Advice needed- retirement or put to sleep?

[sv-masterchef]

We have a very difficult decision to make at the moment and are interested in other people's opinions. We have a 16.3, 7 year old who has multiple issues, including sacroiliac joint problems, acute kissing spines, arthritis in his neck and hind limb lameness. We are in the middle of investigating all of these issues, using the top vets and physiotherapists we can find. However, the outcome is not looking good and it is likely that he will never be able to be ridden again, or at the very best, just be a hack. He is not a candidate for surgery and gets very upset when he goes to the clinic for treatment, making us wonder even more about how much we can put him through. We have accepted that there is no value in the horse and only want what is best for him now, bearing in mind that he cannot live in as he is 'claustrophobic'. He also is very sharp to hack and is not easy to handle due to his size and nervy personality.

The vets have asked us to consider having him put down due to all these reasons but we are completely torn. We have also looked into retirement packages offered by some yards as we do not have enough space to keep him turned out with us, but these are proving very expensive.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcomed!

 

[YasandCrystal]

If it were me - I would at least give him the summer in retirement and then make a decision in the autumn, dependant on how happy/painfree he is.

Retirement livery around here is around £25 pw which includes trimming and worming and hay in winter. I don't know where you are but I refer to Essex/Suffolk pricing.

 

[BethH]

My horse had KS and displayed the spooky sharp nervousness you describe and also was not easy to hack alone although was pretty good in company as I think it made him feel much safer as he knew he wasn't 100% fit. In my experience, I think this is absolutely symptomatic of a ks horse. Mine was operated on 6yrs ago as he was 6 and had no other issues, he is still doing well, although he isn't completely straightforward and lets face it most horse aren't, he calmed down unbelievably once he wasn't in pain. I think the hind limb lameness and sacroilliac issue has probably been caused by the ks and my horse has been very sound since the op, I don't know how damaged the sacroilliac area is to know if that could recover but my horse was recommended PTS unless he had the op as he was positively dangerous, he is now so much happier in himself but he was always an extremely lovely person underneath all the problems so we would happily have kept him as a family menber just living in the field!


My overall thoughts would be if you would be happy to have him as a field ornament and operate to give him some time and hope he could have a useful purpose and will calm down that would be lovely, but I would be concerned about the fact he already had arthritis in his neck - again i don't know how severe it is and it could have been caused by carrying himself incorrectly due to the ks,but it would be a concern as he is so young and may well not stabilise.

I would have his xrays referrred to Svend Kold at Willersley he is so experienced with this and will tell you honestly if he believes your horse has a future, I hope he does have so the very best of luck to you.

 

[zaminda]

I am another who says talk to Sven, he operated on my ex's mare,after originally saying he didn't want to,and she has been perfect ever since. That said someone else I know whose horse had multiple issued similar to yours was put to sleep, and although I can't say for certain, I am fairly sure she saw Sven too. Not a nice position to be in.

 

[AmyMay]

As in Vets. Put him down.

 

[pink_princess]

I was in a similar position with a mare. Full up 16.3 very mareish m/w hunter. Horse of a lifetime and would give anything to have her back before injury. She injured her ligament and was told would be lucky if i got her back as a hack. I decided to have her PTS heartbreaking decision and i miss her every day. but I thought the longer i left the decission the harder it would be and if she did become happy in the field after a summer out I would not have the heart to put her down at least if i did while problems were on going it would make sense. At 7 years old i could not finacially and physically support a horse like that for that many years. Although heart breaking and hard and some may think was selfish, i do not regret it as wouldnt want to see her pushed from pillar to post and end up in the wrong hands and the long term commitment to a horse like this was to much. (I have a 14 year old RID retired but different type of horse - very different management)

Think carefully about How long you can support him and long term plans aswell.