the truck in bad shape (which my vet predicts), and I cannot get him back to servicable, what will I have gained for him? And if I then just turn him out . . . . I forget to mention that he is a horse that is like a dog. He needs attention - he needs people.
I don’t know, I’m still thinking.
Thanks, though, Twister and PamM, for giving support on the option of putting him down. If that is where I end up because that is the way I feel safest that he is not going to suffer, so be it.

[system]

If bute is used right it can help horses for years.
We have kept horses on bute for years, with no problems. The trick is bute for 4 days off for 3 days, and 3 to 4 grams once a day. NOT 1 or 2 grams split up.
They get no ulcers this way.
Nerving, in my opinion is fine. Find someone that does a lot of them. It is a simple and easy procedure, if the right Vet does it. Standing up is the way ours are done. it is about a 45 min surgery.
The only thing to be careful of, are abcesses in the feet. Keep off rocky ground. We have had horses jump, hunt,race, till they were in their 20’s that have been nerved.

[Linny]

I saw this thread iin March but was mostly lurking then, and had no significant contribution. I was so sad to read it. Sice them I have “met” Elizabeth here on the board and found that her horse was right here in my area. I am SO happy that he’s doing well and Elizabeth’s post about air transit was about Buster. Its nice to hear of a happy ending.

[FatLilPony]

woops didn’t read the good news! CONgrats! so are you riding him now?

*Callin me mam’ is like puttin’ an elevator in an outhouse…it just don’t belong.

[Louise]

Elizabeth, there are many options for horses with navicular syndrome these days, besides shoeing. Nerving is sometimes a viable option and these days they don’t numb the entire foot, so that there is feeling there. There are also many medications and injections available, isoxuprine and Adequan both have been used to alleviate the pain caused by navicular.

I have a 26 year old gelding with navicular syndrome. I have him in the Tennessee Navicular Shoe, which works wonders for him. I realize that nothing works for every horse, but these shoes might be worth looking into. I don’t believe that they are quite as expensive as what you are talking about, and he goes a normal 6 weeks in them.

Please email me about the Cornell option. My address is given below.