Have you ever had to euthanise a ‘dangerous’ horse?

[Winters100]

You would hope that a compassionate vet would come up with a diagnosis of some sort to allow pts to happen
Perhaps it's more difficult to find a compassionate vet though if the culture in your country is that horses are a commodity or food

Well I don't think it is lack of compassion, these things are generally easily dealt with if you have the animals at home. The problem is that vets can lose their license for acting outside the law, so if the horse is on a busy yard they are very nervous about it. Most vets I have spoken to agree that the law is wrong, but it is a very Catholic country which leads to all sorts of laws which we would not find acceptable in the UK. For example just this week there was a new law to prohibit abortion even where the foetus is severely deformed and unable to survive - now they will still force the woman to carry it to full term and deliver it just to watch the baby die. To me this is wicked, but now it is the law

 

[Tiddlypom]

Do you have a choice to relocate to a more enlightened country, Winters100?

I could not live in a place with such inflexible, cruel and outmoded laws. I certainly would not keep animals there.

 

[ycbm]

.

You would hope that a compassionate vet would come up with a diagnosis of some sort to allow pts to happen
Perhaps it's more difficult to find a compassionate vet though if the culture in your country is that horses are a commodity or food

It's the Catholicism that's the problem, and it's even worse, unspeakably so, in some Muslim countries.


Donski, because it's a QH, I would check the PSSM and whether a very high dose of natural vitamin E changes him at all, which would take about 2 weeks to start to show. Then I would put him to sleep with a clear conscience. There would also be no shame doing the same if you don't feel able to manage a horse severely affected by PSSM for the rest of its life.

 

[Goldenstar]

Yes twice ,
The first was a one bred she was a bitter almost from the get go and by three I with a heavy heart got ready to start her off .
Now I would know that she was probably one of those foals that are born with ulcers but all that was unknown at that point I was so careful tiny steps routine a bit every day etc etc .
One day I woke up outside her stable with my hat smashed she must have gone for me as I groomed her she was shot the next day.
The other was my driving horse Charlie he was super to drive but not quite sound enough take the work needed to keep on top of him .
He had as a young horse been part of a rescue where local people got together to sort out a breeding out of control type situation .
I think he must have been locked in some where he had bizarre and dangerous behaviours about being left he did thousand of pounds of damage to the lorry , destroyed a temporary stable fixed to my carriage trailer that cost thousands and brand new .
He went straight through a breeze block stable wall like in a cartoon he walked through doors it was so frustrating because of he got enough work he was
great but he had a slightly twisted foot that could not take the kilometres needed to keep his head straight .
The final straw was a appalling palaver in the trailer where he went for me with fore legs I called a friend to meet at home and he called the vet .
We euthanised him there and then .

 

[cauda equina]

These are heartbreaking tales but some of these poor horses sound to be suffering such mental torment that pts is the decent thing to do
Pts is never wrong for unfixable physical pain so why not for mental pain too

 

[ihatework]

Thankfully no.

I owned one that wasn’t dangerous to handle but did have a sporadic evil bronc (which had led to a couple of trainers telling me to shoot it). I didn’t at the time and he went into hunt service which was the making of him. If I had my time again with him I’d possibly be more likely to shoot him.

Friends bought a broodmare at auction and she turned out to be a horrific biter. She would have been one justified to put down, but they kept her and she didn’t leave the property and was managed very carefully. None of her offspring ever showed any of the mothers behaviours.

Otherwise I must have been pretty lucky I suppose. Most bad behaviours are just the result of bad management and handling in their early years (if pain has been ruled out)

 

[The Jokers Girl]

Ive never had to but I would if I ever found myself in that situation. I feel terrible for you that you find yourself in this situation. I woukd rather a quick painless end for the horse than a life being passed around and who knows what happening to it or it going to a well meaning person that doesn't understand the issues and gets themselves seriously injured or killed. I would never be able to live with myself

 

[BallyJ]

I know of 2,

1 turned out to have a brain tumour and progressively got worse, he was 17.2hh. Would rear coming from the field, run into walls grab people over his door.

the other was a 4yo TB, Picked up a member of staff and ragged him around, then went for him with his front legs until someone else intervened. He was PTS the same day.

Its sad, but they are animals and sometimes its the kindest thing to do rather than them being passed pillar to post.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

A friend of mine had a stallion, home bred, had shown very successfully and done loads over the years, sired lots of gorgeous foals. Everyone's favourite, then one day she was bringing him in, turned to shut the gate behind her and he grabbed her arm and lifted her off the ground. He was only 15hhs and she was a tall well built girl. He took a huge chunk of muscle out of her arm, made a real mess of her. She said with hindsight, he had been getting a bit grumpy, which wasn't like him. He was mid teens. It was guessed that it was a brain tumour. He was put down by the local hunt about a day later. Poor girl had a dreadfully scarred arm and later developed breast cancer on that side. May or may not have been connected, irrelevant in the scheme of things. That eventually killed her.

 

[Old school]

A post mortem is well worth the money in these situations. We learnt a very valuable lesson. And also while we always listen to our vet, our own gut instinct is normally on the money.

 

[Frumpoon]

I have nearly had to go down this route but bottled it...couldn't go through with it

I'm so, so glad I decided to stick with it.

Horse thrives on 24/7 herd turnout, another horse is the boss and tells him off and he loves being in the middle of a hierarchy

There's a much longer back story regarding the circumstances of his birth and early years but I won't bore you with that

 

[Frumpoon]

Well I don't think it is lack of compassion, these things are generally easily dealt with if you have the animals at home. The problem is that vets can lose their license for acting outside the law, so if the horse is on a busy yard they are very nervous about it. Most vets I have spoken to agree that the law is wrong, but it is a very Catholic country which leads to all sorts of laws which we would not find acceptable in the UK. For example just this week there was a new law to prohibit abortion even where the foetus is severely deformed and unable to survive - now they will still force the woman to carry it to full term and deliver it just to watch the baby die. To me this is wicked, but now it is the law

Poland?

 

[Winters100]

Poland?

Yes

 

[DonskiWA]

It didnt come to that but my then vet did offer it as an option and that was without me broaching the subject!

Agree that pssm/hypp come to mind with a QH. Has he been tested?

Was he late cut? Does he have adlib forage or is it dry with you?

But bottom line is I wouldn't hesitate to pts a true dangerous horse. Theres a clip from the Buck film on youtube of a horse, sure it's a Palomino too, attacking another horseman in the yard and it was savage. Sometimes they cant all be fixed or saved[/QUOTE

 

[DonskiWA]

Thapinks is for all your replies. Yes, I’ve seen that Buck BrAnnan clip. Scary stuff, my boy isn’t quite that bad...
i have always assumed he has PSSM and tried to manage him that way. I think I will hold off though and get him formally tested. IF I do it, I’d need to be able to say I’ve done everything in my power first.

 

[SEL]

Thapinks is for all your replies. Yes, I’ve seen that Buck BrAnnan clip. Scary stuff, my boy isn’t quite that bad...
i have always assumed he has PSSM and tried to manage him that way. I think I will hold off though and get him formally tested. IF I do it, I’d need to be able to say I’ve done everything in my power first.

I own 2 with PSSM and would always support anyone who decided to PTS one who can't be managed. It's not a disease we fully understand and leads to a life of pain for some horses.

Whatever you decide remember the horse won't know a thing no matter how many sleepless nights you have xx

 

[Winters100]

Do you have a choice to relocate to a more enlightened country, Winters100?

I could not live in a place with such inflexible, cruel and outmoded laws. I certainly would not keep animals there.

Well I suppose that it is like everything - some things are better, some worse, and some just different. I love it here, and many things are much better than the UK, for example most yards would not even think of having no winter turnout, I know that my YO would be horrified by the idea. I have lived in many different countries, and I have usually been able to make it work. Sometimes you just need to find a way

 

[Littlewills]

I own 2 with PSSM and would always support anyone who decided to PTS one who can't be managed. It's not a disease we fully understand and leads to a life of pain for some horses.

Whatever you decide remember the horse won't know a thing no matter how many sleepless nights you have xx

Me too. Id actually go further and say a lot more with Type 2 PSSM in particular, should be PTS instead of being kept going with a painful degenerative disease that seems to be impossible to manage in the longer term

 

[Fransurrey]

I haven't had to do it for dangerous reasons, but I did have my Exmoor pts last year and donated him to my local vet school, where I happen to work. He was used to train years 4 and 5 in post mortem examination. As a result I had a crude PM report (just an email). It does sound like your horse is in a lot of pain still, so this might be a good option for you - it helped me enormously as I had a few people who were very surprised that I'd had him pts.