Elizabeth-I am so happy for you and Buster. It’s really nice to hear something that could have been so gutwrenching, have a positive outcome. Good luck to the two of you in the future.
Linda
PS-Sounds like you need to hang on to your boyfriend…He sounds really considerate of you!
and ask the college not to put him down, but find a good home where he can live his days eating and being sassy. Auburn Vet school in Alabama never put the horses down that people donate. Some will get well and put through a sale, but the ones they cannot well stays at the school and teached students what is what and also farriers.
See if Cornell Univ will do this, or just send they guy to Auburn. I have a cat named Buster…it breaks my heart that your horse is not doing well. I had a mare who contracted EPM. IT’s not fun…I’m sorry.
BTW- Elizabeth, you seem like a very smart person who cares a lot about Buster, which is why I am sure that whatever decision you make will be a good one. Good luck.
I am so sorry, elizabeth, that you will have to deal with something so awful, and he is only 11. 
My only thoughts might be:
…a retirement farm for horses, where he could simply be turned out 24/7, buted as needed, sad as that may be, and just shoed to keep him comfortable, no riding stress, unless YOU dictate how much and when, etc., and don’t take no for an answer when you ask his new “owners” to do something with him.
<<Ah, sorry, just read your latest post about his turnout troubles. Has he ever been on 24 hour turnout for an extended amount of time to let him adjust to it? To let him get the idea that he has time to do more than just run? Or have you done that, and he still just runs and runs and runs…>>
…therapeutic riding sounds good also, as long as he would only be doing minimal work, or as much sa he can eaily tolerate.
…possibly a pasture buddy for someone with another elderly/pasture ornament horse–someone you know and trust and that you may have an agreement about what happens if XXX occurs, etc. You want to be able to move him out, change things for him if needed, not just sitting at home worrying.
<<Again, the turnout thing, hmmm>>
…I also agree with what heidi said about shoeing–if you think the bill is high, just imagine what some one who is not attached to him as you are will think. Not pleasant to imagine.
…if nothing else seems viable, maybe the best thing would sadly to be to give him to Cornell. It would be insanely difficult, but like you said, the last thing either of you needs is a situation in which you would be worried and he might not be receiving adequate care.
Good luck, I am so sorry you have deal with such an awful situation.
[This message was edited by Kellybird on Mar. 03, 2001 at 10:31 PM.]
Re the turnout/idiot thing… you may think you have already tried everything, but…I have seen many, many cases in which too much “care” has inadvertently led to just the catch-22 situation you are in, Elizabeth. It sounds like you would have little to lose by considering the following. In many “full-care” situations, individual turnout is the norm, and often, in smaller paddocks…or coming off a regular work routine or any regime that results in fitness, many horses will become impatient with t/o, bothered by flies, lonely, etc–and as we all know, will run the fence line like, well…IDIOTS…! Whatever causes it, the running habit can be a real pain to deal with, but I have (in several situations, not just isolated cases) known them to be cured of this–think of it as “deprograming?” The complication that he gets lame from this might even help you a little, strange as it may sound…I would suggest, finding a new barn with huge, grassy turnout, where horses are kept 24/7 outside, with pleasant and very placid turnout companions (the more the merrier), and tranquilizing him before turning him out?? If he runs, give him some bute, a cold hose session, and turn him back out…if he is sore enough and out enough, he won’t run forever, even if he does run for a mighty long time (days, and days)…and if he is out long enough on R&R, he may even cure himself of some of the soundness problems that have sucked you into this cycle of restrictive T/O, pent up energy, running, lameness, more restrictive T/O, more pent up energy, etc…This may sound drastic and, but I would even go so far as to suggest that you have those expensive shoes pulled off and let him go barefoot for an extended period --months, and months-- during which time he gets NO work, and let his feet find thier natural balance (refer to the COTH artical several months ago on the natural foot, especially the parts concerning navicular)( I assume he gets a biotin supplement to keep his feet as healthy as they can be)…If you are able to try this, you might just end up with a drastically different horse than one whose only options at the moment seem to be veterinary research and the grave, or an uncertain future at the hands of adoptees.
Oh elizabeth, am so sorry, this is very hard. We tried to keep our old guy going. Did Palesin and Arquel every 6 mo. It did help with both the ring bone & navicular. He would be slightly off, but enjoyed life. He made the decision for us one day. He too ran when out, played so very hard. Rotated his coffin bone thru the sole. He was in retirement, and had a stall. Like you we could not let someone, hopefully give him the correct care. Guess what I am trying to say is that retirement can be in many forms. If you are able to oversee it, and have the final say, it is a good option. No matter what your decision, everyone here understands…
It will be difficult. Should you go the route of adopting out, there are so many wonderful places that are realistic about the potential for a comfortable life for your animal. Do the best thing for your horse and do the research, make your decision and try to not have second guesses work you over.
Look into the many equine rescue and adoption agencies available. Most (especially the reputable ones) will be brutally frank with you about what is right and wrong in your horses situation.
Steer clear of the agencies that put a prominent price tag on their adoption animals. The most sincere rescue organizations will save any horse without putting cost first but only if the animal will have a happy and comfortable life. That is why they try so hard to solicite funding for their operations and limit the number of horses they are responsible for.
In doubt, ask your vet or your state’s veterinary licensing authority for a list of rescue or adoption agencies. They will know which ones are shady.
http://www.equinenet.org/ has many links to equine rescue sites but don’t limit yourself to places that have internet access. Steer clear of places that are obviously reselling the horse, with the “adoption fee” listed. It takes a load of money to operate a rescue organization. Reputable ones spread that cost out evenly and don’t charge varying fees per horse. They will be far more concerned with how well the adoptive party is able to provide, not how much they can get for the horse.
I so, so, so meant to post the good news as soon as it happened. And by the “good news,” I mean Buster is here, Buster is here. Thank you everyone for your good wishes. I could not BE any happier!!
Just to bring everyone up to speed, after I posted this thread in March and got everyone’s views, I decided to give Buster to Cornell. I just couldn’t stand the thought of sending Buster to meet a fate that I could not control. Better he have an ending I could control. So I called Cornell and told them to expect Buster in May or in September.
Then I spoke with Jumphigh83, my trainer, who was in Ocala, and she said “whatever you want to do, elizabeth, I will back you up. but give me some time with him - I can make him sound when I get back from Florida.”
I agreed, and jumphigh83 got back from Florida in the middle of March, and she took control of the situation. She put Buster on a regimen of Bute (four, then three, then two, then one per day, then alternating days), she watched his turn-out, and she made sure he was ridden - either just walking or w-t or later w-t-c. ( Mind you, she did not charge me a dime more than normal for all this! ) She told me little bits and pieces of the plan as it progressed, but she kept me just enough in the dark so that I didn’t obsess or worry. Whenever we spoke, she was positive.
Within three weeks of jumphigh83 taking control, Buster was w-t-c sound, within five weeks he was basically sound (though “ehhh” in the corners), and within six weeks he was almost 100%.
At that point, all notions of giving Buster away left me. I couldn’t do that to a sound horse. I decided to keep him - even though he was on the east coast - he was sound, and he was happy. Paying board and bills for a horse that was 3,000 miles away was a small price to pay for the relief of having a sound, ALIVE horse.
Unfortunately, in late April, the little girl who was riding Buster 2 days a week fractured a vertebra while riding her horse so she had to stop riding Buster. Then, two weeks ago, the other girl who was riding him three days a week sent me an e-mail saying “Buster is too much for me, now that I am the only one riding him.”
Though I normally would have FREAKED out with that news (since I was in CA and had no clue how to otherwise get Buster taken care of), I actually saw the e-mail as a blessing. My new boyfriend had been asking me DAILY for the past four weeks why my horse was on the east coast and I was on the west coast, and I had been making excuses. ( “We’ll bring him out after the summer, when it is cooler” or “I might move back east” or “Jumphigh83 is the only trainer who has the patience to deal with Buster’s soundness issues.” ) Now that I no longer had a rider for him, it was like a message from God that now was the time to bring him out.
I still, however, was hedging my bets: Would I be able to find a shipper? The truck trip took 6 days. . . etc., etc. The flight brokers were so unpredictable since they could only do a load with three horses. . . . And was Buster truly sound enough to do the 6 day truck trip?? How was I going to get Buster’s trunks packed? Maybe we should wait until Thanksgiving, when I went home and could pack him.
David (the new boyfriend) quickly took control, saying “Elizabeth, call a flight broker, and get this horse out here that way. You are not putting that horse on a truck for six days.” I tried to explain to him that flights were hard to get this time of year, but he refused to shut up until I called a flight broker (Alex Nichols). The surprise? The very day after I called the broker, they called back to say Buster could go seven days later.
In response to my next fear that we’d never get all Buster’s stuff shipped out here, David said “ask someone to pack his stuff. If they forget to ship something, we’ll buy new stuff out here.” In response to my fear that I would never be able to get Buster to Newark cheaply, David said “what’s another $400? Suck it up.”
From there, the pieces fell right into place: AAJumper’s trainer had a spot open in her barn (the biggest stall in the barn with an attached pen (good for Buster’s arthritic bones)), Jumphigh83 totally took charge of getting Buster to Newark (even though she was in the middle of an AWAY(!!) show), AAJumper’s trainer totally took care of getting Buster from LAX to the farm (even though she was in the middle of a show!), and my parents drove to the barn to pack all of my stuff (even though they have no clue what to pack for a horse). It was perfect - every single worry ( “how do I get him to the airport,” “how do I get him home,” “how do I get him packed???” ) totally took care of itself. Not to get overly religious, but it is clear that this move was directed by a force other than me. 
Fast forward to last Thursday: I got a cell phone call from AAJumper’s trainer saying she had gotten the precious cargo (BUSTER!) at LAX, and she was on the way home. I took Friday off and went to see Buster. He is there, he is happy, and I am thrilled.
[I] And having gone through this past winter of lameness, the good news is that I now have insight: Every time I have brought Buster to a new barn, he comes up lame. I have never understood it, and I have always freaked out. Having seen what he did in the winter, though, I totally understand now - Buster ran like an idiot on Friday and Saturday in the turn-out pen, because he was in a new exciting place. Given that that is how he made himself DEAD LAME this past winter (which is what started this thread back in March), I was prepared for him to be lame, and I was Zen about it.
He has been on 4 grams of Bute for Thurs., Fri., and Sat., and he is getting his legs wrapped at night. I have made my peace with the fact that he might be lame for the next seven days. I am totally prepared to be calm and to explain to AAJumper’s trainer (my new trainer) that this is how Buster operates, and he might be lame for a week, and we might want to inject his hocks in a week or two, when he stops being lame and is ready to begin work.
(I say “when he stops being lame,” but he actually is not lame. He was a bit gimpy yesterday, but we found out that he has not been EATING his Bute b/c he doesn’t like the feed that the Bute is mixed with. So, given the running he did the first two days he was here, he, by rights, should be DEAD LAME, and he is only mildly gimpy (thank God, knock on wood, etc.)) [/I]
I realize this is long and rambling, but I wanted to share with all of you the good news. You all were so good to me when I struggled to figure out what to do, back in March. Who would have thought things would work out like this? Granted, Buster might be lame when he comes off Bute in a couple days, but now I know that no matter how lame he is, with a program and patience, it is very likely fixable.
Thank you all for your support. Without this network on the BB, I would have been lost in March. LOST. And, without Jumphigh83 and AAJumper, this story would have had a very different ending. Many thanks to all of you for the support, both back in March and now. I am so lucky to have all of you. 
I am also thrilled that Buster was able to be made sound! There is nothing as horrible as having to decide how uncomfortable a horse really is when they aren’t sound. I still wonder if there was more I could have done for my old mare rather than putting her down…but that was in the days before Adequan and Legend and other things.
Fortunately, we have an excellent veterinarian that we use at our barn, and he is known for being an expert at soundness issues. And our trainer is really good at keeping horses maintained, so I’m sure Buster will be very well taken care of!
Thanks for the support.
Nikkibaby, the problem is that if Auburn gets Buster sound (which they likely will, b/c he does get sound with the proper shoes. . . for a while) and then they sell him, I will forever worry.
This is a horse that goes lame if he is not shod every 4-5 weeks. And he is expensive to shoe - $150!! Every 4-5 weeks. I will worry that the person who buys him is not going to be willing to spend that much money on his feet so frequently.
What if Auburn sell him to a family that wants a horse, but tries to cut corners on his feet? He’ll go dead lame, and I just cannot face putting him through it. And God forbid they cannot afford to get him sound so they send him to a sale. He has been too good to me to ever subject him to that risk. This is what I really am worrying about.
That said, you gave me good advice and I will call Auburn on Monday, and see if they want him on the condition that when they are done using him, they will put him down. Thank you for the tip.
Thank you, doubletake. This is hard, but I thank you for your kind words.
My poor fluffy horse. . . .
Those are good suggestions, Merry and Kellybird. Shipping him to __(wherever you live) would be a good idea. You could check up on him every once in a while. Many people want a companion and would love to take care of a horse. You could possibly split the shoeing costs with somebody who could provide a loving home for him.
I didn’t notice p.2!!! But I think that if you have the time to try it, the extended t/o, supervised “no” care is the way to go! Let him race the 40 y/o’s and all the rest—they won’t, don’t, really won’t run FOREVER—you just have to find a barn where the owners know that (ou’d be surprised at how many don’t)–the fact that your trainer’s husband really believes that he can be “brought back” to use reinforces my hunch that with less, not more ($$) care, your horse may indeed eventually return to work–be forewarned though, nature takes a LONG time to undo what we have unwittingly “done”–it may take a year or so of turnout (feet take about 6-8 months to grow down from the coronary assuming a good hoof suppliment is used) before you will have a “new” horse to evaluate…and in my experience, many TRAINERS are very reluctant to wait that long…
[This message was edited by JustJump on Mar. 04, 2001 at 08:37 AM.]
these difficult decisions. Because you care about Buster, you will make the right decision.
I had to make “the decision” for two horses and two cats within the past few years. It isn’t easy, but I feel that I did make the right decisions - the best ones I could, and I feel at peace. You will, too.
I don’t know what you’ve done with the horse, as this post is really old- but let us know. Why don’t you give him to someone on a free lease, where you retain ownership of the horse? That way, if anything goes wrong you could send him to Cornell although it should be a last resort. They could pay for everything, yet not own the horse so if he ever got into a situation that you were unhappy with you could go to another option. Good luck…
Valerie
~VWiles02@yahoo.com~
Valerie’s home page
Elizabeth, I am so happy to hear about your happy ending. What a wonderful thing for all involved. Buster is a very lucky horse and I sure do hope that you and he have many happy years together. The people here on the forum are wonderful, aren’t they? They always know what words to say and they stick with you, all the way through a crisis. Thank goodness too, for those closest to you during all this, Jumphigh, your parents, your fiance, you needed that complete suppore, without a single weak link.
You, Ms. Elizabeth are a very lucky lady!!!
ljp, i just saw your message. i will check into that, too. I still have the same fears, though. Who really wants a horse with this kind of maintenance? That said, thank you, and I will look into it.
I am no expert (thankfully) in the navicular area. But my vet is also my good friend and she believes quite strongly that Bute should be used sparingly. What I mean is, a dosage like 4 grams of Bute daily for a prolonged period may relieve his navicular pain but may cause other problems like stomach issues. I’m not quoting, just hoping there’s maybe a vet or a person with some experience in this area on the BB that could clarify. Can high doses of Bute cause problems, too?
I think that Merry’s suggestion of feed-leasing may be a good one. That way:
-you would not have to pay the bills
-you would still be in control of where he goes
-if he somehow gets in a situation you don’t like, you can take him out of it because you still own him
For example, you could find a place where a little kid could pay for his food, board, etc. in return for use of him. Then maybe they could sign an agreement where they are only allowed to walk, trot, canter…or whatever is best for him…
Elizabeth,
I feel for you and for Buster, but – bottom line, is that I think you should have him put down yourself. Your options are:
DONATING HIM: I have tried to give horses to Vet schools. At U Cal/Davis, I was all set to sign the papers, then I asked the vet I was dealing with (for the lameness problem) “If this was your horse, would you donate him?” After an awkward pause, the answer came back “No”. Vets know the schools need donations so thay cannot discourage you, but this vet told me about the big field that the research horses are out in. A new horse is at the bottom of the pecking order and if he cannot get out of the way fast enough, he will get kicked and bitten by the others. He will also be pushed out of the way for the feed/hay. Plus, they cannot allow horses out in these fields to have hind shoes on, because of the damage to other horses (and front shoeing is sporadic–not automatic, if a shoe is lost).
This vet made it very clear that donated horses are NOT kept according to the standards you and I would keep them. For a lame horse, to me, donation is not a good option.
GIVING THE HORSE AWAY: I agree with all of the above. No matter how careful you try to be, you cannot know that Buster will not end up in a very bad situation.
RETIRING HIM YOURSELF: Retirement pastures are not cheap. And if you are 3000 miles away, you cannot keep an eye on him. And, as you said, he will run himself lame.
TAKING HIM TO CALIFORNIA: I have been a beginning attorney in California. I know how hard I worked for a (relatively) modest amount. I certainly had little time to spend at a stable for the first couple of years. That is a LONG van ride for a lame horse. And board is horrendous out there – you would have to have him in a program to keep him worked during the week, since there is no turn out… (and on weekends when you work both Sat and Sun). We are talking probably $800 + a month just in board/training. Could you do it? Probably. Coupd you do it and also support another horse which can do the things you want to do? Probably not. Buster is 11. He easily could live 15 more years. Just think of the escalation in board bills by the year 2016…
I know my view is not a popular one. It is a pragmatic one. I think that we owe our animals a good and pain free life, and if we cannot provide it, then we owe them a dignified and pain free death. Giving him away to an uncertain future is just avoiding making the hard decision yourself. But, ultimately, it may not be the kindest thing you can do.
[This message was edited by PamM on Mar. 04, 2001 at 08:39 AM.]
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