WWYD - Struggling to afford senior

[SMF11]

I would move heaven and earth to find an alternative to euthanasia, understanding that euthanasia is always an option if moving heaven and earth don’t work. Definitely start with vet and farrier. Consider trying to find a companion home with you paying vet and farrier. If your horse is healthy this could be $50 or so every 6 weeks for a trim and a few hundred once a year for shots and having teeth done.

Is the big cost board? If your horse would be happy in a big field with a bunch of horses, can you do a ton of due diligence and send your horse to a cheaper part of the country? In the northeast people send their horses south. Your vet may have experience with particular barns.

On the one hand I would do everything in my power to not put a (relatively) healthy, happy animal down. But if it was truly a choice between feeding my children or my horse, the horse would lose.OP you will feel better about the decision, I think, if you really know that you’ve done everything you can.

[trubandloki]

@SMF11

If your horse would be happy in a big field with a bunch of horses, can you do a ton of due diligence and send your horse to a cheaper part of the country? In the northeast people send their horses south

I am guessing the OP does not have the four figure price tag it would likely cost to move her horse to another part of the country that might have cheaper board.

[Libby2563]

@trubandloki

@SMF11

If your horse would be happy in a big field with a bunch of horses, can you do a ton of due diligence and send your horse to a cheaper part of the country? In the northeast people send their horses south

I am guessing the OP does not have the four figure price tag it would likely cost to move her horse to another part of the country that might have cheaper board.

Yeah and based on this:

@blitz716

(cousins backyard farm so it’s very cheap in terms of board)

it doesn’t sound like there’s that much room to go down in board cost. And in exchange for insignificant (or no) cost savings, OP would lose the ability to monitor the horse in person.

[SharonA1]

@SMF11

the horse would lose

It might be helpful for the OP to think of the horse not as losing, but as gaining freedom from pain, freedom from risk of a bad re-homing (ever), freedom of risk of things getting worse. Humane euthanasia now means that the horse is never, ever put in a position of fear/helplessness/pain again. It is a gift.

[SMF11]

Well . . . if money were no object which is not the case here, it sounds like this horse could live many years, comfortably, in retirement. I am not opposed to euthanasia for financial reasons if someone has no other choices, but I also think it’s important not to make up reasons in order to make ourselves feel better.

I board retirees, and have seen all sides of this question. I have had to tell people it was cruel to not euthanize their horse, and also (from someone worth tens of millions) that they couldn’t euthanize their horses because they were tired of them and wanted to be “done with them”. (In that case I told them it was their right to do so, but then they would have to move the horses to another barn, as I didn’t get into boarding older horses to put down otherwise happy and healthy horses).

Again, I am not saying OP should never euthanize this horse. Just that she should do her absolute best to find an alternative. Don’t crucify me, but I find COTH is often quick to jump on the euthanasia bandwagon. It is absolutely appropriate to euthanize horses, but not appropriate to do so at the drop of a hat.

My vets have worked with me for 15+ years, and I know I don’t keep horses alive that are suffering, or better off being put down.

Also, my vet has said that people draw the line in different places, and I agree with that. One boarder came to me with an abscess, and the owner told me her old barn manager suggested that since the horse was lame, perhaps she’d want to put it down instead of move her horse. (That horse is still with me 10 years later).

I think it’s helpful to consider many points of view, and wanted to share mine, having decades of experience with equine end of life issues.

[hoopoe]

the bottom line is the OP is the head of a household living beyond means. Primary duty is to the two children and the family unit

OP your life has changed and this is now the time to make the best of your situation for both the short and long term. You horse deserves a peaceful safe and compassionate end. YOU deserve peace of mind in knowing you did right by your horse and your family.

carry your love and memories and share that joy and love with your babies and husband.

[KeepStriving]

And Slim just left town.

[candyappy]

@LCDR

There is a place and a time for equine euthanasia, but to kill a happy, peaceful horse is wrong. It is not a gift to the dead horse. It is selfish.

How much more money than you currently make do you need to keep the mare alive?

Instead of counseling euthanasia, we should be talking about a “go fund me” page to save this mare.

@blitz716 Please ignore this whole post. If @LCDR really wanted to be of some help they would come and get the horse and give it a forever home. Not make you feel like dirt.

[McGurk]

Slim left the country.

[endlessclimb]

@SMF11

that they couldn’t euthanize their horses because they were tired of them

If a barn owner EVER told me I could not euthanize an animal that I owned, yeah, I’d be the hell right out of there. Talk about out of line.

[Lah0808]

It’s interesting to me that some people are suggesting that the kindest thing to do in this situation is NOT to put the mare down. This is not a young, healthy horse. It’s a horse in it’s 20s, with physical issues that make it un-rideable and it’s not going to be easy to find a home for. I mean even OP’s family member where she boards is presumably unable to offer this horse a place to stay for free. Even if OP was able to find a suitable free to a good home home, who is to say that home is forever and the mare still doesn’t end up in a very bad place. I just don’t understand what fairy tale home you think is out there. I think in reality they are few and far between and not easy to find.

Also to ponder, people decide to get out of horses all the time. They sell their horse and that’s that. What is someone with an older, retired, not easily placed horse supposed to do if they want to get out of horses? Just keep the horse forever no matter the cost and hope it doesn’t live till 40? I don’t know, I just think there are a LOT worse things than death out there (maybe I’ve been watching too many horse rescues on tiktok) and I would rather put one of mine down than send it down the line and fingers crossed for the best. That feels irresponsible to me.

[McGurk]

I wonder how many of the people protesting elective euthanasia of an aged horse are actually paying board and expenses on a horse long term? Long after it’s been ridable or useful? Or have been responsible for a horse for most or all of its natural life? Or ever actually had one put down?

Or ever failed to address a declining aged horse and then had face it not being able to get up during a sleet storm in January when neither the vet or the back hoe guy could make it to the farm?

Or thought back on a beloved senior equine’s last years and realized that you should have euthed sooner, and that you were keeping the animal alive for your emotional needs, not the horse’s actual needs?

If you can’t answer yes to all the above questions, you do not have an informed opinion and you should avoid inflicting emotional distress on someone who has, and is wrestling with the decision of when to euth.

[lenapesadie]

@Lah0808

Even if OP was able to find a suitable free to a good home home, who is to say that home is forever and the mare still doesn’t end up in a very bad place.

Louder for those in the back.

[endlessclimb]

Not to mention getting rid of a senior horse with health issues is textbook “passing the buck”

[Gardenhorse]

Are there any reputable rescue organizations in your area that may be able to help? Obviously you have to do your due diligence to ensure it is truly a good organization and many only deal with neglect/animal seizure cases and don’t accept owner surrenders, but it may be one more option to look into before making a final decision.

[IPEsq]

Some of this discussion is a cultural issue. We view pets, even very expensive and large ones, as family members. And the fact that horses are pets at all is not a universal. I have visited a fair share of horse farms in Europe, and even some of the ones breeding nice sport horses think of horses as livestock more than family members a lot of the time. Older broodmare that can’t have more foals and isn’t all that useful for the owner as a babysitter, where the pasture land for the mares and foals is leased for part of the year and the rest of the time they operate on small acreage with limited space/stabling. That nice and healthy former broodmare might be put down because it is no longer economical to keep her. And her only problem might be inability to breed any longer. That might not be my personal choice if I had other means, but it’s not my place to judge others for this practice. That pains me less than seeing some awful auction sights here in the states.

I’ve sold, rehomed, and retired horses. I’ve used a good network and some situations worked out better than others. I’ve also had some horses that I would never let out of my control. Including some where we wound up waiting for a “too late” moment. There are lots of starving horses out there too. The OP has a list of not so good choices. There are plenty of possible futures that are less kind than letting this mare go. It’s not like even that option won’t be expensive in the short term.

[SMF11]

@SMF11

that case I told them it was their right to do so, but then they would have to move the horses to another barn as I didn’t get into boarding older horses to put down otherwise happy and healthy horses).

Way to selectively quote (and misinterpret) what I said, @endlessclimb.

I have a private barn, with my rules, one of which is that I am not personally doing convenience euthanasia. As I wrote, and told the owner, they could euthanize their horses, but that I would not be doing it for them.

[endlessclimb]

I did not misinterpret what you wrote.

[ThreeWishes]

Wading in here. Please don’t shoot. I realize that a kind end is so much better than an uncertain future. And it’s hard to vet a soft landing. But I have given soft landings to horses and they’ve lived their years here until they couldn’t. I put down a 35 year old pony who I picked up from a “friend” 8 years prior when she wanted to put him on Craigslist. He was emaciated. Pasture sound only. I fed him wet food for his last 8 teeth and he flourished for years.
I am in the market for a companion horse. I own my farm. Could give glowing references and will need another horse here because I hate to have my horse I ride living alone. I’d prefer them not on deaths door. But unrideable is fine. If they need medication that’s fine. I just need a companion.
Pics of said pony before and after. Euthanized him when he couldn’t get up anymore. He was fat sassy and alive. His stifle just gave out

[ThreeWishes]

My plan is to ask my vet if she has any clients in a bind. Vet knows me for years can vouch for my care. So perhaps reaching out to your vet might be an option. Either way I’m sure the op will do what’s best for the horse and for her family. I have zero
Problem with euthanasia. Just floating another option.