Emotive subject- after being put to sleep...

charlie76

charlie76

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do you think it matters what happens to the carcass?
IE would you mind if it was used for dog food ect?

Or would that upset you.

Do you think it makes a difference if the horse was a pet/family friend rather than just a horse you knew?
 
Ours have always gone back to hunt kennels, as they spent their working lives on the hunting fields.
It's starting to get to that time when we decide what the future holds for my old mare, and having second thoughts about her destination- she has been with us all of my lifetime!
 
In the past I have had ponies go to the hounds, didn't really have a problem with this. The last old pony I had pts is buried in the field, but she had been on bute for a long time so would not have been able to be used for hounds. I honestly don't know about the current ones, suspect would go for cremation, maybe getting soft in my old age.
 
For me it doesn't matter too much as long as it is legal and safe. I have personal preferences but they are just that, personal, to me, they don't make a difference to the horse! Mildly in favour of horse's equine companions being allowed to see the body for a short time if practical first though.

No different to other animals & human relatives although in the later case the deceased's wishes mean most!
 
Tickles said:
For me it doesn't matter too much as long as it is legal and safe. I have personal preferences but they are just that, personal, to me, they don't make a difference to the horse! Mildly in favour of horse's equine companions being allowed to see the body for a short time if practical first though.

No different to other animals & human relatives although in the later case the deceased's wishes mean most!
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Totally pro closure time for field/stable mates or pairbond. Vital IMO.

After that personal choice. As long as you are happy with what you choose, it doesn't matter.

I am going to struggle with burying many more, so I am going to have to rethink!
 
I didnt particularly want anything to eat my old mare so I had her back in a box and shes in the corner of the room with a lamp on her! I think it depends on your personal situation. whether you have a yard full of horses or if you just have the one for many years, you may not be so "attached" to an individual horse if they dont stay long or if you own lots of them. If I had to have my current horse pts I think I would send him to be cremated but not have him back! 1 box is big enough!
 
brighteyes said:
Totally pro closure time for field/stable mates or pairbond. Vital IMO.

After that personal choice. As long as you are happy with what you choose, it doesn't matter.

I am going to struggle with burying many more, so I am going to have to rethink!
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Completely in agreement with brighteyes here, especially closure the for the 'companions' part.

I have on both occasions obtained permisssion for them to be buried on my land, but I could cope with other methods if I had been refused permission.
 
I have chosen to have mine cremated and their ashes buried at home, as for the body being left for the others to grieve and accept the death of their friends. I am a little confused to the importance of it, when we sell our horses we just exchange money and the horse is taken.

If I sell a horse the others left behind are always left with another horse they know, so why the need to leave a carcass for them to sniff. I,m not saying its wrong but do not understand why the death or sale of a horse is so different. The fact is the horse is gone how can you prepare the horses left behind when there mate is sold they must grieve that they are gone ?
 
When my old horse died I had him cremated and returned to me. I didn't like the thought of him being eaten, athough that is just my personal choice. I have a spot at the top of the garden where he is to be buried. I have bought some apple trees to plant on top as a reminder of him.
 
The majority of horses will pine to some degree when a companion is sold, as they don't know where or why their friend has gone.
Horses understand and accept death, and it is easier for them than to just 'lose' thier friend. They will get over this much quicker and easier than a simple 'disappearace'.
 
Lucy will go to hounds when the time comes. She will be put down at home with me by her side. Hunting is Lucys most fav thing ever and i think she would want to go to hounds. It's the hounds she loves not the galloping round with lots of other horses (which is what any normal horse would love).
Being forced to make this desition for Lucy already made me think about Herbie to. He is a forest bred so i think i would have him cremated and then spred his ashes on the forest. Although hopefuly thats years and years away yet!!!!!!

It is a very personal desition and you have to make the right one for you and your horse. hence the very different outcome for my two. It's what i think they would want if they could talk and the desition i could live with myself.
 
This might sound really stupid but the dead horse may of been sold, there is no body then ??

I am really not trying to sound insensitive but people buy and sell horses everyday, when I have sold horses I have made sure the ones left behind have another horse with them for company.

Like I said I,m not saying it,s wrong to leave the carcass I just dont understand why people are so big on it, because when they sell a horse its just gone once cash as exchanged.
 
That's OK, glad it made sense. Obviously it is not something everyone agrees with or can do, but death of a horse is a difficult thing and one that each case/owner has to be decided indiviually.
 
I think its an entirely personal decision, there is no right and wrong.... just whats right for you. I had my oldie cremated, and then I buried his ashes under x in the menage, along with an apple from the tree on the drive that he liked to visit. I'm very lucky to be able to do that as he lived at home, so all the decisions were ours to make. I hope that when I have to do it again, I'll still be in the same fortunate position.
 
I'm with johnrobert on this one, as long as it is dispatched humanely what happens to the carcass matters not to me. Once its dead its dead. Sending it to hounds would be my first choice but practicality would have to come first and scattering ashes somewhere would not be on the list at all. Each to their own though, as others have said it's a personal choice.
 
I am having my horse PTS soon...:O(

I was really glad to take the option of sending his carcass (it's not "him" any more) to the hunt. I have a friend who had her horse cremated a few years ago and was gobsmacked by the size of the box! Our house is quite small and I'd have nowhere to keep it, plus I'd find the process of scattering the ashes too grisly. I know of someone who opened their box to scatter it, found a jawbone and lots of other big bones, and was very distressed.

I totally support who anyone who chooses to go for cremation and keep the ashes/scatter them or bury them. But for me, it's not the right thing. I'm not even a hunt-type person, but I liked the idea that his body will nourish the bodies of the hounds. My vet was very supportive of my choice and they will liaise with the hunt to collect the remains, so that's one less thing to organise.

A factor to bear in mind could be the cost of the cremation, and you have to pay this if your don't have disposal costs covered in your insurance.

It's a sad time, but I'm happy to use my experience to help any else...
 
Wobblywibble said:
I'm with johnrobert on this one, as long as it is dispatched humanely what happens to the carcass matters not to me. Once its dead its dead. Sending it to hounds would be my first choice but practicality would have to come first and scattering ashes somewhere would not be on the list at all. Each to their own though, as others have said it's a personal choice.
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Wot they said ^ ^ ^
 
Not sure if I would want mine eaten but wouldnt want the ashes back either, mainly due to the cost tbh. The last one I had pts by injection(no choice ) was collected and cremated by the hunt. Even before the injection she had been pumped full of drugs so no option re going to feed the hounds. This worked well for me and therefore would probably do this again.
 
I had originally planned for my girl to go to the hunt when the time came thinking we'd have years together and many more days out hunting to enjoy first, but as she broke down and was pumped full of steroids and six Danilon a day when the time came I had no option but to have her cremated.

I absolutely didn't want her ashes back though...they weren't "her" she was far too vital, alive and free spirited to be shut away in a box, and I didn't want the reminder of her poor broken body either - we were all better off without it. Run Free x
 
Once they are dead what is left is an empty shell and the most disrespectful thing to me is waste. Food, fertilizer, leather or body parts for teaching, all are better than filling a hole of going up a chimney.

I have horses I loved plowed into our paddock, a skin(bull calf) in the freezer to tan and the lower leg bones of a couple of horses, skull of a mare and a complete foal skeleton here for use as teaching tools... they all live on in providing service to help other horses.
 
bury mine and the dogs and i want to be buried beside them not the churchyard beside our farm, i have spent many an happy hour with my horses and dogs not those in churchyard.
 
I had my horse put to sleep just today, I had only had him since september, but couldnt face the thought of him being eaten, so is being cremated.
 
All my horses have gone to the hounds once they have been pts. If I could afford it I would have had them cremated but for purely financial reasons I have had to choose the hounds. It is a sad fact that a horse as a large animal does not enjoy the same privilages afforded to our smaller pets in death and often the thought of what happens to the body afterwards can be more distressing than the actual despatch.

I like to think that the horses I have lost, live on in the Cambridgeshire and Fitzwilliam hounds and it makes me smile when I see the pack at work.
 
I suppose it depends on how sensitive you are! I love all mine dearly and would like to think I would have them cremated/buried but, and I hope it is a long time away, I think it is far more practical to send them to the kennels (as opposed to abbatoir). We don't hunt but I find that a fitting and worthy way to go rather than cans of dog food which seems a bit impersonal. Crikey, putting this into words that make any sense is really difficult! I guess it depends on what you are happy with, once we are dead we are dead and none of it matters, all the ceromony is for those left behind and I think it applies to our four legged children as well!
 
I had mine cremated and then scattered his ashes at the bottom of his favourite hill that he loves to blast up!

I don't think sending mine to the hunt would have been an option. He'd been on loads of meds including a high dose of steroids for 4 months.
 
Just out of intrest how much does it cost for an individual (sp) cremation? I will want my old mare back in a box as we have been together basically for ever
 
Sensitive subject. I have found in every circumstamce it's different. We have 'special' ones buried at home,allrounders gone to the hunt or zoo.Recently,one was put down and had so many drugs in him that the knackerman took him away and cremated,no ashes.

The last one was shot in front of his field mates (no choice,too lame to move). The others didn't flinch one bit (we have a pheasant shoot next door). They sniffed body after and walked off. Then body removed within about half hour.

Please remember that horses do not have emotions like us,they live for that moment and by instinct. I had a mare last year that had a stillborn foal and was completely over it 12 hours later emotionally,apart from running milk for a few days. I however,took far longer. Within a week she was back in work.

Sounds harsh,but it's nature.
 
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