hayleyandjambo
Member
I'm feeling really bad at the minute and am really struggling with a dreadful decision.
Jambo is 24 now and is currently steadily going downhill. I got him when he was 10 and I was 13, two years down the line he needed an operation on his leg and whilst he was away he got xrayed and was diagnosed with navicular. The vet back then recommended having him put to sleep then we could have got the insurance money but that was never an option.
As it goes he carried on competing for the next few years and suprised everybody. When he was 16 he stopped competing apart from the odd dressage test and we just did some schooling and lots of hacking. I was away at uni during this time for four years and my dad took on caring for him Monday to Friday.
By the time he hit 20 we were up to using 1 bute a day as he also had arthritic changes in his knees. Weight was becoming an issue and we had to work really hard to keep it on. The stiffness was kept under control I think by lots of gentle hacking in walk. We moved yards in the summer of 2002 to share a place with my aunty and then in December 2002 we had to have Jason (my childhood pony) put to sleep at the age of 27. I think he took that hard as Jason was his pair bond and he had never been apart from him during the years I had owned him.
In Feb this year I moved yards again as my aunty lost her young horse to Wobblers Syndrome and couldn't face getting another and I didn't want the responsibility of being in charge of a small yard again. We did find a lovely yard with great people close to home and Jambo settled in unbelievably well.
In July he started to go quite downhill again, he dropped weight and started plaiting behind very severely. The vet said that he now had bad arthritis in his hocks and shouldn't be ridden anymore. She advised that it was time to think about the inevitable.
Around this time a friend who runs a feedstore recommended Slobbermash, she said she knew a few people who had seen good results. I put him on this and to my suprise he loved it and started gaining weight again.
A couple of months later some of the horses in the field got worked up and started charging around and he did too. I found him in a dreadful way with four swollen legs and some cuts. I felt rather hurt as there were a number of people on the yard that said "Oh your horse was galloping around" but nobody had thought to bring him in.
Following this I kept him in for a few days and walked him in hand to alleviate the swelling and the YO kindly offered to let him go out in a field by himself with a quiet horse as a companion. He really started to seem better although it caused a rucous with one particular livery who was very angry at the thought that Jambo was getting "special treatment, " and made her feelings well known to everybody including me.
Then he bit his leg open again near the end of September. We have had trouble with him for years biting at his fetlocks (what he had the operation for 12 years ago) and always have had to keep him bandaged whnever in his stable. They had been healed for just over a year altogether then suddenly he did it again and badly.
I ended up having to put him back in as walking round the dressing would rub the wound as it was on the joint. I couldn't leave it undressed for the worry of infection or him biting it again. Everyday I have got him out and let him have a roll in the indoor school and walked him out with the bandages off.
Now during the last couple of weeks he has had two bouts of colic and started having diarrhoea. I am worried that the long term use of bute has taken its toll.
I also had a run in with the same difficult livery who was angry that I let him roll in the indoor as she says her horse could trip although I always rake it and he never digs. Suddenly the YO has sent round a note that no horse is allowed to be turned out in the indoor (no guesses as to why) so that is something else he can't do. One of the girls told me today he rolled in his stable and she was concerned as he struggled getting up. He doesn't normally roll in the stable but I think he must be frustrated as he is used to being allowed to roll once a day. He is now also lethargic and very stiff (probably from the lack of regular work he has always had). He walks out quite lively for the first couple of minutes and then is ready to go back in again. The only good thing at the minute is his appetite and weight.
I feel so confused as I am starting to wonder if I just keep going as I can't bear the thought of losing him instead of doing what is really right. I also know that even if he made it to spring it is unlikely I could turn him out again in a field with a companion due to the determination of the livery who gets very upset about such things. I don't think he could deal with being out with a large amount of horses again especially as he is the sort that is at the bottom of the pecking order.
I just wish I knew what to do as I can think of nothing else. Sorry to write such a lot I think I just needed to get it out my system.
Jambo is 24 now and is currently steadily going downhill. I got him when he was 10 and I was 13, two years down the line he needed an operation on his leg and whilst he was away he got xrayed and was diagnosed with navicular. The vet back then recommended having him put to sleep then we could have got the insurance money but that was never an option.
As it goes he carried on competing for the next few years and suprised everybody. When he was 16 he stopped competing apart from the odd dressage test and we just did some schooling and lots of hacking. I was away at uni during this time for four years and my dad took on caring for him Monday to Friday.
By the time he hit 20 we were up to using 1 bute a day as he also had arthritic changes in his knees. Weight was becoming an issue and we had to work really hard to keep it on. The stiffness was kept under control I think by lots of gentle hacking in walk. We moved yards in the summer of 2002 to share a place with my aunty and then in December 2002 we had to have Jason (my childhood pony) put to sleep at the age of 27. I think he took that hard as Jason was his pair bond and he had never been apart from him during the years I had owned him.
In Feb this year I moved yards again as my aunty lost her young horse to Wobblers Syndrome and couldn't face getting another and I didn't want the responsibility of being in charge of a small yard again. We did find a lovely yard with great people close to home and Jambo settled in unbelievably well.
In July he started to go quite downhill again, he dropped weight and started plaiting behind very severely. The vet said that he now had bad arthritis in his hocks and shouldn't be ridden anymore. She advised that it was time to think about the inevitable.
Around this time a friend who runs a feedstore recommended Slobbermash, she said she knew a few people who had seen good results. I put him on this and to my suprise he loved it and started gaining weight again.
A couple of months later some of the horses in the field got worked up and started charging around and he did too. I found him in a dreadful way with four swollen legs and some cuts. I felt rather hurt as there were a number of people on the yard that said "Oh your horse was galloping around" but nobody had thought to bring him in.
Following this I kept him in for a few days and walked him in hand to alleviate the swelling and the YO kindly offered to let him go out in a field by himself with a quiet horse as a companion. He really started to seem better although it caused a rucous with one particular livery who was very angry at the thought that Jambo was getting "special treatment, " and made her feelings well known to everybody including me.
Then he bit his leg open again near the end of September. We have had trouble with him for years biting at his fetlocks (what he had the operation for 12 years ago) and always have had to keep him bandaged whnever in his stable. They had been healed for just over a year altogether then suddenly he did it again and badly.
I ended up having to put him back in as walking round the dressing would rub the wound as it was on the joint. I couldn't leave it undressed for the worry of infection or him biting it again. Everyday I have got him out and let him have a roll in the indoor school and walked him out with the bandages off.
Now during the last couple of weeks he has had two bouts of colic and started having diarrhoea. I am worried that the long term use of bute has taken its toll.
I also had a run in with the same difficult livery who was angry that I let him roll in the indoor as she says her horse could trip although I always rake it and he never digs. Suddenly the YO has sent round a note that no horse is allowed to be turned out in the indoor (no guesses as to why) so that is something else he can't do. One of the girls told me today he rolled in his stable and she was concerned as he struggled getting up. He doesn't normally roll in the stable but I think he must be frustrated as he is used to being allowed to roll once a day. He is now also lethargic and very stiff (probably from the lack of regular work he has always had). He walks out quite lively for the first couple of minutes and then is ready to go back in again. The only good thing at the minute is his appetite and weight.
I feel so confused as I am starting to wonder if I just keep going as I can't bear the thought of losing him instead of doing what is really right. I also know that even if he made it to spring it is unlikely I could turn him out again in a field with a companion due to the determination of the livery who gets very upset about such things. I don't think he could deal with being out with a large amount of horses again especially as he is the sort that is at the bottom of the pecking order.
I just wish I knew what to do as I can think of nothing else. Sorry to write such a lot I think I just needed to get it out my system.