Dangerous Horse

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ClaireH78

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Hypothetically speaking.....

If you had a horse that reared and was a danger to itself and rider.

You have exhausted (sp) all routes of cure.
Reschooling (professional)
Vet
Back
Teeth
Saddle
Turned away and brought back
Physio

What would you do. The horse is getting more dangerous to ride.

Retirement/companion is obviously one route but only if you could guarantee a home for life.

Would PTS be an option to any of you?
 
You won't find me getting anywhere near a horse that is know to rear habitually. The odd "front feet bouncing a couple of inches off the ground" isn't a problem though. I would do my best to find it a retirement/ companion home where I kept ownership and knew where he/ she was going. As a last resort, and if it is also dangerous to handle from the ground, then yes I would consider PTS.
 
If I had tried to the best of my ability and a professional trainer had also failed then PTS I'm afraid.

If it were to end up seriously hurting someone I could never forgive myself.
 
If it is a danger and no longer enjoying it, then PTS. I had a horse that would kill you in the stable and bolted when ridden. We couldn't sell so had it PTS
 
pts
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Can I ask if this horse is a danger when not being ridden? If it not being ridden could you not sell him on or give him to a person who could use him as a companion instead of having him PTS. If he is fit and healthy surely you wouldnt want to put him to sleep.

Is he dangerous to handle on the ground or out with other horses?
 
I have been there with a horse like that. Was completely unpredictable and very dangerous. We had it put down at the age of 5. Bought it as a failed polo pony - not entirely convinced of her history but was quite happy to throw herself over. She was also almost impossible to handle.

I had another that was a rearer who has turned into a lovely horse - The difference between the 2 was he had a large amount of self preservation and was never gonna hurt himself, therefore as a rider I felt safe to work him through it. Took a long time but now he is lovely and will never leave.

It is an exceptionally hard decision but a person's life is more important.
 
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Can I ask if this horse is a danger when not being ridden? If it not being ridden could you not sell him on or give him to a person who could use him as a companion instead of having him PTS. If he is fit and healthy surely you wouldnt want to put him to sleep.

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the trouble is you think it is only going to be a companion, but some fool will try to get on it, who's liable then? I would PTS if all other avenues fail
 
I had a horse like this. He intimidated me so much, habitually reared and was generally dangerous to be around. I did everything I could to resolve the problem as listed in OP, and had a professional trainer who came to where I kept my horse to try and resolve the problem and work with me and the horse. We thought we had cracked it for a while, but then he started broncing and the rearing returned. He was a 16.2 liver chestnut IDX. I got to the point that I just couldn't cope with him anymore. Then a local parson, who believed it was me and not the horse offered a swap for a 14.3 sec D mare (which I still have). I agreed as I was so relieved as I almost gave up with horses at that point. She and her partner had years of experience with 'problem' horses and thought they could turn him around.

But then a few months later I caught up with her to see how he was getting on (Murphy was his name) and they had got rid of him to be 'started' yet again. Even she, with all her experience could not get to the root of the problem. The only good thing to come out of this was that it was nothing I had done to warrant this behaviour (which started to emerge only after a week or so after buying him).

In my opinion if these people hadn't have thought they could do better, then yes I would have had him PTS. He was a danger to himself and people around him. I felt that I had failed him, but I just couldn't go on like that.
 
You should never put a fit healthy horse down unless it is not mad crazy not controlable. If this one is nice to handle it SHOULD be kept as a companion or given to a rescue centre where there new homes are managed. I would never put a healthy horse down if is good to handle on the floor. If it is not then I agree that it should be PTS
 
I completely agree. We were in a similar situation many years ago and had a confirmed rearer who would literally thrown himself over, nothing sorted him but I changed my initial decision to have him PTS, sold to a local problem horse expert who had him for a couple of weeks before selling to somebody else....that person was subsequently injured and completely lost her nerve. I regretted not sticking to my decision to be honest.
 
Echo what The Watcher says. Unless you can absolutely guarantee that the horse will never leave yor care then you can not risk keeping it as a companion horse. It is so easy for a horse to get sold on and their history forgotten about. I would feel awful if someone got hurt because of this. The horse obviously has problems and being PTS is the best option for all.
 
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You should never put a fit healthy horse down unless it is not mad crazy not controlable. If this one is nice to handle it SHOULD be kept as a companion or given to a rescue centre where there new homes are managed.

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But how can you be certain the horse will not return to the ridden circuit, and injure someone? A horse is not worth it - I say kill it.
 
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If this one is nice to handle it SHOULD be kept as a companion or given to a rescue centre where there new homes are managed.

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So how would you gaurantee that the horse would never be passed on - or it it went to a rescue centre (who wouldn't take it btw) who would pay for it's upkeep???????
 
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I would never put a healthy horse down if is good to handle on the floor.

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I don't agree with this. If it is a young, healthy horse it could spend 20 years as a field ornament. How many people are really in a position to accumulate infinite un-rideable horses?

It is one thing if it is an aged loyal servant - you probably owe it a decent retirement. Quite another if it is just a lunatic.

If you were to re-home (whether through selling, loaning or a charity) and you KNOW it is dangerous then all you would be doing is passing the risk on to someone else. If it is young and fit then sooner or later someone will try to ride it and there could be a serious accident.

If it has temprament problems then it would not be suitable for breeding.

Oh, and I think the point above about whether or not it has self preservation is a very important one. If it basically looks after itself then there is something to work with. If it doesn't, then it is extremely dangerous.

It is sad that some horses reach the end of the road like this, but for whatever reason occasionally they just do. It is probably completely miserable feeling it has to fight every day of the week.
 
Thank you to everyone who has posted you have reassured me in my advice that I passed on. Which is if all other avenues have been explored then PTS is the only other option.

Dogbetty141

A horse that rears and is a danger when ridden should not to me be classed as "fit and well" do you not think that if it was completely well and sane it wouldn't do it, I believe a horse that can rear and fall over backwards has no regard for itself and therefore a danger. The carehomes for horses are fit to bursting point do I (or others) want to put more strain on their resources by sending them a dangerous horse with no chance of rehoming?

Should it be rehomed as a companion, there is never any guarantees that the horse would stay in that home forever, they may fall upon bad times and sell it not giving full story and somebody will ride it fall of and break their neck never to walk again (OK extreme example but you understand it could happen), could that be on your concience if you went down that route with a dangerous horse.

By the way this isn't my horse. Its a story I have heard, I offered the advice of PTS (which was shot down in flames by some) and I wanted the views of HHO's on what they would do in similar situation.
 
Well I think Claire that you can tell from the responses here that with the exception of maybe one or two - we all live in the real world.....

As I said the other day, there are worse things you can do to a horse than put it down.

As GT's said - sticking a nail in their eye is one of them
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