How do you know its time to say goodbye

Sorry haven't read all the replies but my guy is 20 in January and he had a great time before last winter but it hit him hard, hacking was a little too much, vet out who said take it as you find it, he has had a great life and is at the mo out 24/7 being an uncle to my 3 year old but I am dreading this winter as he got so depressed during the last one, he couldn't go out much as the wet fields made his heel so bad. I guess I will know but its hard as he's happy as larry at the moment. Just the winter months:(
 
sophiebailey said:
Hi OP, perhaps leave loose schooling over jumps as jumping a miss for now as if the vet diagnose arthritis he might find this uncomfortable with no pain relief.

My horse is 21 and has arthritis and the best thing for him is constant movement. So maybe start looking for a yard/field that you can have 24/7 turnout at for this winter? Cold weather and a stables arthritic are a bad combination :o

When the vet and physio have given their opinions you'll be in a better position to think about what work he can do going forward. Is it possible to hack out with friends so he has horsey friends to get excited with and make hacking more fun for him?

And about the tripping, is he due shoeing or trimming? Bailey is prone to tripping when his toes are long. I have got some knee boots for him just in case he ever trips over properly, maybe that would help? Although if he's not prone to tripping I would say maybe he did fall over something!!!

I hope you find out what's making him a bit sore, it's horrible when they start to show their age. All I would say on the topic of PTS is; if he's given you 10 years of his life and 10 years of brilliant fun, give him his retirement in return. If he doesn't cope well with his condition while he's on livery then look for grazing closer to home where there's ample grass and you can feed him as much as he needs. These places do exist you just need to search for them and flutter your eyelashes at farmers :-)
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Thanks the last thing I want to do is give up on him and he feels great, its just the tripping was mainly worrying me!He wold find it very hard to winter out, he has a lot of TB and given the last few winters Id be kind of afraid!



Someone just commented that I seem to love sj more than him well why woudl i be on here if thats the case. I never mentioned once about any plan of competing him anytime soon, i clearly stated i dropped him down from eventing to sj to see how that would go and now im considering my options.
 
morrismob said:
Sorry haven't read all the replies but my guy is 20 in January and he had a great time before last winter but it hit him hard, hacking was a little too much, vet out who said take it as you find it, he has had a great life and is at the mo out 24/7 being an uncle to my 3 year old but I am dreading this winter as he got so depressed during the last one, he couldn't go out much as the wet fields made his heel so bad. I guess I will know but its hard as he's happy as larry at the moment. Just the winter months:(
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I know how you feel! the winter really takes it out of them
heres my fella before the winter

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/94091423@N04/8595463843/] 18813_10151281082084246_529689766_n by snooples17, on Flickr[/URL]
 
I'm sure with plenty of hay(fibre) and a good conditioning feed twice a day he would be fine :-) you'll be suprised about how they toughen up!! Movement really is the best thing for a stiff older pony. During the winter horses are supposed to drop a bit of weight, the natural order of things and all that :-)

and try not to take it to heart, it's easy to mis-interpret the written word on forums, you obviously think a lot of your horse and its great you're going to get him checked out by vets etc, hopefully it's easily fixable for you!!
 
sophiebailey said:
I'm sure with plenty of hay(fibre) and a good conditioning feed twice a day he would be fine :-) you'll be suprised about how they toughen up!! Movement really is the best thing for a stiff older pony. During the winter horses are supposed to drop a bit of weight, the natural order of things and all that :-)

and try not to take it to heart, it's easy to mis-interpret the written word on forums, you obviously think a lot of your horse and its great you're going to get him checked out by vets etc, hopefully it's easily fixable for you!!
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Thank you! :)

He is on Baileys top line conditioning and chaff as well as out 24 7. Now that he has had a bath and his hairy coat is nearly gone he is starting to look like he did last year.

And in the nearly 4 months he has been in work he has been almost perfect everyday besides refusing one fence and whatever he tripped on the hack on saturday.
Its always the one leg behind that got stiff over winter so my guess would be there is arthritis creeping into that leg so hopefully the vet can help with that
 
Hi Snooples,

Some of the people who have posted on your thread seem to use as few words as possible to get their point across without explaining their reasoning or giving examples, and perhaps that posting style has come across as attacking or aggressive in this case?

I can see from what you have written that you do care about your horse and you have had him a long time, but now you need to look at him through fresh eyes and see him as an older horse and adjust his workload according to his comfort levels.

I want to share the story of my horse and how I have adjusted his workload over his lifetime to suit his needs. My horse is almost 28 and I am going to be saying goodbye to him in the next month or so. I have had him for 23 years and he was my event horse and I loved jumping him more than anything else on earth when he was young and loved it too. However, I retired him from eventing at nine years old because he started refusing, (which he had never done before), so I knew that I needed to stop jumping until I found out why he was refusing. He was sound at the time, so I wondered if he was bored of competing, so we just hacked for a while until he became slightly lame and I called the vet. The vet diagnosed (with x-rays) that his pedal bones were parallel to the floor instead of at the correct angle and so his feet hurt. After remedial shoeing in the correct alignment and balance, his feet no longer hurt and we continued as happy hackers, exploring great long rides and jumping logs, branches and puddles, acting as nanny to young horses going cross-country schooling over baby jumps etc. We were able to do a few (a couple per year, with approporiate fitness build-up) low-level show-jumping competitions, hunter trials and sponsored rides with jumps. This continued until he was 20, when he started refusing jumps again, so although he was sound, I retired him from jumping.

For the last eight years we have just hacked - initially we would go out for a couple of hours at all paces but over time he has let me know what he is comfortable doing, and the last time I rode him, about a month ago, it was just for a gentle trundle for 45 minutes in walk. Over these last eight years, he started having some Danilon to keep him comfortable (plus Cortaflex and Veteran feeds), starting at one sachet of Danilon every three days and then increasing to one sachet every two days and for the last three years, he has been one one sachet per day for a 500kg horse. I said to myself that I would not go to a higher dosage and so when he couldn't get up in the field without assistance over the Bank Holiday weekend, I immediately knew that we were nearing the end. I called the vet and she has increased his Danilon to two sachets per day to make him comfortable while I let him enjoy a couple of weeks of fabulous grass and sunshine (because it has been so cold that he has barely been out without a rug on and our livery yard has only just opened up the summer fields from 1st June).

Now I really know it is time for me to say goodbye to my horse of a lifetime, so I hope you can learn from my experience to listen to your horse. Make sure that you call a vet whenever you need help to decide whether he is in discomfort and then adjust his work to suit his needs.

Good luck, and enjoy your changing relationship as you listen deeply to what he is telling you.
 
That's a lovely post Garnet, your boy is very lucky to have you and I am sorry you will lose him.

Sorry if my brief posts offend but you really don't need to be a brainiac to work out a vet needs to be consulted here. It has taken 10 pages for OP to agree that he might need to see a vet.
 
Garnet said:
Hi Snooples,

Some of the people who have posted on your thread seem to use as few words as possible to get their point across without explaining their reasoning or giving examples, and perhaps that posting style has come across as attacking or aggressive in this case?

I can see from what you have written that you do care about your horse and you have had him a long time, but now you need to look at him through fresh eyes and see him as an older horse and adjust his workload according to his comfort levels.

I want to share the story of my horse and how I have adjusted his workload over his lifetime to suit his needs. My horse is almost 28 and I am going to be saying goodbye to him in the next month or so. I have had him for 23 years and he was my event horse and I loved jumping him more than anything else on earth when he was young and loved it too. However, I retired him from eventing at nine years old because he started refusing, (which he had never done before), so I knew that I needed to stop jumping until I found out why he was refusing. He was sound at the time, so I wondered if he was bored of competing, so we just hacked for a while until he became slightly lame and I called the vet. The vet diagnosed (with x-rays) that his pedal bones were parallel to the floor instead of at the correct angle and so his feet hurt. After remedial shoeing in the correct alignment and balance, his feet no longer hurt and we continued as happy hackers, exploring great long rides and jumping logs, branches and puddles, acting as nanny to young horses going cross-country schooling over baby jumps etc. We were able to do a few (a couple per year, with approporiate fitness build-up) low-level show-jumping competitions, hunter trials and sponsored rides with jumps. This continued until he was 20, when he started refusing jumps again, so although he was sound, I retired him from jumping.

For the last eight years we have just hacked - initially we would go out for a couple of hours at all paces but over time he has let me know what he is comfortable doing, and the last time I rode him, about a month ago, it was just for a gentle trundle for 45 minutes in walk. Over these last eight years, he started having some Danilon to keep him comfortable (plus Cortaflex and Veteran feeds), starting at one sachet of Danilon every three days and then increasing to one sachet every two days and for the last three years, he has been one one sachet per day for a 500kg horse. I said to myself that I would not go to a higher dosage and so when he couldn't get up in the field without assistance over the Bank Holiday weekend, I immediately knew that we were nearing the end. I called the vet and she has increased his Danilon to two sachets per day to make him comfortable while I let him enjoy a couple of weeks of fabulous grass and sunshine (because it has been so cold that he has barely been out without a rug on and our livery yard has only just opened up the summer fields from 1st June).

Now I really know it is time for me to say goodbye to my horse of a lifetime, so I hope you can learn from my experience to listen to your horse. Make sure that you call a vet whenever you need help to decide whether he is in discomfort and then adjust his work to suit his needs.

Good luck, and enjoy your changing relationship as you listen deeply to what he is telling you.
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This a lovely post and what every horse would get in the ideal world.
 
Wonderful advice Garnet. Sorry you're going to be losing your horse soon but sounds like he's had a perfect life with you, really heart warming to read what you've done for him :-)
 
Thanks Garnet, lovely post.
I am going to take things easy with my fella I had no comps planned with him anytime soon anyway. He never gave any indication that things werent right, he jsut kept jumping away until that fence that caused the problem, but he jumped another one right after with no problems.
So I dont see why people are jumping down my throat as if he was refusing regualrly it would be an obvious sign.

anyway sounds like im making excuses but what im trying to say is he hasnt done anything wrong which would immmediately warrant a vet but i knew something wasnt 100% which is why i asked for help on here and now im going to do something about it.
I love him more than anything and he follows me around the yard like a dog, i call him from the field he comes up no need for lead rope and he follows me wherever I go and I want to do everything I can so he is feeling the best he can
 
Garnett such a lovely post, your guy and you sound such a good team and you have been a very caring owner who has listened every step of the way to your horse and my heart goes out to you.

To some of the other posters it would be great in an ideal world to everything possible to keep your horse happy and healthy right to the end. I don't know how old the op is or how much experience she has in older horses but I do think she is trying to do the right thing by her horse. Perhaps not in the way you would do.

My lovely old guy who I haven't owned for years and years but has been the best horse I have ever had, has a condition with his heels that makes going out in wet fields very painful for him. He is kept at home and what with last summer and then this winter it has been a nightmare to keep him happy and comfortable. The vet cannot really help him and the farrier has done everything possible. At the mo is out 24/7 in the dry fields and is very happy a bit fat (!) but this winter is going to be hard if its wet again. There is only so much turnout in the school he can tolerate and my fields get wet ( clay) so I should move him to sandy soils away from all he knows and loves here ?

Cut the op some slack she is trying to help her horse and doesn't need the short terse answers from some of you. You have a lot of advice ..... so give it in a properly explained answer... please :D
 
Again, I'm sorry if my posting style offends but sometimes there is no need for a saga. I don't think the op has necessarily done everything right by her horse so far. He is poor, yet she doesn't have time for two feeds a day, he is unfit and jumped. I don't doubt for one minute that OP doesn't love this horse, he looks adorable. For those joining at the end of this thread the first half takes rather a different tone. Focus is on rider rather than horse as far as I can see. Horse has shown arthritic signs for some time yet no vet.

I'm banging a broken drum here (just made that saying up) but I think anyone who doesn't think he might need to be assessed - needs to be assessed :)
 
morrismob said:
Garnett such a lovely post, your guy and you sound such a good team and you have been a very caring owner who has listened every step of the way to your horse and my heart goes out to you.

To some of the other posters it would be great in an ideal world to everything possible to keep your horse happy and healthy right to the end. I don't know how old the op is or how much experience she has in older horses but I do think she is trying to do the right thing by her horse. Perhaps not in the way you would do.

My lovely old guy who I haven't owned for years and years but has been the best horse I have ever had, has a condition with his heels that makes going out in wet fields very painful for him. He is kept at home and what with last summer and then this winter it has been a nightmare to keep him happy and comfortable. The vet cannot really help him and the farrier has done everything possible. At the mo is out 24/7 in the dry fields and is very happy a bit fat (!) but this winter is going to be hard if its wet again. There is only so much turnout in the school he can tolerate and my fields get wet ( clay) so I should move him to sandy soils away from all he knows and loves here ?

Cut the op some slack she is trying to help her horse and doesn't need the short terse answers from some of you. You have a lot of advice ..... so give it in a properly explained answer... please :D
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There's is no need for a post to rival war and peace to say get the vet.
 
Billie1007 said:
Again, I'm sorry if my posting style offends but sometimes there is no need for a saga. I don't think the op has necessarily done everything right by her horse so far. He is poor, yet she doesn't have time for two feeds a day, he is unfit and jumped. I don't doubt for one minute that OP doesn't love this horse, he looks adorable. For those joining at the end of this thread the first half takes rather a different tone. Focus is on rider rather than horse as far as I can see. Horse has shown arthritic signs for some time yet no vet.

I'm banging a broken drum here (just made that saying up) but I think anyone who doesn't think he might need to be assessed - needs to be assessed :)
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I work 8 to 5 everyday and live nowhere near my horse so I get out to him once a day, he has unlimited grass so its not like hes starving.

He is not unfit he is worked 4 or 5 times a week since mid feb, along with ridden once or twice a week before that, more than enough fitness to get around a sj course.

Horse has showed no sign of arthritis with me, iv heard he was stiff the day after he was hunter trialled, might have nothing to do with arthritis. No problems last year when I evented him. Hes not as supple as he was but thats obviously to be expected like is a 60 year old as supple as a 20 year old, no, its natural! but he is getting joint supplement to help and il get a vet out incase its something more than life taking its toll
 
snooples said:
I work 8 to 5 everyday and live nowhere near my horse so I get out to him once a day, he has unlimited grass so its not like hes starving.

He is not unfit he is worked 4 or 5 times a week since mid feb, along with ridden once or twice a week before that, more than enough fitness to get around a sj course.

Horse has showed no sign of arthritis with me, iv heard he was stiff the day after he was hunter trialled, might have nothing to do with arthritis. No problems last year when I evented him. Hes not as supple as he was but thats obviously to be expected like is a 60 year old as supple as a 20 year old, no, its natural! but he is getting joint supplement to help and il get a vet out incase its something more than life taking its toll
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You dont seem willing to admit he may have to give up, you throw the words sj and eventing in yes we get the idea now. You said it yourself your asking a 60year old to do a 20 year olds job, yes some may do it untill much later in life but honestly i think your horse wants a quieter life now.
 
Oddsocks. said:
You dont seem willing to admit he may have to give up, you throw the words sj and eventing in yes we get the idea now. You said it yourself your asking a 60year old to do a 20 year olds job, yes some may do it untill much later in life but honestly i think your horse wants a quieter life now.
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iv said numerous times iv no intention of comepeting him anytime soon.
He evented successfully last year and this year i dropped him to just showjumping and even though he was placed first day out iv decided to stop with this too.

the reason i made this thread was because he winters badly, and if hes in no sort of work during the winter then he will stiffen right up
il have to find a hacking home for him and if not then i dunno what to do...
 
snooples said:
iv said numerous times iv no intention of comepeting him anytime soon.
He evented successfully last year and this year i dropped him to just showjumping and even though he was placed first day out iv decided to stop with this too.

the reason i made this thread was because he winters badly, and if hes in no sort of work during the winter then he will stiffen right up
il have to find a hacking home for him and if not then i dunno what to do...
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Anytime soon doesnt mean never. Why does everything have to be so formal ie competing,eventing,Sj why not just have some fun with him. Youve been given some good advice off various different posters read it back, get the vet and re-assess after that it doesnt have to be all or nothing find somewhere in-between. If you only want him to 'compete' which i said before i think that comes before the horse sadly hes not going to be able to keep up with this, why cant you hack him? and tbh if you wanted to do right by your very talented sj PTS would be kindest.
 
There is no point ruling out anything completely, many people in this thread have said the exact same. I only competed 4 times last year so its not like its that big of a deal to me. but its nice to go out and do well with a horse whos like my best friend.
Im moving away again in Sep which is why the decision is coming up, he cant spend another winter doing nothing and il only be home the odd weekend.
 
snooples said:
There is no point ruling out anything completely, many people in this thread have said the exact same. I only competed 4 times last year so its not like its that big of a deal to me. but its nice to go out and do well with a horse whos like my best friend.
Im moving away again in Sep which is why the decision is coming up, he cant spend another winter doing nothing and il only be home the odd weekend.
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Sorry just looked back on previous threads and found this

So riding club national championship qualifiers are this weekend and my old man horse
(some of you might recognise him as the grey laidback horse lolling over a x pole in the vid I posted a couple of days ago)
has not jumped a showjumping round since September as I was away all winter and he only came back into work with me about 2 months ago and another horse has got priority over him.
SO i was supposed to bring him to a small sj league last fri for a practice run and this fri and next fri as I thought the sj qualifier was next week.
Anyway couldnt make it last fri in the end then realsied qualifer is this weekend que


Anyway to my dilemma, ideally Id jump him tomorrow as a quick warm up however it has not rained in AGES (for once) and ground is on the firm side. He is old and I dont wont to jump him on hard ground but at the same time going into a qualifer so out of practice is scaring me ha.


Its the only qualifer anywhere near me so wont get a chance to qualify again!

So basically my question is should i jump him on the hardish ground as a warm up or just go in all guns blazing sunday and hope for the best

:eek:
You cannot expect him to jump when and how you want because it suits you.Hes a horse not a machine if you cant be bothered to put the time in your in the wrong game. If your going away in September again just let him have the summer to enjoy himself.
 
what do you mean i cant expect him to jump how and when i want, do your horses tell you when they want to go out.

He was completely fit when i asked that and was just unsure wether to run him on a practice round to get back in the swing of things or go straight to the qualifier, both were only 90s!

Hes jumped plenty of showjumping rounds through the years and i can count the poles down on one hand.

He was totally prepared and went out and came third at his first showjumping round with a double clear
 
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snooples said:
what do you mean i cant expect him to jump how and when i want, do your horses tell you when they want to go out.

He was completely fit when i asked that and was just unsure wether to run him on a practice round to get back in the swing of things or go straight to the qualifier, both were only 90s!

Hes jumped plenty of showjumping rounds through the years and i can count the poles down on one hand.

He was totally prepared and went out and came third at his first showjumping round with a double clear
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No i mean you cant expect him to be competition fit when YOU have given priority to another horse. Im out of this thread im sure with all your years of showjumping and eventing experience you know just what to do.:rolleyes:
 
Oddsocks. said:
No i mean you cant expect him to be competition fit when YOU have given priority to another horse. Im out of this thread im sure with all your years of showjumping and eventing experience you know just what to do.:rolleyes:
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By priority I meant the other horse went to training events before him not that he wasnt in work. He has years of experience and theres no point doing too much work.

Some people here have been so rude, i do everything i can for my horse yet im made out to be someone who totally neglets him.
He has shown no signs that he wants to stop jumping besides ONE refusal, how many people on here never jump their horse again after they refuse once....I went for a gallop with him last week and i just wanted it to be a slow one but he kept pulling to go faster and have some fun.

One thing is for certain anyway after this, I will NEVER be posting here again asking for advice. Many of the things people have said have me in tears, i would never do anything to hurt my horse.
 
I have a 28 year old, he work load has decreased over the years and now he goes out for a gentle hack twice a week. Often he comes charging across the field and seems to have the enthusiasm of a young horse, but I know he is not so he is fed, rugged and worked accordingly. He is a horse and has no conception of the consequences of his actions and we are humans who are supposed to have the knowledge to protect them.
If you can not find a yard that is suitable to HIS needs, and as you are away for a large part of year does it matter if he moves yards and you will not the take the very good advice offered perhaps it would be best if you had him PTS.
Judging from your replies you do not want to take good advice and we are all wasting our time.
 
I don't normally get involved but he looks a lot older than 20 in that video. It's like watching a pensioner trying to skip. He looks stiff and I own a 21 and 26 year old. See, I would take him and look after him as a retiree but I would want his owner to pay his costs because that's the right thing to do for an old boy who has given you his life. He's certainly not at deaths door but he needs a rest IMO.
 
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