For those who have had a horse put to sleep...

How often do you clean your tack?

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Totally agree with you Anastasia, I was Smurf's mummy. He always looked to me (although that may have been the polo's in my pocket) I knew exactly how he liked his dinner (with a bit of my mum's horse's food put it in out of her bucket usually!) and he knew that I loved going fast and knowing that he would never stop and always get me out of trouble. I will never forget him. He will always be my baby, no matter how many other horses I own and love. I think this thread is a testiment to those horses we have lost but still love. They know, I'm sure. Horsey heaven exists and they are all up there laughing at us silly beggars!!
 
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I was Smurf's mummy. He always looked to me....
I will never forget him. He will always be my baby, no matter how many other horses I own and love.

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Sounds exactly like murph! He would be naughty for other people. At uni, people would say to me "why's he always so nice to you / good for you?!" I truely believe he loved me. He was the type of horse who'd come galloping to the field gate when you shouted him, whinneying along the way. Even if he'd not been out for long and had just come off box rest. And he'd always say hello when he heard you arrive in the morning. It was so nice to hear that. And because he was the boss, when he came to the gate, the other horses would all follow. They dont now.
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Have to treck around the fields to catch them. Buggers!

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Horsey heaven exists and they are all up there laughing at us silly beggars!!

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I'm not religious, but i REALLY REALLY hope so.
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Did any of you take a pair bond over to the horse who had died, so that they knew? We did. Dolly was scared at first, but once she realised, she walked over and started grooming him. So sad. I think she did know though, and she didn't really stress over it afterwards. x
 
I had my first pony put down, had her for four years and was heart broken having to make the decision, they assumed she had some form of cancer, blood test proved inconclusive.
She was old and a poor doer so always lost a little weight in winter but put back on in summer, didnt happen that year, also ended up with a huge swelling full of fluid starting from her chest to half way down her belly. Never fully knew what was wrong.
Due to her being my first pony and my best friend for the four years i had her, i couldnt bear to have her shot it happened quicker than i expected it would and then she was taken away to be cremated, im probabaly one of the few that can say I can fit a 14.1hh pony in my bedroom!
I feel that it depends from horse to horse for some people, some people feel their horses are truly their best friends and dont like the idea of them being shot and eaten by hounds.
That said I worked for a hunt, and they always took the greatest of care with owners and horses.
It's a tricky one, both have arguments for and against!
 
I did - Smurf's girlfriend was my mum's pony and we took her over to say goodbye. Weirdly though it took her ages to go near the place where he is buried (it is in our makeshift schooling area)
We had the same problem with the others in the field. Smurf was the boss, now their are still fights as no one is the boss anymore and they are still trying to sort one out even though we lost him over a year ago!

I too am not religious but hope that heaven exists, i'd like to think I could see him again.
 
Degrean 5 yrs ago,vet shot him and hunt kennel had his body.
Dinky,injection ,very quick, hunt kennels creameted him due to all the drugs he was on.
R.I.P
 
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He's dead but not gone, he's with me every time I ride.

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So true - I think that's why I miss my current horse so much (he's on full loan) - Riding him made me remember all the good rides on my old boy and also made me realise why we let these animals into our hearts so readily. They are all so different and have their own little quirks and know just what to do to make us fall in love with them!
 
Christ have just read some of this and might as well have poked fingers in both my eyes, squirt, squirt have had to srcoll past most of them!!

My girl was PTS by injection and I stayed with her against advice of well meaning people. It was fine though, I could not have left her and would do the same again.
 
I know - I can't stop blubbing!!
Doesn't help that I am listening to all the sad songs on my iPod
Hence the faith hill song in my signature

Sadly there is a way we can avoid this torture, unfortunately we would then have to miss all the highs we get with loving horses!

As Westlife say in their song 'The Dance'

"Our lives are better left to chance;
I could have missed the pain,
But then I would have to miss the dance"
 
My boy had to be PTS by injection on Xmas Eve just gone, which made it very difficult for me to arrange anything. My vet was totally wonderful and managed to arrange collection of my boy for the local slaughter house for cremation. Unfortunately he was cremated along with a load of others so I wasn't able to have the ashes back. However, I am sort of glad I didn't have ashes to deal with as I found the whole thing so awful to deal with, that waiting for and collecting the ashes would have been almost harder than having to be with him when he was PTS.
Not easy decisions to make in a short time are they.
 
I had my mare put down in 2000 and still get sad every year when the day comes round, i think of her a suprising amount, but then she did so much for me, and gave me so much joy. I do imagine she's in a great big field with lots of other horses living the horsey heaven life!
 
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He's dead but not gone, he's with me every time I ride.

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That's just started me blubbing!

I went for a walk round our paddocks today thinking how lovely it would be if J was still here. Perfect hacking weather.
 
I know - in a way I'd rather it was awful weather - at least then I could be grateful I'm not out in it (although to be honest I always end up thinking I would love to be out in it if only I had one of my horses!)
 
I have had two shot by the knackers man - The horses were at home and he came and quietly took them outside with a bucket of feed and when they were eating, that was that. He took both of them away and they were cremated. It was very sad, but they were both old and knew nothing about it. Tilly's mum, broke her hip before Tilly was born and soon after having her foal, the vet said that we had no option but to PTS. She was injected and it was the same as your experience, but incredibly traumatic as she left Tilly, her foal. Out of choice, I would definitely go for the injection. Not necessarily for the horse's sake, but if I am honest - for my own sake.
 
my first pony was PTS due to colic by my vet who is part of a large equine practice that regularly put horses to sleep. They use a captive bolt when ever possible and only inject if the horse owner requests it.

When squeak was PTS i was only about 11 and could not be there as i was already in tears seeing him in pain, my mum held him and the YO took me and my younger sister into her house and gave us both some tea and a hug. I went back afterwards and cried my eyes out and huged him

Mum then had my pony sent to the hunt and to be honest now that im older i think it is a very practical and in some ways nice way to despose of the body. I couldnt have mine cremated or buried because if he were buried id cry every time i saw the spot and if he was cremated id cry every time i saw the urn or if the ashes were not returned id wonder just where he was and get very upset.

I'd rather a captive bolt then anything else It was a very clean way to die, no blood at all and he was dead before he knew what was coming with his head in a feed bucket and my mum strokeing his neck.

However if i had one with a broken leg and there was someone round to shoot it id have it shot.

There was one poor horse near us that bolted with its rider, tried to jump a 6 bar gate uphill at a gallop, didnt make it and basicly ripped its back legs off internaly (nothing wrong externaly). Its owner walked to my house (about 100m from where it happened and phoned the vet, mum went down with some rugs etc to make the horse comfortable, the owner refuse to have the horse shot by my next door neighbor (farmer) and as the vet was 20mins away the horse died from internal bleeding
 
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...the horse died from internal bleeding

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Good god, that's awful. And quite selfish of the owner really. As much as i would not choose to have a horse of mine shot, in a situation like that i doubt i'd have even thought twice about it. Especially with a farmer so close. At least you'd be able to say you ended its suffering, when it was bound to die anyway. Poor horse.
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Looking back it's probably not the best way to let a horse go but I'm sure we all know how scattered our emotions were at the end. She maybe thought something could be done, or was in shock at the situation.
 
Actually, yes. If there was nothing external, then i dont suppose you knew what was happening. I was assuming she knew the extent of the injuries (ooops!). I change my mind then - might have done what she did.
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i've never had to make the choice of how i would rather my horses to be PTS yet...i've been reading this post since it started when i was at work and the more posts i read, the more i cry; its heartbreaking. i love reading about eveyone's memories of their horses, they may be gone, but most definitely never forgotten.

i don't know what I would choose to do...i couldn't bear the thought of having them shot, but if it was the only option for reasons others have stated (broken leg or vet not able to get there) then I would have them shot...but the notion of them being injected and passing peacefully is one that would also appeal to me.

i don't know. i just hope that if and when the time comes for me to have to decide I can do it half as well as you guys have.

i'm going off to get me a tissue
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Really?! Don't remember much about that day - just that it rained. And i was glad in a way. He didn't like the rain, so if it had have been sunny, i'd would've wanted him to stay out. Well, obviously i wanted him to stay, but you know what i mean...hopefully!

Hope you had a better day than we did!

Dreading his 1st anniversary.......
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My girl was shot at home. It was over in an instance and she had no idea what was coming. She had an issue with needles so this was my only option although when the vet suggested it, I was horrified.
I had her cremated (I had an image in my head that it would be a lot more dignified than if she went to the hunt kennels but really don't know that it's true). I didn't want the ashes back (I still have my dogs ashes-he died a year previous and I was planning to scatter them but when the time came just couldn't let him go).
I will opt for the gun next time, it was traumatic for me but I am sure it was the best thing for her but it will very much Iagree with you very much that it is something we should give consideration.
I was looking after a friends horse when she was away on holiday and she wrote a letter of consent for me to give to a vet should the worst happen, detailing what she would want done (although there was no reason to believe anything would happen) as many vets would not put a horse to sleep without speaking with the owner first - apparently would heavily sedate and wait for owner to contact. Thankfully the letter was not needed!!!
 
I have been extremely lucky so far and have not lost any of my horses to date. I have however come pretty close once, the route I would have taken (and will when the time comes) is by injection (if not natural) and I would bury the horse on my land. I think someone told me that its illegal to bury a horse who's been PTS by injection in case the drug leaked into the water system or something - But TBH, I live in the middle of nowhere and we have our own spring so I would bury, even if it was illegal - tough.
 
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someone told me that its illegal to bury a horse who's been PTS by injection in case the drug leaked into the water system or something - But TBH, I live in the middle of nowhere and we have our own spring so I would bury, even if it was illegal - tough.

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I heard it's illegal to bury a horse (no matter how it died) without planning permission from your L.A.! But too right - if i had my own land, and i knew i wasnt near any major water supply, then who are they to tell you what to do! It would be lovely to bury them i think.
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I think there is a place for the gun in an emergency. A few years ago I went to a terrible RTC where a horse had crashed thru good solid fencing on a windy night but got sheep netting caught in its tail.
It galloped a mile towards the town centre and was hit by a car. We got there pretty quick but it had already bled to death its injuries were terrible, I so wish that night a farmer had been around with a gun would have done it myself if I could
 
I am lucky enough never to have to of made this decision yet. I don't think that I could have my girl shot, I am terrified of guns and would want to be her until the end. Goodness knows how I'll do it though I am in tatters just reading these posts.
 
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I heard it's illegal to bury a horse (no matter how it died) without planning permission from your L.A.!

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That's exactly what my vet told me, but he said that he wouldn't stop me if that's what I wanted.
 
I think I am right in saying it is technically illegal but you can ask your local council for permission to bury a horse as a "domestic pet". In an emergency this would be impossible, and of course they could also say no. We just went ahead and buried our old girl, with the help of an obliging farmer who was happy to ignore the rules. My vet took the line, don't tell me what your going to do, though he was fully aware of my intention.
 
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