Yet AGAIN another ‘pensioned’ stallion dies of ‘due to the infirmities of old age.’
Really? He was only 26! MANY horses go on to live LONG lives!
WHY have so many of these pensioned-but-not-VERY-old-stallions being euthanized?
I guess I’m missing something here, having personally known some riding horses from same person/farm that lived to be: 35, 29, 36, 30.5.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/226563/dual-classic-winner-leading-sire-thunder-gulch-dies
Plenty of horses don’t make it to 30 even with the best of care. 26 is a good long run.
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I also lament all the pensioned stallions lost to “the infirmities of old age” without any other specific details. That said, I’m not sure that we are entitled to any more information on these horses. Sad in some ways, but true. It doesn’t matter that we loved them, followed them, wished the best for them, etc. In the end, they belong to someone else. And someone else is caring for them at the end and knows them best of all. And makes the very important decisions on their behalf.
We aren’t privy to all inside information. Of course not.
I do wish for more details, though. But I realize that I’m not entitled to them.
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My OTTB gelding was off the track at three, had a long healthy life as a dressage horse but also passed at 26. He was diagnosed w/ atrial fib at about 18, was in a work program of varying degrees until about 24. My opinion is only based on anecdotal evidence, but it seems to me that TBs do not live as long as some other breeds.
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My warhorse was the picture of health when he dropped dead of a massive coronary event at 26. Does that mean I did something wrong?
Racing is hard on a horse; breeding 100+ mares a year isn’t easy, either.
PPID and EMS have become well established in the breed and are real challenges for these aging stallions. Arthritis from old injuries can be another killer.
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Though I wish we knew more to I don’t doubt for a moment they did what was in the best interest of Thunder Gulch. Take into account racing when he was young plus breeding for many years and that takes a toll on the horse. 26 is a good age for a horse to reach.
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Although there are certainly quite a few horses that live beyond 26, and I’ve known several that are still working at a surprising level in their mid-to late twenties (and even into early 40’s in very, very rare instances), on a percentage/population basis I think those horses are a great deal less common than you think they are. More common in some breeds (Morgans, ponies), less common in others (TB’s), but “average” life expectancy by most references I can find is 25-30, and that fits my experience pretty well. A 25 year old horse is like an 80 year old person. Sure, some of them are doing triathalons or competing on Jeopardy, but a whole lot more of them are either dead already or in such a state that if they were a horse the humane choice would be euthanasia.
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I am in the crowd feeling that 26 is a good age for any horse. Guess I don’t understand what seems to be anger over euthanizing an older horse after he’d been pensioned. Eventually stallions will be pensioned from breeding either because of fertility or physical infirmities. Then their infirmities will continue to catch up with them until the kindest thing for them is to let them rest rather than continue to struggle.
Perhaps in saying the infirmities of old age they are allowing the public to remember the horse that was rather than the horse that is. I think we all know how hard it is to watch a beloved equine slowly go down hill.
Sleep well Thunder Gulch; you left a nice legacy.
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Thunder Gulch indeed left a nice legacy. RIP, great one.
I actually think the phrase, “euthanized due to the infirmities of old age” is a kind and dignified way to put it. Perhaps glossing over the gory details. I have had several horses live into their 20s and a couple into their 30s. Some ended life suddenly (colic, cardiac event) but for some it was difficult decline involving great effort in terms of care.
I have no doubt that these old men get the best care a horse could. It is a gift to give a horse a dignified end. And no, we don’t need the details.
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Infirmities of old age can mean anything from advanced arthritis making movement extremely painful to cancer causing colic. We’re not privy to those details but I agree with the others that 26 is definitely a full life span.
I have a 25 year old WB that’s still sound and working regularly. I consider myself extremely lucky for every good day I have with him. I know statistically I probably only have a couple years left with him at the most.
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I have had several horses euthanized here on the farm. None lived past 27, even the Arab (almost 27) (had cancer in upper airway). The oldest I have buried here was 27 OTTB g who was euthanized for cervical arthritis. I am also in the camp mid 20’s is a long run for many horses, especially the OTTBs.
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So many times in my life I have had to eat my words, or at least rue my thoughts. I felt the way you do, that something seemed amiss with all of these stallions seeming to die in their mid-twenties, and sometimes in their early twenties.
Well, Karma’s a B***. My twenty-five-year-old Thoroughbred mare dropped dead this past October. Other than the beginnings of metabolic syndrome which the vet was monitoring and which was still minor, she was healthy, bright-eyed, had a good appetite and was active. Last week, I had my twenty-seven-year-old euthanized. Like the owners of Thunder Gulch, I would describe my decision to put her down as “due to the infirmities of old age.” She had DSLD and was uncomfortable, her appetite was depressed and she was losing weight. There was no good outcome; no bright future or hope of better health for her, only increasing discomfort, so I made that call and I do not regret it.
I always expected my horses to live a healthy life into their thirties. I had three sweet mares and one who can be nasty, I call her Beelzebub sometimes. Two sweet ones are gone too early and I imagine Beelzebub, who looks great at twenty-five, will probably live up to my expectations of thirty.
I could have put Lacie down a year earlier and it would not have been a bad thing. I understand now how a caring stallion manager might make that hard call a little earlier rather than later to save his charge from suffering. We don’t know if it is something like my mare where there is a frog-in-the-hot-water aspect of slowing increasing discomfort. When does it become more than discomfort? When does it become outright pain? Horses are stoic and we cannot always see the difference and I know I did not want to wait until I was sure she was in pain or worse, agony. What would be the point of that? There are so many age-related problems which can ruin quality of life that I cannot fault anyone with an older horse for choosing to put it down humanely and I will no longer question the death of a stallion in his twenties.
I could have just pressed “Like” for JJ’sLuckyTrain post because she/he said it so well: “I have no doubt that these old men get the best care a horse could. It is a gift to give a horse a dignified end.”
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I, like many here, believe 26 to be a good age. My heart horse made to to 24 with excellent care. In the last year he developed some kind of cancer, never clearly identified, but probably some type of lymphoma. He was not doing terribly poorly, but clearly going to suffer at some point in the future. I did what I believe was the right thing for my guy.
If I recall correctly,I remember reading American Pharaoh was first turned out next to Thunder Gulch, so that the quieter older TG would keep the younger guy a bit more settled. This sounds like TG was maintained in a top-rate environment, not shuttled off to a less than stellar part of the farm.
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Recent photos of him he was in good health but quite ribby in appearance. He was very well cared for at Ashford and loved by their team and I am leaning towards the fact that perhaps he wasn’t eating as well and maintaining his condition as well. I have also seen aged horses get impaction colic from their lack of chewing abilities. I am very confident that Ashford would not want their prized stallion to suffer long term as their quality of life declines. 26 is a great age for a pensioned stallion.
May he rest in peace, very sad day
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My last three horses haven’t even made it to 26. One dropped dead at 12, the other was kicked in the stifle at 12, and our last one had cervical arthritis that came out of nowhere hard and fast when he was 20 and he was PTS this July at 23 after years of trying to manage it. After looking back, I now know we should have put him to sleep much sooner, and regret taking as long as we did. He did not have a dignified ending.
All TBs. All in excellent care, 24/7 turnout with grass in summer, round bale, herd life…
26 is a ripe old age, IMHO, especially for a horse that worked as hard as Thunder Gulch did. I have no doubt that this decision was a conscientious one, and he was in the best of care, and that this did not come easily for his connections.
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My TB gelding died last spring at age 25. He was in good health and looked great. Definitely didn’t look his age. He had been somewhat colicky the whole time I owned him (since he was 6 years old). A few weeks before he died, he had a colic that was worse than usual but he pulled through. Then he colicked again and didn’t survive that one.
I think the common thread amongst us is better a month too early then a day to late
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One of my favorites in the 90s. Hard to believe his Derby win was 23 years ago!
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Stallions bred a lot I’d imagine have a lot arthritis, live cover all season is hard on their bodies. Plus their residual issues from racing.
Great article about his career, racing and at stud. One tough guy!
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/226564/the-thunder-rolled
