horse died at riding club hunter trial

MelenR said:
Sadly my horse, Tommy Brown passed away yesterday at a hunter trial competition in Cambridge. He collapsed towards the end of the course and up until then he showed no signs of any problems and was enjoying himself. I did walk/trot most of the course as it was a hot day and a long course, although he did become a bit over exuberant coming towards home. At least he went doing something he enjoyed. He was 15 years old and was otherwise very fit and healthy and had not shown any previous signs of having any problems; competing at the same competition last year and being placed at local competitions only a few weeks ago.
I have owned him for over 2 years now and he has been such a star. He loved hacking out and jumping and was a pleasure to be around, he’ll be missed by all that knew him.
RIP Tommy, I’ll miss you.
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So sorry for your loss MelenR, you must be in bits :(
Ignore any small minded comments, you knew your boy, you knew what he was capable of.

RIP Tommy Brown xx
 
MurphysMinder said:
So sorry for your loss MelenR, RIP Tommy.

Wagtail, please don't consign all 60 year old people to the scrapheap, I'm not too far off 60 and don't actually feel ready to be put out to grass just yet. :p
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You and that Mark Todd, MurphysMinder, you ought to know better. Get down the Darby and Joan right now and start dribbling down your cardis, the pair of you, and stop doing ridiculous things like winning Badminton which should be the province of the young, this minute.
 
OP, sorry to hear you had to see that, very sad for the family concerned.

Totally agree, as others have said, just one of things that happens, could happen to any horse no matter what age or fitness, obviously there is greater chance of it happening with an older unfit horse but nobody can say that was the case and it's very unfair to make that assumption.
 
My horse was 11 years old when he had a heart attack and he was doing what he enjoyed most, eating grass, as someone said they can go at anytime and I'd had him from 15 months of age. At lest he went quik and happy. So sorry for owner as she's lost a friend.
 
Wagtail said:
Obviously this 'elderly' horse was not fit enough or had a heart problem that meant that cross country was too much for him. There is a difference between competing an older fit horse at events where there is a heavy vet presence and checks, and the small riding club events where some people take out their old horse that has ben turned out 24/7 and ridden once a week. Not saying this was the case here, but it is a common enough occurance.
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Please dont talk such rubbish!
I lost a fit and healthy 10yr old TB on Saturday, he dropped like a stone in the parade ring after finishing a p2p perfectly well, I also used to hunt and xc my 32yr old pony who was as fit as a fiddle until her eyesight became impaired.
A vet doesn't make a jot of difference to a horse having a heart attack, whether there is one or a hundred of them.
 
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MelenR said:
Sadly my horse, Tommy Brown passed away yesterday at a hunter trial competition in Cambridge. He collapsed towards the end of the course and up until then he showed no signs of any problems and was enjoying himself. I did walk/trot most of the course as it was a hot day and a long course, although he did become a bit over exuberant coming towards home. At least he went doing something he enjoyed. He was 15 years old and was otherwise very fit and healthy and had not shown any previous signs of having any problems; competing at the same competition last year and being placed at local competitions only a few weeks ago.
I have owned him for over 2 years now and he has been such a star. He loved hacking out and jumping and was a pleasure to be around, he’ll be missed by all that knew him.
RIP Tommy, I’ll miss you.
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I am so sorry to read this, this was the first time in years that I didn't make it to Trumpington. Big hugs for you and Rest In Peace Tommy, I hope you will find some comfort in the fact that he was enjoying himself up to his last xx
 
skewbald_again said:
Yeh, for goodness sake, it would be like a 55 year old riding like Badminton.

Oh. Wait.
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Whilst you are trying to be clever, you forget there is a huge difference between riding and doing the work of the horse. Equestrian sport is one of the few (along with golf, snooker etc) where older people can compete alongside those who are at their physical peak. How many 55 year olds will be competing in the olympic field events? ;)

Any horse can have a heart attack at any age, but it is a fact in both humans and animals, that the risk increases with age.

I am sorry to hear about Tommy. 15 is by no means elderly for a horse. It must have been awful for you.

I am referring to those age 20 plus. I think with rare exceptions, it is too much to ask of any horse of that age to compete hunter trials or equivalent. But that is just my opinion and I respect that others feel completely differently. :)
 
MurphysMinder said:
So sorry for your loss MelenR, RIP Tommy.

Wagtail, please don't consign all 60 year old people to the scrapheap, I'm not too far off 60 and don't actually feel ready to be put out to grass just yet. :p
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Of course not. :) I am referring to horses carrying people around over miles of cross country course.
 
MelenR said:
Sadly my horse, Tommy Brown passed away yesterday at a hunter trial competition in Cambridge.

At least he went doing something he enjoyed. He was 15 years old and was otherwise very fit and healthy and had not shown any previous signs of having any problems

RIP Tommy, I’ll miss you.
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I am sorry to hear this :( I lost one of mine on Saturday, but as you say they went doing something they enjoyed, and this comforts me enormously that the last thing my boy heard was me telling him how proud I was of him.
Take care xx
 
Baggybreeches said:
Please dont talk such shite!
I lost a fit and healthy 10yr old TB on Saturday, he dropped like a stone in the parade ring after finishing a p2p perfectly well, I also used to hunt and xc my 32yr old pony who was as fit as a fiddle until her eyesight became impaired.
A vet doesn't make a jot of difference to a horse having a heart attack, whether there is one or a hundred of them.
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Yes, I repeat, any horse can have a heart attack, regardless of age, but as in humans, the risk increases with age. You will always find exceptions.

I am very sorry to hear about your horse. Hadhe been checked for heart defects? I had a race horse arrive on my yard witha grade 4 heart murmur. She had been slowing down dramatically in her races but no one checked her heart.
 
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Wagtail said:
Yes, I repeat, any horse can have a heart attack, regardless of age, but as in humans, the risk increases with age. You will always find exceptions.
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The horse was 15 FFS! Not late twenties, he was trotting round a local hunter trial, you stated that it would be better that he was somewhere where there were lots of vets/checks in attendance, please enlighten me as to how this would have helped? All these things were in place at the meeting I was at on Saturday but didn't make a jot of difference to my horse.
I would suggest that if you struggle to maintain your horses in a decent level of fitness beyond their teenage years, perhaps you need more training?
 
Baggybreeches said:
The horse was 15 FFS! Not late twenties, he was trotting round a local hunter trial, you stated that it would be better that he was somewhere where there were lots of vets/checks in attendance, please enlighten me as to how this would have helped? All these things were in place at the meeting I was at on Saturday but didn't make a jot of difference to my horse.
I would suggest that if you struggle to maintain your horses in a decent level of fitness beyond their teenage years, perhaps you need more training?
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:rolleyes:You do not read posts properly. I have stated above that 15 is not elderly. I am talking about 20 plus. Maintaining a horse's fitness has nothing to do with whether you decide to compete them or not.
 
Wagtail, do have some tact and discretion - there are two people on this thread who have recently lost horses in sudden and tragic circumstances and you seem hell-bent on trying to make things worse for them by implying they were negligent in their care, despite the fact you know nothing of the individual horses and their management.

And I must add that a vetting will not necessarily pick up problems - I know a 5yo who died of a suspected aneurysm in the field despite having passed a vetting less than a year before.
 
I'm sorry for you loss too Baggybreeches. Like you said, at least we can both take comfort in knowing they they were both enjoying themselves to the end.
 
Baggybreeches said:
Why would I have a horse I have owned for 4 years vetted?
As it happens I have only ever had 1 horse vetted in my life, and that was for grading purposes nothing to do with performance.
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Maybe it's just me then. I always had a full 5 stage vetting either on purchase or before competing in anything more strenuous than dressage or local level show jumping. I would want to know my horse was more than healthy enough to cope with it. My mare had a 5 stage vetting and passed for competing at riding club level but not higher so I never pushed her higher than that. Her full bother on the other hand was vetted and fit for advanced eventing and so that is what he did.
 
I had a 27 year old pony who competed regularly in SJ and XC until a few days before she died - NOT due to being unfit to compete either, she had a brain tumour. Age has very little to do with it IMO, the horses fitness and soundness decides whether they can continue to compete, I know my pony would have gone nuts if not in regular work, she was a competition pony through and through.

Very sad to hear about the losses on this thread, heartbreaking for sure to lose them so suddenly and unexpectedly.
 
TGM said:
Wagtail, do have some tact and discretion - there are two people on this thread who have recently lost horses in sudden and tragic circumstances and you seem hell-bent on trying to make things worse for them by implying they were negligent in their care, despite the fact you know nothing of the individual horses and their management.

And I must add that a vetting will not necessarily pick up problems - I know a 5yo who died of a suspected aneurysm in the field despite having passed a vetting less than a year before.
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Well said

I competed my 19 year old mare this weekend, she was beaten by a 22 year old !!

This is a tragic story and would be very very distressing for anyone of us to experiance. What should have been a fun outing on a bank holiday ending in someones loss of thier best mate!! I can't imagine what this feels like
 
TGM said:
Wagtail, do have some tact and discretion - there are two people on this thread who have recently lost horses in sudden and tragic circumstances and you seem hell-bent on trying to make things worse for them by implying they were negligent in their care, despite the fact you know nothing of the individual horses and their management.

And I must add that a vetting will not necessarily pick up problems - I know a 5yo who died of a suspected aneurysm in the field despite having passed a vetting less than a year before.
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Wagtail - perhaps you didn't see this the first time it was posted. At least I hope that's the reason you've carried on posting in such an antagonistic manner.

Thanks TGM, it was written much better than I could have done, I'd been trying though.
 
I had a friend who had an arab mare she was only 6 years old she was hacking her around the country lanes as she did on many occasions, and this one day the mare suddenly reared up and shot into a huge holly headge and collasped, she died instantly from a heart attack, so so sad, as the mare was fit and healthy up until that day R.I.P Suzie.
 
Wagtail said:
Maybe it's just me then. I always had a full 5 stage vetting either on purchase or before competing in anything more strenuous than dressage or local level show jumping. I would want to know my horse was more than healthy enough to cope with it. My mare had a 5 stage vetting and passed for competing at riding club level but not higher so I never pushed her higher than that. Her full bother on the other hand was vetted and fit for advanced eventing and so that is what he did.
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You would have a 5 stage vetting done on a horse you have had for 4 years before popping to do your local riding club hunter trails over a bank holiday ??
 
Wagtail said:
Maybe it's just me then.
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Perhaps it is, I have plenty of friends who had vettings done with xrays and so on, and 12 months down the line their horses are retired due to injury.
A vetting should carry a caveat like an MOT to say that the vet has examined the horse on that day and found no defect, how the hell can you predict what will happen in the future?
A vetting is neither here nor there unless you are insuring a horse or haven't enough experience to decide what you want or need.
Does this look like a horse who will be dead in 10 minutes?
http://www.sweetphotography.com/Gal...oint/Vale of Lune/RACE 7/slides/IMG_1091.html
 
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TGM said:
Wagtail, do have some tact and discretion - there are two people on this thread who have recently lost horses in sudden and tragic circumstances and you seem hell-bent on trying to make things worse for them by implying they were negligent in their care, despite the fact you know nothing of the individual horses and their management.

And I must add that a vetting will not necessarily pick up problems - I know a 5yo who died of a suspected aneurysm in the field despite having passed a vetting less than a year before.
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I am genuinely sorry for the loss of those horses. I stated to the owner of Tommy, that I did not think 15 was old at all, and how terrible she must feel.

As for Baggybreeches, she started off by saying I was talking 'shite' and by shouting in her posts. I still expressed I was sorry she had lost her horse.

The discussion then moved on to whether horses should be vetted before competing in strenuous competition such as P2P. I think it is an important thing to consider and something that may prevent heartache for others. In the case of the race horse on my yard with a heart murmur, she is only 5 years old. The vet said there is little doubt she would have collapsed and died had she continued racing. However, despite her decline in performance on the track, she had never been vetted! Thankfully, she is now happily able to compete at local level dressage and hack out with very little chance of it over taxing her heart.
 
Wagtail, no offence, who cares.

You started off this thread by stating that the horse who died at the HT was "obviously" too old and too badly trained.

No matter how many times you have your 5yo with a heart murmur vetting, it doesn't take back how callous and rude you were. If Tommy is the horse referred to in the first post, then even though you've backtracked like nothing on earth, your comments are still insulting.

Just apologise and then step away from the computer, mkay?
 
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