Friends horse sudden death.

pistolpete

pistolpete

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Me again. Posted recently about my poor friend who lost her mum two weeks ago. Well Sunday night her 22 year old shire cross cob died suddenly. Found dead in the field! I’m so heart broken for her.
Anyone else lost an older her horse with no warning and had a post mortem? She was completely fine Sunday night. Happy and jolly.
 
My old farrier lost their 4yo suddenly. They thought he was asleep then realised they hadn't seen him move for a while. Also a heavy horse part bred and they were told it's more common in larger horses, but no idea if that's correct. No pm done.
Very sorry for your friend because that must have been a horrible shock.
 
I've only know one horse to die suddenly, and it was (almost certainly) a heart attack but no PM done. She was riding at the time, he was maybe 17 then. The suddenness is of course a massive shock (and in this case the immediate trauma - one minute cantering up a hill and the next... well, awful).

Your poor friend. Of course the consolation, for what it's worth, is that the horse was fine until she died - better than many horse (or indeed human) endings.
 
My first pony dropped down dead at age 27. I didn't have a pm due to the cost and obviously it wouldn't bring him back. I felt it was a good end as it was sudden, he was at home with his friend and in familiar surroundings. A horse I have now was orphaned at 6 weeks old. The mare was pm'd and was found to have had an aortic aneurism.
 
As humans we don’t see them for hours at a time, so sometimes we will never know.

One of mine did a good effort at dropping dead the other week. Temp of 40.5 degrees, lay down to die. Luckily I was there, vet arrived within 30min and she was up and walking once her fever was reduced. But if she had got that high a fever at 2am, I imagine I would have found her dead the next morning.
 
I had a lovely mare who i found dead in the field, she had been fine an hour earlier. A PM was done for the insurance company and she had a massive bleed from a mesenteric aneurysm. The vet said she would just have felt faint and lain down. There was no sign of struggling etc. She was only 13 and fit as a fiddle. Likewise it was 2 months after the death of my husband. A very bleak time in my life.
 
i knew one that died suddenly - owner had hacked her out that day, she led down and they realised she’d gone. it was strange that it was in the day - she’d gone back to bed voluntarily, but they then realised she wasn’t breathing. she was also a heavy, shire or clydesdale.
 
A friend had one have a heart attack out hunting years ago. She was going well until she refused a fence, then collapsed.

I bought a 9yo a few years back. Dropped dead pretty much as soon as he moved in. He'd passed a 5 stage vetting the day before. My vet said it happens surprisingly often, but people don;t talk about it so much.
 
My horse was kicked, but the way he died was odd, so I asked the fallen stock guy if he could have a look for me. My vet was also interested in the outcome, as he was a bit baffled by the symptoms.

I found out what had happened, it couldn't have been fixed and it wasn't going to affect the other horses, so that helped. It didn't cost me anything more than the disposal costs.
 
Beausmate said:
My horse was kicked, but the way he died was odd, so I asked the fallen stock guy if he could have a look for me. My vet was also interested in the outcome, as he was a bit baffled by the symptoms.

I found out what had happened, it couldn't have been fixed and it wasn't going to affect the other horses, so that helped. It didn't cost me anything more than the disposal costs.
Click to expand...

Our local fallen stock company will also have a look if you ask them to.
 
When I was at university (Equine) there was a school horse who dropped dead during a jumping lesson. It was awful for the poor rider but it was instant for the horse so I like to think she didn't suffer. She was a lovely mare and I liked riding her. I think it was an aneurysm as others have said.
 
I found my three year old dead in the field with no sign of a struggle. I had to have a PM for insurance (who then refused to pay because it wasn't done by one of 'their' vets but that is a whole different story). A massive abdominal tumour was found.

It is a horrible shock for your friend who has really been through it these past few weeks.
 
I've had two go in the field overnight - one 19 and one 14. I didn't have PMs. The 19-year-old had a heart murmur, but I have always asked myself what happened with the 14 year old, so maybe I should have done it.
 
I found one of the YOs horses dead in the field one morning. There were very few marks on the ground and he was still very warm. It was a real shock, but at least it looked to have been quick. He was in his early 20s too.
 
I've known this with three horses. One hadn't long moved to a new field which he shared with his owner's two other horses so she did a PM in case it was caused by something in the field. It turned out to be an aortic aneurism. The vet said they were surprisingly common (or not rare at least). Another had just been turned back out after riding. He was trotting back to his friends when he staggered for a step or two and keeled over. He was gone by the time his owner reached him. The third was found in the field only a couple of hours after being last seen, there was no sign of a struggle. All three owners had a horrible shock but once that subsided, they all said they took comfort from how quick it was for the horses. I hope your friend reaches the same point.
 
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