I had to put my horse down when it was obvious that she could not get back up off the ground. I had another horse that had an infection where I spent a fair amount of money working to clear it out. It did not and she died. I am not a stranger to making those decision and I truly understand the notion that there is a dollar limit we all have in our head. It was made very clear to me when I boarded and had to sign a document stating as much.
Through the red haze my post may have caused, did you miss the âand understand that it wonât ever be a competitive horse again, but could still live a comfortable life..â thought? I would not want to keep a horse alive if it is in severe chronic pain or itâs chance of a quality life is close to nil. I do feel that as an owner, I have some responsibility to at least look into all options before ending a life and yes, because we ask them to compete and increase the chance of injury.
All that said, I do feel that at the top of the sport, when money is involved, yes, quick decisions are made and I am not just talking about Eventing. Iâm certainly not going to fix it, I canât stop horses from getting injured and getting put to death, but as for who I am, Iâd choose to fight for a horse to live as quality life as possible up to the point where it is not good for the horse or economically it is too much to handle.
I would agree. It must be able to live reasonably comfortably, and if you are doing something as extravagant as shipping overseas for a horse show, you should have some serious backup plan to make sure that you are able to do so. Maybe she did in this case, who knows. But if your expecting to bring the horse to a different country to compete but cannot go to just as extremes to save it, you shouldnât be doing it in the first place. Like I said, maybe she did maybe she didnât
I had a horse go down and couldnât get back up. I promised my horses that day I would never do that to a horse again if I could help it. It was an awful way to go. It was really too late. Sorry you had to deal with that.
the horse I posted above which had a thrombus like Box Cutie? I spent $3500 on him in his last two weeks before we diagnosed the issue. I paid for a colic surgery this summerâŠmoney is not my issue. Quality of life, yes.
top show horses are worth so much no one even thinks twice at spending money on fixing them. Box Cutie was going to go home and be a broodmare if she wasnât soundâŠof course her babies would be very valuable. Far more than the cost of a rehab and flight home. Not to mention the top horses I know have all been appreciated well into their old ages and mourned when euthed. Top riders know they are nothing without those horses.
the outcome was not fixable. Gangrene is not an acceptable outcome and it is inevitable with dead tissue without amputation. And horses canât do three legs. I donât see why anyone is debating this now we know the diagnosis.
It doesnât sound like commenters here have ever dealt in real time with a catastrophic injury. Do you really think you can get a vet to guarantee the horse will be able âto live a comfortable lifeâ on the front end? I donât find myself so morally superior that I can criticize anyone for euthanizing any horse that can no longer live a useful life. This idea that we are morally inferior if we canât or donât spend thousands and thousands of dollars to keep a pasture ornament is what leads to many, many horses finding themselves in bad situations toward the end of life.
True lots of horses survive soft tissue injuries but that mare had more than your typical tendon or ligament strain. She had a catastrophic injury. It wasnât an issue of money or even time. It was doing whatâs fair to the horse. Not even debatable IMO.
Yes ~ we had a horrible experience with a lovely pony who sustained a catastrophic soft tissue injury in his front left ankle (fetlock) while he was on lease. The leasee sent him back to us and when our vet examined the pony, he agreed with us that there was no opportunity for any quality of life, even with surgery to attempt to fuse the joint. We euthanized the pony at the age of 7.
When the leasee found out (after âdisposingâ of the pony when he went lame), she flipped out and called us something like pony killers on social media. She thought we should have made the pony a pasture pet and didnât seem to understand that that option was impossible. It was a devastating experience. :no:
It also has to be considered that when a horse is too unsound to work, being a pasture pet may not be completely comfortable and pain-free either. Just like in humans, a serious injury (even after the acute stage âhealsâ) can set one up for a lifetime of arthritis and painâsometimes not entirely controllable.
I just saw this on Facebook. Iâm a fan of Ryan Wood and as a resident of NJ who has been to the Horse Park more times than she can count, I was gutted to read this.
And even if the horse is pasture sound unless you can ensure that the horse will stay in your control for the rest of itâs life, I have no issue with euthanasia. How often do you hear of horseâs sold on as âpasture puffsâ only to end up in a working home?
My old boy is 22 and arthritic enough to be unsound under saddle, if I canât afford to keep him any more heâs going in a hole rather than risk him ending up with someone who will try to ride him. Heâs quiet and has a high pain tolerance so would endure being in work but eh, not fair.
This really breaks my heart. And hits home. If this can happen to Ryan Wood on an Irish Sport horse then what am I doing going training on my draft cross? We are about 100x more likely to make a mistake.
I think this is an argument that has been going on since the day eventing started. All horse disciplines have some amount of danger and some are worst than others. If you compare it to the advances that other jumping disciplines have(jumpers, hunters), I think itâs comparable to say that they have no many other advances other. Iâve seen new jumping cup designs made and used in the ring where it allows for the poles to fall down easier when a certain amount of force is used etc.
For sure more needs to be done, more will always need to be done. The key is WHAT? and how? Iâm sure anyone who can come up with some possible options would be listen to. This is an issue thatâs easier to complain about than helping find solutions for.
Why would anyone assume that Box Qutie was euthanized because her connections didnât want to spend the money to ship her home if she wasnât âusefulâ anymore?
The horse had a catastrophic injury, developed complications, and was euthanized in the interest of preventing her from suffering in the face of an extremely poor prognosis.
I have seen absolutely NOTHING that indicates that they were unwilling to provide for her care (and if appropriate, find a retirement home) if sheâd had a decent prognosis for survival.
Animals live in the moment. They arenât people and they donât think like people. They donât think âwell, Iâm in a hell of a lot of misery now but thankfully my owner loves me so someday maybe Iâll feel good enough to be able to hobble around the pasture and keep him/her company.â They just know theyâre suffering, and unfortunately sometimes the kindest thing to do is end their pain through euthanasia.
You know suggestions have been ignored or they just appear to have been ignored because suggestions werenât implemented without knowing why they were not?
Seriously? There is more to do but this statement is just plain not true⊠the safety improvements over the past 10 years in every aspect of eventing are truly significant.
