Have you seen a horse die?

Alec Swan said:
Just a modest plea, to all those who are present when their beloved animal is put down. Do please consider the person who is to carry out the deed. It's the one job that is loathed by those who are able, and having distraught owners present only makes matters more difficult for them.

I would always encourage an owner to be on hand, if that's what they want, but at times of crisis, owners, especially when they're strangers, and they're understandably distressed can make a difficult job, that much worse.

Alec.
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Really wise words Alec. Thank you.
 
i was there when my mare was PTS after breaking her leg, I've done lambing practice with dead lambs and dealt with dead calves, i shoot rabbits and will knock them on the head to make sure they're gone but i don't feel the need to watch a video of a horses demise, death doesn't bother me but i don't feel the need to make a big thing out of it.
 
Ibblebibble said:
i was there when my mare was PTS after breaking her leg, I've done lambing practice with dead lambs and dealt with dead calves, i shoot rabbits and will knock them on the head to make sure they're gone but i don't feel the need to watch a video of a horses demise, death doesn't bother me but i don't feel the need to make a big thing out of it.
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But looking at the video isn't making a big thing of it, is it? You're familiar with the death process, some people aren't. Maybe they feel the need to watch it to help prepare themselves for the time they'll have to deal with it first hand?

I would think that could be a good thing.
 
I was with my dog when she was pts, and it was very very peaceful.
In our accident with benson, he had died before the vet had got there. In some ways I feel lucky as I was on entenox and being dealt with by the ambulance crew when he died, in other ways that makes me sad, as I wasnt with him in his last moments, and never actually said goodbye.
 
Yes, I volunteered to stay with my friends mare while she was pts as she wanted someone with her but couldn't bare it herself.

She went very peacefully after what had been a very traumatic night. She had delivered a dead foal in the night, then coliced & her uterus detached & fell out. She had been throwing herself on the floor & trying to knock herself out on the concrete. Being with her while she was pts was not the worst experience.

I did also watch the video of Hickstead yesterday. Yes it was very distressing & my thoughts go out to all involved. I chose to watch it for just the reason Fiona stated - to be prepared incase I come across it myself. My daughters friends pony dropped with a heart attack last year & she said the worst thing was just being helpless not knowing what was happening.
 
Unfortunately, yes, but, and I'm loathe to say this, but each one, whilst being horribly sad, was a learning curve.
An 18 hh mare went down in her box where I work, and with vet and animal rescue squad on hand, she was winched to her feet, but just couldn't stand. It was heartbreaking to watch such a beautiful, strong horse in that situation. Eventually the vet diagnosed a fractured pelvis, and she was PTS - such a waste, she was only 8.
Several others PTS and a couple of heart attacks.
Alec - you write about this subject so well - we could all learn from your words.
 
Yes I have, on a number of occasions (my own horses, supporting friends with their horses, and some ponies PTS for dissection at uni).

For the majority they have been much loved animals, who had reached the end of their life due to injury or simple old age. They have all been very dignified, and I believe it is part of any animal ownership on the whole. Watching my old mare being pts was traumatic at the time, however, it was the best thing for her. I have however been very lucky never to whitness a pts gone wrong.
 
No, I haven't seen a horse either die or dead. Yet. I have 3 horses (and a dog) and I like to have an inkling of what to expect with situations and can be, inevitable as some of them are - so that I can be a little more mentally prepared. The first colt I watched being gelded, horrified me... the second one I was a lot more "Meh! It's for the best, matey"

Whilst I know that each death will always present differently, I did watch the video of Hickstead purely for educational purposes.
 
I have not seen a horse die, or even dead. I have read a few threads here on the subject and that led me to the decision to watch the video of Hickstead. It is obviously a very distressing topic, and the video is not easy to watch.

I have read a few times on here that sometimes, when PTS, the horse will convulse. The video showed me what this might look like.

Someday I will probably have to make this decision. For me, from an educational perspective, it made sense to watch. However, I can equally understand why others would choose to not watch it.
 
was there when my old boy was PTS, but no have never seen one go of natural causes. The Hickstead video didn't shock me, but was very educational.
 
I'm afraid i've seen a few :(
The first was a livery's horse, found him in the field with a broken back leg and a burst artery, he was wearing a red amigo rug...the floor was the same colour. Stopped the bleeding till the vet came but we knew, he was very calm and i held him while he was put to sleep by injection as the owner was to distraught.
I also found our old Tb dead in the field, he had escaped from his field and broken through a fenced off stream and fallen in a sump hole in the night and died panicking trying to get out, that bothered me the most, especially when we had to winch him out with the tractor.
Another livery had an old pony pts, that was peaceful as he was ready and didn't fight.
Far to many dogs & cats, my boss even accidently ran her Jack Russell over a few years ago on the yard, that was awful :(
 
I have never seen a horse die, although seen plenty of animals die/been pts. Seen a couple of horses dead once been pts before they've been taken. It's sad but it's part of life, although like most people if it was a traumatic end it would haunt me. A couple of years ago I hit a dog and it got killed outright. It ran out of a field chasing a pheasant, I wasn't speeding and didn't see it until it was at the wheel of my truck. The owner came running out of the field apologising saying it wasn't my fault but it was so upsetting. I drove him and the dog to the vet as he believed the dog was still alive (in shock). I then took him home and broke the news to his wife. I will never forget that afternoon it was awful!
 
Ibblebibble said:
i wonder how many people who are happy to watch the Hickstead video would post a video of their horse being PTS on you tube?
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I've not yet been in this position, but if everything went according to plan, yes I would. I think it's important to give people the option of finding out about what happens when a horse dies before the event, so that they can make informed decisions about what they will do when the time comes. If you own animals, you have to accept that there's a good chance that you'll have to make that decision at some point, and I think it scares a lot of people which is perhaps one reason why people can leave that decision too late or pass an older horse on which as we all know can end badly - anything that can dispel that fear and perhaps help people to make the decision with only the best interests of their animal at heart is a good thing.

I would also urge people to look at this and make use of the free resource provided to make their own plan. http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/just_in_case
 
Ibblebibble said:
i wonder how many people who are happy to watch the Hickstead video would post a video of their horse being PTS on you tube?
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But this wasn't a private affair. It happened very much in public and was watched by a huge audience, and went out on tv. All that was posted was the tv coverage.

Running a camera at your horse's private death and then putting it on youtube would be somewhat different.
 
FionaM12 said:
But this wasn't a private affair. It happened very much in public and was watched by a huge audience, and went out on tv. All that was posted was the tv coverage.

Running a camera at your horse's private death and then putting it on youtube would be somewhat different.
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This^^

I watched it because I wanted to know what happened. It was in public so was seen by thousands of people. I wanted to know what the crowd saw especially as there would have been children in the crowd.

I've also never seen what a heart attack looks like but I know of horses that have died of them. Now I know and I don't particularly want to see it again, but I feel I am better prepared if my horse ever collapsed like that.
 
FionaM12 said:
But this wasn't a private affair. It happened very much in public and was watched by a huge audience, and went out on tv. All that was posted was the tv coverage.

Running a camera at your horse's private death and then putting it on youtube would be somewhat different.
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still a traumatic moment for the rider and owners though , not their fault it happened on live tv:(
for the sake of argument then, if you were eventing and your horse died on course and someone had filmed it, would you be happy to see it posted on you tube or would you find it an invasion of your privacy?
If people want to watch the you tube vid of Hickstead then i think they should at least consider how they would feel if the tables were turned.
no matter how many animals i have killed myself and seen killed i still feel that it should be treated with respect, :)
 
I was riding a horse when it collapsed and died.....in the dark, the mud and the rain.

Turns out it was a collapsed lung- one of those things. I was about 20 at the time.

My horse was PTS by lethal injection last year.

I was there when our dogs have been PTS too.

But then again I'm a nurse- I've been there when people have died......
 
ive never seen a horse dying but i have seen them dead, being there while they get put on the trailer to get taken away, it never seemed to bother me because they were already dead
 
Ibblebibble said:
i wonder how many people who are happy to watch the Hickstead video would post a video of their horse being PTS on you tube?
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I would.
There's nothing wrong with not wanting to see a horse die, but equally, there's nothing wrong with watching a video of the end of a horse's life.
Like foaling, death is part of life, and the more we know, the better we understand it.
Perhaps it will also help prepare people for the day when their horse may die...it is easier I think, if you know what is coming, and understand the physiology of death.
S :D
 
When I was a pony-mad kid I kept a horse scrapbook. I would put any horse pic in there that I could find, and considering my parents read the Daily Telegraph, and we had no other mags or papers, horse pics were a bit thin on the ground.
So when Lucinda Prior-Palmer's horse collapsed and died of a heart attack during the lap of honour at Badminton, and the Telegraph published a series of pics showing the whole thing, of course I cut it out. I think I still have the book with those cuttings in it.
Looking back on it now maybe it does seem a bit ghoulish, but more so that they showed the upset rider and connections of the horse, than that they showed the horse dying.
 
Ibblebibble said:
still a traumatic moment for the rider and owners though , not their fault it happened on live tv:(
for the sake of argument then, if you were eventing and your horse died on course and someone had filmed it, would you be happy to see it posted on you tube or would you find it an invasion of your privacy?
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I honestly think that in the circumstances you describe that would be the least of my worries. I can only speak for myself of course, no doubt others might feel differently. There's no right or wrong way to feel in these situations.

I might want to see if there was anything I could have done to prevent it from happening, although I do think it would be a while before I could bring myself to do so.
 
Several sadly. Some planned, some mine, some not, both injection and bullet, another was hit by a car and I held it until the vet came and PTS, another which as I remember it, hit a cross country fence which fractured a rib and somehow punctured his heart (may have got the details wrong, it was a long time ago) anyway it didn't appear to have been injured and finished the course before collapsing at the end and dying. I was working as Starter that day so it all happened right in front of me. Then unfortunately I was on my first ever visit to Badminton in 1976 and saw Wideawake die during his lap of honour.

Lots of dogs, cats and chickens - it is inevitable I am afraid - you have to be prepared if you keep animals. Every time I have to make the decision, I think right, never again, no more animals .... but you do. The great memories make up for it - and I know that they have all had a fabulous life with me.
 
Have seen far too many for my liking.

4 with broken legs
1 slipped on ice broke pelvis
Various old age PTS
1 leg through trailer at a show

The worst has to be watching horse down wriggling around in agony on the floor as I rode passed, rang my vet as no one knew who owned it, It was dying of worm burden, so vet said. No one would take responsibility so I paid the bill.
 
Unfortunately I have seen a few. I have had one PTS of my own and because of my job I have very sadly seen more than anyone ever should. 3 by injection on the track, one had a broken neck, one struck into it's tendon and severd it the other massive internal bleeding from hitting a fence. 2 by bullet, both broken backs. They are the worst because you have to give them time to try to get up themselves as they could just as easily be lying winded on the floor. It's heartbreaking when they can't use their hind legs. I've collected a bridle from a heart attack. As bad as this sounds if a horse had any way to go on the track I would most certainly choose a clean snap of the neck. They are dead before they fully hit the ground and know absolutely nothing.

I've held 1 at the yard when he was PTS by injection. He had broken his pelvis and just hadn't fixed. I'd put up with his grumpy tantrums, I'd been biten by him but was the only one on the yard to never receive a kick from him because he trusted me. He loved all forms of sweets and crisps - except for mini chedders! That's when I got bitten - for daring to give him something so revolting lol! I'd looked after him for pretty much a year and half having gone through both sides of his pelvis seperately and he wasn't going without me being there to say goodbye. Every death is so incredibly sad and you never get used to it, it's always something that happens to someone else but when it's yours it hits home with a lightning bolt. Sadly for those of us that work in racing we have to buckle up, get on with the job and break down in the truck on the way home. I hate leaving horses at the races but I would much rather leave them there dead than leave them at a vets where you never know what the outcome will be.
 
Working at an equine vets and then a racecourse I have seen numerous die and be PTS. This has not upset me nearly as much as some of the things I saw when horses were alive. Owners refusing to accept the inevitable and fighting to keep desperately sick animals going; neglect; trauma etc. It is hard to watch a fit healthy horse die in any way but far harder to watch any horse suffer.
 
Yes, twice.

At a show about 13 years ago. I was there as a groom (with the heavy horses) and we were watching while waiting to go in for the obstacle driving. A horse completed his round, and then collapsed and died just after coming out of the ring. It was his last show before retirement too.. It was very sad :(

Also at an ODE about 3 or 4 years ago too, the horse was coming into the last fence XC and collapsed and died just before the fence, he was only 6 years old. Luckily the rider was thrown clear.

ETA: I have also seen two horses PTS (not mine though) by injection. One was very old (30+) and had internal problems; the other was a retired racehorse who shattered his leg in the field - my old mare was turned out with him at the time and it was amazing to see how she reacted, she was so calm and protected him from the other horses in the field.
 
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I was there when my boy was put down by injection. I wanted to be there for him in the last moments and that moment of him looking at me and then going will stay with me forever (in a good way), I know he knew I was there.

The bit I didn't cope with was when the guy came to collect him. I had sat with him in the field (the guy was quite a while), but when the lorry came I literally ran with my hands over my ears and broke down :(
 
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