how do you know if your horse is in pain?? am i doing the right thing?

[lucky7]

My horse has Kissing spines with 2 impinging vertebrae and a few others which are very close together. I have decided against surgery which i have been told would not guarantee recovery. Mare is very stressy and recovery would be too stressful for her plus theres the cost of the op with not a great chance it will work.
It got me thinking about pain and how much is she in? how can you tell? mare is 7 years old and now retired. She has been out of work a year now and has managed to winter out this year well, but i understand we have had a very mild winter do far. She seems okay in her self but i do worry about her.
Thing is i do have to pay livery for her and with a recent change of circumstances i may have to sell one of my 3 horses - 1 is my main riding horse the other a youngster who i have exciting plans for. My budget now would stretch to just keep 2 of them.
I feel bad considering PTS for my mare the plan was to keep her out at grass but with this sudden change i will struggle to pay for 3 (feet, wormers, livery etc...my main riding horse is fantastic and i have had her since a foal and i know i wouldn't be able to afford something like her for a very long time. The youngster is my project horse who i plan to do dressage with amongst other things and i don#'t want to sell.
At least PTS would seal her fate i would never sell/pass her on
What would you do??

 

[Jazzy B]

that's really sad, if I was in your shoes, I would have your mare PTS unfortunately life does change sometimes and we find ourselves in situations we hadn't envisaged "financially" I think it sounds like you have done the best for your mare and I think its very responsible of you making the brave decision to have her PTS rather than just pass her on etc.

 

[Wagtail]

I had a similar dilemma with my boy. I bought him as a replacement for my mare who I had to retire due to injury. Sadly he had one problem after another, had to have bone chips removed from his hock, then he had bone spavin in both hocks and finally was diagnosed with KS in ten places! I could have just retired him, but could not afford a third horse to ride, or I could have him operated on. There were times when I felt guilty choosing to operate just so I had the chance to ride him, but then would sometimes look at him in the field and wonder how much pain he was in as he could be very doddery at times. I wondered then if retiring him was fair either. I took the plunge and he had 5 dorsal processes removed. The change in him is dramatic. I still don't know if I will be able to ride him but he is SO much more lively when turned out, that I now realise that he must have been in quite a degree of pain just being turned out!

There is also another procedure carried out by Cotts equine in South Wales that costs under £1 k that you could consider for your mare. It is not very invasive and has a good success rate. But in answer to your question regarding how you know your horse is in pain, then I would say that it is extremely difficult when observing them in the field, especially if they are not lame. I would not blame you if you decide to PTS as I realise my boy was in far more pain than was evident, now that he has been operated on. It is like he has a new lease of life. I just hope that when I start to work him again, I am able to ride him. It would be like a dream come true.

 

[Madam Min]

We're going through a similar situation at moment with our boy. He's 10 and had hock problems about 4 years ago, he had steriod injection and then he had tildren at year later, however recently although not lame his behaviour is becoming more irratic and he just doesn't want to work.

We can't afford to keep him as a lawn mower and to be honest I dont think that would suit him, he's defo not the hacking type. Its a very hard difficult decision to make but for me personally I know that if we have him PTS I know he's no longer in pain and he's not being passed on from pillar to post.

 

[Maesfen]

I feel for you both, it's a tough decision to make and many on here will try to sway you away from putting down with all sorts of emotional blackmail which I personally find very distasteful; it's a hard enough decision to come to without them making you feel any worse; but you have to do what's right for you, nobody else.
I personally think you're both thinking responsibly more of your horses than others realize or appreciate and I commend you too.

 

[bobreader]

I feel for you both, it's a tough decision to make and many on here will try to sway you away from putting down with all sorts of emotional blackmail which I personally find very distasteful; it's a hard enough decision to come to without them making you feel any worse; but you have to do what's right for you, nobody else.
I personally think you're both thinking responsibly more of your horses than others realize or appreciate and I commend you too.

well said !!

 

[Tickles]

Personally my animals (not horses because I can't afford to guarantee this for them yet) have care for life (including if I pop my clogs first!).

If you think your circumstances may improve later why not consider loaning (or at least sharing) your ridden horse to help with finances for a while?

'...having exciting plans for' your youngster means someone else could too. You owe more, in my mind, to your KS horse than a youngster that has time to earn it's retirement elsewhere. So, in a worst-case, you could sell that one.

Your vet should be able to advise, and potentially alleviate, on the pain side. The responsibility became yours when you bought the horse though.

Good luck.

 

[Maesfen]

The responsibility became yours when you bought the horse though.

Good luck.

I fail to see where the owners are not acting responsibly for their horse at all in these circumstances.

It is not up to you or anyone else to tell them what you think they should do because that is what you yourself would do; we are all different and all see our horses differently too. For some, like you, they are a lifetime commitment for others if they are unable to do the job required of them for any reason, they will be moved on one way or the other; in the case of injury/illness, surely it is better to know you have stopped the suffering rather than the horse being retired or sold on to an unknown but highly likely to be for them, uncomfortable or difficult future.
It is up to us to support them in any decision they may make not make things worse for them by trying to make them feel guilty IMHO.