The impossible situation -- Dangerous Horse, and Humane Solution

[LMH]

really really impossible

I am looking for “head” responses not emotional babble heart responses because of the possible severity of this problem

I have a 5yo wb. i have owned him for 3 years. He is aggressive-and I mean dangerous aggressive. I have had more than 5 different trainers help me with him-including great cowboys. He has moments of semi good and manageable behavior-but the moments are brief and fleeting.

He won’t jump and is not inclined for dressage…not a pasture ornament and not a pleasure or trail horse.

He has attacked me, pinned me in a stall, picked me up by my coat and thrown me…he bites, rears, strikes…

Now he was manageable to ride-but again, would stop at jumps, poles, shut down and if pressed lay down. He has never learned to lunge-attacks, strikes, lays down.

NOW to compound matters he is not sound on 3 legs-2 rear and 1 front…I can’t do a lameness workup because he won’t lunge or jog…trust me MANY professionals have tried unsuccesfully to get him to do this.

I can pull blood for EPM, lymes,etc but at the end he is still a reall bugger…

I have had him tested and he was gelded properly so not the issue.

What in the WORLD do you do with this situation…he is a risk to have at my farm, a risk to sell, a risk to donate…and no volunteers have stepped up to the plate…

what to do…

Life is too short to dance with ugly men

[Edited to make title more descriptive so those who need such a thread in the future may be able to find this one more easily]

[This message was edited by Portia on Apr. 09, 2002 at 11:47 AM.]

[jacksmom]

he does sound like he’s just ‘not right’.

a lot of folks will have a hard time understanding that, he is fortunately a very rare find. in my lifetime with horses i have only run into one other like this, so i know what you are talking about.

this gelding belonged to my great uncle and my grandfather brought him in for me to work with. after he settled in i tried for a month, he didn’t respond to anything, and i’d handled stallions at this point. i’d successfully worked with (wonderful) full siblings of this horse. after some pretty close calls and bruises, i told my granddad, forget it - this horse was going to kill somebody. he brought in a professional trainer, i gave her a full briefing (which she rolled her eyes at) the gelding broke her arm, nasty compound fracture and cracked 6 ribs.

we had him humanely put down, this horse wasn’t an accident waiting to happen - there wouldn’t have been anything “accidental” about it. broke our hearts to do, but it was the right thing.

-jacksmom

[Badger]

LMH, I applaud you for making a thoughtful, well researched decision that was, I’m sure, not easy for you emotionally but from what you’ve written sounds like the best possible one in this situation. It is exactly what I would have done myself. Any horse that acted like this one has, despite good care and training and second and third and forth chances, must be so tormented by living in captivity that the life has become literally a torture to him. It takes a good horseperson to meet the situation head on and relieve the horse from a situation he was so poorly suited to. And it was responsible and right that you ensured that animal you knew to be dangerous was not sent off to be someone else’s problem, but instead the end of his life was used to help other horses in the future. I know this must have been a really tough time for all involved, but you have my respect and admiration for the way you handled a tough situation.

And by posting the story on a public forum, you have made others aware of some of the options available if they are ever faced with a similar impossible situation.

[[hugs]]

[Melzy]

Obviously I posted before the outcome was read. Thank you for sharing your story so that others can benefit from it. Best wishes to you.

[Sonesta]

Been offline for a while birthing babies and just found this thread. I, too, wanted to add my admiration for your ability to make a very tough decision with care, love and thoughtfulness for your horse and others around him. You did the right and only thing you could have done for him. May he rest in peace.

“Find something you love & call it work.”

[SLW]

LMH- Hugs to you for doing the “hard thing” which was the right thing. You spent a great deal of time and money trying to make the horse right and you should have comfort in that knowledge.

Again, hugs my friend.

SLW
“It is I.”

[LMH]

Clarice-that is an intersting option…which university is it??? are there others???

Life is too short to dance with ugly men

[Miniwelsh]

I am so sorry for the loss of your horse and what you went through. You sound like a very caring horse owner. You can be proud to know that because of your difficult decision, something good may come out of it because of the “mock surgery”. There are some horses that do not have a place here on earth but still deserve to leave it with dignity and I feel that your horse not only left with dignity but also with meaning.

Behind every good woman lies a trail of men

[Taryn1]

This is an awful (although rather clear cut) situation, but now I’m wondering. Is there clinical evidence of mental illness in animals? Am I extremely dense and obviously not paying attention, or have there been cases or studies on psychosis in horses? Can a horse be ‘insane’?

www.foalcams.com

[Jaysee]

I can not even imagine being around a horse as dangerous as this. We have the cutest mare here, looks like a sweetie, but she is evil, and she is scary… BUT she respects when enough is enough. As I said, I can’t imagine anything worse than THIS type of behavior. I think (for all parties involved), euthanasia might be the answer. Is it worth it to put yourself (and others) in harm’s way? Is it worth the expense if there is basically no hope that he will “turn around”? Sounds like he is getting worse as he gets older. As far as donating him, that would be very risky, especially to a school. Would you want students with limited behavioral experience (no offense to any Equine Majors …) trying to “re-train” him? Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Seems as if the cons outweigh the pros

[LMH]

I bought him as a coming 2yo-he was so young and yes was a pill back then. He was also not gelded-and remedied that immediately. But, in all my glory and ignorance thought he was young and could be “changed”…I also did NOT realize the severity of the problem.

Life is too short to dance with ugly men

[Marieke]

LMH that was a tough and brave decision! And I’m glad you did it.

good luck!

Marieke
www.boreashorses.com

[system]

I feel for ya girl, but (reading another thread brought this to mind) what about putting him on Prozac?

I’m sorry, this really isn’t funny, but I find that humor can usually clear the clouds enough to see some light.

Hmmm… Seriously though, what about it? I’ve never had a horse like you’ve described, and I KNOW you’ve tried all your resources. Duh, that’s why you’re here. You’ll come to the right conclusion, and you know where you can get support!

You have to be smarter than the horse, and since that will never happen, pretend you are.

[Tin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daventry:

Can you honestly say this horse would be happier being alive then put out of his misery?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think this is the key right here. The horse is not happy, he’s not happy with himself, with his life and with his job, you’ve tried to fix this and kudos to you for sticking with it but their are something we just can’t fix.

This horse has had the best life he could of had, he doesn’t know it and probably will never know it but he’s been given more chances than most people would have given him. Something like this has to be physcological, you’ve explored everyother option and aside from keeping him drugged to the gills for the rest of his natural life I think there is only one thing to do.

You have my complete support with what you decide. No matter what we say it is truely your descision for what is best for the horse.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up. No use being a damned fool about it” -W.C. Fields

[Erin]

LMH, I know you’ve gotten a lot of responses, and it sounds like you have already found a solution. But you might consider changing your subject line to include something about “dangerous, aggressive horse” or something like that.

There are some vets and other very knowledgeable types who just skim the boards and probably wouldn’t click on this topic without knowing what it’s about. This is such a difficult and interesting topic, and I’d be interested to hear if anyone knows about what physical problems could cause this.

[hitchinmygetalong]

My hat is off to you for a wise decision. I never thought of that type of “donation” - it makes wonderful sense!

You did all you could for this poor animal, and you allowed him a peaceful and dignified end.

Good luck to you in the future.

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship.”
-Louisa May Alcott

[Beezer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tin:
I can only wish if faced with the same situation, I can do the same thing. You have my full respect, admiration and support (as always).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Faced with an unbelievably difficult situation, you made a wise and, yes, extremely humane choice. Big hugs to you.

“When I can’t ride anymore, I shall still keep horses as long as I can hobble about with a bucket and wheelbarrow. When I can’t hobble, I shall roll my wheelchair out to the fence of the field where my horses graze, and watch them.” – Monica Dickens

[LMH]

The results

I spoke to the intern today and, as promised, here is what I learned…

He was VERY appreciative of the opportunity to work on my horse-they were able to practice several procedures…thank goodness in that it gave some purpose to the whole impossible situation.

Unfortunately nothing was discovered from what they were able to see…he did not have a hidden testicle or anything like that…I did have him tested for this but you always question until you know for sure…

I believe that is about as much closure as I am going to get-

Life is too short to dance with ugly men

[LMH]

really really impossible

I am looking for “head” responses not emotional babble heart responses because of the possible severity of this problem

I have a 5yo wb. i have owned him for 3 years. He is aggressive-and I mean dangerous aggressive. I have had more than 5 different trainers help me with him-including great cowboys. He has moments of semi good and manageable behavior-but the moments are brief and fleeting.

He won’t jump and is not inclined for dressage…not a pasture ornament and not a pleasure or trail horse.

He has attacked me, pinned me in a stall, picked me up by my coat and thrown me…he bites, rears, strikes…

Now he was manageable to ride-but again, would stop at jumps, poles, shut down and if pressed lay down. He has never learned to lunge-attacks, strikes, lays down.

NOW to compound matters he is not sound on 3 legs-2 rear and 1 front…I can’t do a lameness workup because he won’t lunge or jog…trust me MANY professionals have tried unsuccesfully to get him to do this.

I can pull blood for EPM, lymes,etc but at the end he is still a reall bugger…

I have had him tested and he was gelded properly so not the issue.

What in the WORLD do you do with this situation…he is a risk to have at my farm, a risk to sell, a risk to donate…and no volunteers have stepped up to the plate…

what to do…

Life is too short to dance with ugly men

[Edited to make title more descriptive so those who need such a thread in the future may be able to find this one more easily]

[This message was edited by Portia on Apr. 09, 2002 at 11:47 AM.]

[Ghazzu]

Thanks for doing the hard and right thing, and not foisting the problem off on someone else.