For those who PTS due to behavioural issues .....

DJ

DJ

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What was the point that you thought "no more" !!!!

Was it a particular incident, your quality of life (stress), the quality of life for the horse, a change of circumstances/finances, or was it that you had just had enough?

What had you tried, do you think you could have tried anything more, how do you actually make yourself do it, and how do you find peace in your decision?


I`m seeing horses being passed on at the minute, with huge issues that i know will be bounced about ... and older horses to with the dreaded "companion only" title (when the market is flooded with horses) and can`t understand why people aren`t willing just to PTS, and why PTS seems to be a 'problem', but then i get to wonder just how much guts it takes to actually make the decision and stand there and put down a horses that isn`t necessarily ill/at deaths door and that for what ever fault,is still a much loved animal.

I hope this post doesn`t come across as insensitive, i`m just genuinely trying to understand how it comes about.

(i have lost a youngster in July this year, twisted stomach/gut, so the decision was made for me)
 
My decision would be based on how dangerous the horse is. Behavioural issues covers an immense range of situations and what one owner may find impossible another may not.

I would not pass on a dangerous horse.
 
With mine the final straw was bolting blind with me. He couldn't tolerate other horses- he'd quite literally savage them so had to be kept on his own too. I'd happily dealt with all his other little issues of 'taking off' and having to be rebacked after just 2 days off! But the bolting was the final straw- knowing he was here to see if we could fix him ( we had him about 7 months- most spent trying to back him properly again after he had 'taken off' with his previous owner) he'd finally crossed the line because he had no care for who/ or what he was going through.

He'd been vet checked, teeth, back etc. and nothing to be found, it was like there was 2 sides to him , one minute he'd be going nicely then just flip for no reason. We arranged to have him pts because he was unsafe and unable to live with others without trying to kill them off- yes it was a hard decision but very much a common sense ruled. Vets did actually presume he had a brain tumour which would of caused the behaviour.
 
I did find myself with an absolute fruit loop this year, I think he must have been drugged when we tried him, however, long story. He wasn't old, 12, so I was reluctant to have him pts but was definitely not going to pass him on to be someone else's problem. I managed to get him into the blood bank, which was a brilliant solution.

I have a 24 yo that we've owned since a 4 yo. We had a pony pts last year at 27, we'd owned him for 24 years. Our oldest was pts at 37.

We're able to do that because we have our own land. What do people do if they're paying livery? Keep changing horses before they get too old, or basically give up competing until the old horse goes to the great pastures in the sky? I've often wondered.
 
When I first got mine he reared and boxed at my head on daily basis he wasn't bad he was scared used to bolt. I did ring the meat man to come and get him id bitten off more than I could chew and im not gonna lie he started to scare me and started to question my sanity trying to help this horse but when he was nice he was really nice and I started to bond with him. I couldn't go though with sending to meat man in the end hes still not easy to handle only experience people handle him and who knows him lucky I have yard people who know what hes like and can deal with him. He rarely does it now he become quite a dream to handle but with him you have to be on the ball all the time you never know when the days the day to do it again.
 
I sadly had to PTS a home-bred 4 year old a few years back. He was out of a very hot TB mare by a CHAPS stallion - genes must have clicked badly. He was an evil little sod from the day he was born - not just with people - but also with other foals. He'd bite and kick whenever he thought he had half a chance of getting away with it. One testicle was slow to come down so he stayed a colt until he was 2 - and was quite well-mannered for 3 days after castration. Then the bad behaviour came back.

We backed him at 3.5 - wasn't TOO bad but again - he was very calculating about when he played up. It worried me sick because he was never going to be less than 'a professional ride' - but no professional with half-a-brain would have touched him. He was a flashy coloured who would have attracted buyers - but I couldn't sell him and still sleep at night. Having him PTS was a serious consideration for more than 6 months - and then he had a fall and hurt his hip. The vets were very pessimistic about him coming sound - and that was a relief to me!! End of story!
 
When the dangerous behaviour became completely unpredictable and medical reasons had been ruled out..the final incident was being dragged round the stable by my bicep and only letting go because I somehow whacked him and fell backwards out the door. Resulting in another hospital stay, more injuries and a heartbreaking conversation with my very experienced vet. Sometimes it has to be done, passing on dangerous horses will get somebody killed owners have a responsibility towards their horses to do the right thing hence why I made the decision as difficult as it was.
 
I have and would again where required.I still miss her every day and I still wipe tears away.Regrets? None as it was right for my Baby and me. Do I feel guilty? Yes but i hadto make decision. Miss her so much x
 
My other boy is a quirky tbx who is indeed quirky without the 'dangerous' title that my other lad had god rest him, the ginger ninja is coming up to 18 and loves having a job, he doesnt fit the field ornament mold and is a busy horse, the more he does the easier he is to handle and ride,when he is no longer fit to do the things he enjoys and that we enjoy together he will have some time to himself in the field then will be pts. I'd rather that than try and sell him on as yet another veteran nobody wants lord knows where he'd end up, he has been a friend and an amazing partner in crime so he will go out on a good note in the field he loves with his horsey buddies :)
 
Will be following this thread with interest as I think that I have reached this point with my homebred Anglo Arab :( Just need to bring myself to ring the pet crematorium and arrange for the deed to be done now.

Background info - always been a swine and refered to as jekyle and Hyde by the professionals that he has been sent to in the past. Terrible rearer so just became a field pet for a few years but his party trick of running through fencing has sealed his own fate. It has come to the point where I cannot take my other horses out of the field to ride without him running through fence to follow even though he has our other pony, that he has lived with all of his life, to keep him company.

It has been a hard decision to make but the fact that he is now preventing me from enjoying the other horses that I work so hard to pay for has made my mind up. He will leave for rainbow bridge in the field with his friends with his head in a bucket knowing nothing about it.

Although I feel confident to post on this forum only close friends will be aware of his fate in the 'real world' everyone else will be told that he became injured as unfortunately not everyone is as realistic as the majority of people on here :(
 
My mare was always difficult and unpredictable, but when in work was mangable, she was in and out of work for about a year due to a few injuries but she became lame and we couldn't get her sound, during this time she was becoming more and more difficult to handle, and becoming dangerous it got to the point me and vet said enough was enough and pts was deciced before someone got hurt. It did help that I had a very supportive vet who knew the horse well and was very straight talking, and basicly said pts was the best option
 
We were very very fortunate and found part of the solution to the dangerous behaviour of our Wesh DxTB. She could no longer be safely ridden out, as she was so very noise reactive, she also often had hives in her saddle area. She became very difficult to lead in at tea time(although was ok going out in the morning). She would go up on her back legs, had to be led by two people, each with a rope halter on her, and would still be difficult. She also would kick and bite. She then developed a cough and I happened to read an article by someone whose horse had been lame and coughing, the problems resolved when she stopped feeding sugar. We decided that it was worth a try, to keep the mare more comfortable until the school Christmas holidays, when sister would be off work and we could book to have her PTS, the holiday was three weeks away. We stopped ALL sugar immediately and the poor creature went into three days of withdrawl. By day three she had turned back into the sweet natured creature we had bought. She gradually got a bit worse again and we then stopped cereal. While she was never reliable enough to ride consistantly, as we could not guarentee thatt other people had not fed her, we did keep her until she died of a stroke aged 24. She was about 12 when we were going to pts.
 
I suspect it depends on your circumstances - whether you can afford to keep a paddock ornament or not, and whether the horse is happy as such. If the answer is "not" then it would be dangerous to pass it on, and risk it getting into that awful downward spiral of being passed from pillar to post, through sales yards and getting worse and worse as it needs to defend itself against egotistical bullies who think they can beat a horse into behaving well.
It's never easy giving up though - the one I knew had had a couple of chances with experienced people and just never showed any interest in relating to people. Sad, because it is usually caused by people, very few horses have bad behaviour that hasn't been learned - learned behaviour can be unlearned but hard wired is something altogether different, be it genetic or mental underlying reasons.
 
My horse apparently scared his previous owner, and he's a doll! He can get upset occasionally but he doesn't do anything unseating. I don't know the specifics of what happened and not sure I want to :p

We had one put down due to lameness issues, but he was a serious rearer and had gone over backwards with my mum, which we think was most likely on account of pain in the front feet. So to be honest if a horse's behaviour is that extreme there probably is an underlying medical issue.
 
Not insensitive at all, but a very good post. I had a massive amount of support on here when I posted a similar problem, I have one I will not pass on under any circumstances and will be PTS at home when the time comes. There was only one poster who had a real problem with it and TBH that is their problem not mine.
 
her physical issues brought about the behavioural ones - she was a sparky loving life little mare who became worried sour and had no regard for her own safety or mine . It got to the stage where I had to tighten her girth and shut her in her stable both doors shut and wait for her to finish ( this was a vet asked exercise as nothing was showing in tests and she was due in for mri/bone scans tc ) She loved her work and was at her absolute best when worked hard - she wouldn't have ever been a field companion and I cant believe that someone did this amount of damage to her over a 6 month loan period - I will never forgive myself
 
I had a pony that had been 100% on a 2 week trial, even though the vendor said it would buck sometimes. Well "sometimes" was the thing. Say at a PC rally, be OK in the morning and then send daughter into orbit in the afternoon. Then she injured herself and needed a long rest, which was good as we had a super pony on loan, and the bucker went to stud. Very attractive, good colour, good confirmatin, a good "type." Did not get in foal, and bucked the same when back in work. Sometimes OK, sometimes not, put my daughter off who didn't want to ride her, understandably. I had her checked over by Tex Gamble, who described exactly what she did. After that I advertised her on free loan with view to buy and I told the people that if she bucked they were to send her back.

I had determined that if that happened I would go and fetch her and take her straight to the kennels.

Actually, it was a huge success and they bought her and up to the time I got the money about 3 months - she hadn't bucked again. I don't know if was a lighter rider (although the mother rode her too) or the treatment that Tex had given her stopped her problems. But if she had come back I thought there was nothing else I could have done except PTS.
 
Good owners never pass a horse on when there are specific issues. good owners take resoonsibility and give thier horse peace. was told that the day i said good bye to my baby and its true. x
 
My old boy (well kind of, he was a share but owner basically let me have sole use so was unofficially mine) had huge issues with the farrier. He had to be sedated as he had been very badly beaten by a farrier when he was young. There was only one farrier in the area who would shoe him. When he reached the age of about 20, he started to really resist the sedation and would come out of it very unpredictably. Understandably the farrier said he couldn't risk shoeing him any more, it was just too dangerous. We tried him barefoot for a short while but he became very very footsore in the winter with all the mud. He had to live out 24/7 due to major stabling issues, also caused by mistreatment as a youngster. He was leader of the herd and not a cuddley horse by any means, we knew it was time when we got to the field and he was lying down for a few days in a row - he hardly ever lay down. We really had no option - it was completely heartbreaking, I have never got over the loss of him, I loved him to pieces.

I hasten to add that all the mistreatment happened long before my friend took him on, she gave him a wonderful life and managed his issues very well. I was 11 when I started riding him and he took care of me as if I were a precious stone. Such a shame that such deep rooted problems were caused by people, which ultimately shortened his life. I will never forgive whoever it was that did that to him.
 
I have said this on previous threads of this nature, horses are mamals, just like people are. Some people are not mentally well enough to be be in society at large, they are too dangerous because of their mental health. We incarcerate these people in special hospitals, for their safety and the rest of society. I can only presume that all mamalian brains can be susceptible to forms of severe mental illness, to lock up a horse so that it can do no harm is neither possible nor desirable, therefore it is incumbant on us to do the most humane thing for them.
 
I took the decision when it wasn't just when being ridden he was tricky.
He had physio, dentist, vet, referral vet and more vets.
Going in the stable was a case of dodging teeth, him cow kicking or striking out with a front.
I tried for 5 and a half years to get inside his head with the help of professional riders who compete at international level, behaviourist's, vets. I gave that horse every chance at every discipline to behave, he couldn't.
I have an on going whiplash injury from him and I couldn't afford to be injured anymore.
A sad, sad day but I know however much it hurt, I did the right thing by the horse.
 
i sound like a total bitch but i WISH i had my 7 year old sports horse type pts.... he bronced me off, i have a back back because of it - he also chucked my friend off who could have so easily broken her neck

he kicked/bit - had the physio/vet/ refferals etc - he was deemed as behavioural issues - we should have had him pts but gave him one last chance.... dont know where he is now - at the time i was 15 and even knew then he should have been pts.... but decision wasnt mine..

ive no issue with putting down for behavioural reasons if dangerous - its not worth it - horses can kill us.... in one kick.
 
babymare said:
Good owners never pass a horse on when there are specific issues. good owners take resoonsibility and give thier horse peace. was told that the day i said good bye to my baby and its true. x
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I need a "like" button for this - seeing it from the horse's point of view instead of one's own :)

I do have to add that my horse was a candidate, difficult and bordering on dangerous until I realised it was magnesium deficiency and he has been fine for 8 years now. But that was relatively simple to sort, unlike something like KS for example.
 
When the horse jumped a non-existent four foot fence for the second time, this time straight onto a wire fence, then decided that a good way to 'stand' in the lorry was with all four feet pointing at the ceiling, I was wondering what in the world I should do with him. Then he had a panic attack in the field, but the real clincher was that my other two boys rejected him and would have nothing to do with him. They knew something I didn't, and in all conscience I couldn't pass him on to anyone else, I'd never have forgiven myself if he'd hurt or killed someone. He was ten.

It's not an easy thing to do, to choose to kill a healthy horse :(
 
gingerdog said:
Will be following this thread with interest as I think that I have reached this point with my homebred Anglo Arab :( Just need to bring myself to ring the pet crematorium and arrange for the deed to be done now.

Background info - always been a swine and refered to as jekyle and Hyde by the professionals that he has been sent to in the past. Terrible rearer so just became a field pet for a few years but his party trick of running through fencing has sealed his own fate. It has come to the point where I cannot take my other horses out of the field to ride without him running through fence to follow even though he has our other pony, that he has lived with all of his life, to keep him company.

It has been a hard decision to make but the fact that he is now preventing me from enjoying the other horses that I work so hard to pay for has made my mind up. He will leave for rainbow bridge in the field with his friends with his head in a bucket knowing nothing about it.

Although I feel confident to post on this forum only close friends will be aware of his fate in the 'real world' everyone else will be told that he became injured as unfortunately not everyone is as realistic as the majority of people on here :(
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Good decision in all ways. I would do the same.
 
babymare said:
Good owners never pass a horse on when there are specific issues. good owners take resoonsibility and give thier horse peace. was told that the day i said good bye to my baby and its true. x
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Absolutely.

A former YO of mine had a homebred mare - very pretty, well put together but an evil witch. Vile to other horses so had to be kept on her own, vile to handle and after she had put YO on the floor for the gazillionth time for no good reason other than she could (and given YO her second broken hip), YO made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to have her PTS.

P
 
Slightly Foxed said:
I did find myself with an absolute fruit loop this year, I think he must have been drugged when we tried him, however, long story. He wasn't old, 12, so I was reluctant to have him pts but was definitely not going to pass him on to be someone else's problem. I managed to get him into the blood bank, which was a brilliant solution.


I have a 24 yo that we've owned since a 4 yo. We had a pony pts last year at 27, we'd owned him for 24 years. Our oldest was pts at 37.

We're able to do that because we have our own land. What do people do if they're paying livery? Keep changing horses before they get too old, or basically give up competing until the old horse goes to the great pastures in the sky? I've often wondered.
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I don't compete but I have a home bred filly on livery who is too young to ride so I have a part time share horse on another yard that I hack out whenever I want. When my girl retires or can no longer be ridden I'd do the same again just get a share, there's horses on every yard without a regular rider, just a case of asking.
 
For me it was the day that my sons mare went up and over deliberately whilst being longreined in a headcollar then got up and did it again . Unfortunately she was very pretty lovelyand well bred and healthy (we went down the ok its physical it wasnt) but would flip out without warning and would throw herself onto the floor and if you fell on the floor would attack you.
 
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