How do you shoot a head shy horse?

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it disturbs me because my horse is a big part of my life, to think that all people think of their horse is to put a bullet in its head and feed it to the hounds when its old and done is greatly disturbing IMO

[/ QUOTE ] So you would prefer your horse died a slow, lingering but natural death when his old body finally packs up then?
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Before reading all the posts my answer to the original question was just going to be

QUICKLY!

For all those who don't want to think about it, better to think about it know and have a plan in your head than have to do it all in an emergency.
 
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it disturbs me because my horse is a big part of my life, to think that all people think of their horse is to put a bullet in its head and feed it to the hounds when its old and done is greatly disturbing IMO

also you wouldnt put a bullet in ur granny's head either would you?

[/ QUOTE ]My horse is a big part of my life too as it happens..he is 30 now, so one day soon I will have to make the descision to have him pts...I like to plan ahead
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Some Old people when thay are past it should be shot too imo
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I think something like this is absolutely a personal choice and we can't critiscise someone for what they choose to do after the event. I work in an environment where I have to choose, handle and execute death every day and I treat that completely differently to my own animals. I'm not a fussy horse owner, they aren't ridiculously spoilt and they are very much animals but when they die I have always chosen to have them buried - I'm lucky that I have had that option available to me, not sure what I would do if I didn't.
 
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I was very awkward and insisted he wasn't winched onto the lorry ;-)

[/ QUOTE ] So how did he get on there then? Did they have to carry him by hand?
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I am astounded by people, I really am. Having had to watch circa 100 horses die a slow and painful death due to being monitored when we had AHS, and then having to dump their bodies into a pit and burn them (I kid you not), how anyone can think shooting a horse is barbaric or sick is beyond me. Sick and barbaric is allow a horse to suffer.
 
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My horse was cremated and his ashes thrown off a hill up Rivington which he loved to gallop up. I didn't want to keep them, I did keep a shoe and a piece of his tail. Each to their own. I was very awkward and insisted he wasn't winched onto the lorry ;-)

[/ QUOTE ]Blimey, how did they get him onto the lorry??
 
i hope you don't get the Forum Weirdo's PM'ing you the same sort of shite i had last week Tankey, after i took the little pony to the Abattoir....
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Yes but you wouldnt PTS your granny by injection either!!!
Don't like the idea of twitch or blindfold tbh, as either could induce a bit of a struggle which I would find disturbing. However, slot of slaughtermen are very good at what they do, and I know of one HUGE horse who was shot whilst eating Polo's, so his head was down and eating out of the guys hand at the time. Prob the best way IMHO.
 
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I was very awkward and insisted he wasn't winched onto the lorry ;-)

[/ QUOTE ] So how did he get on there then? Did they have to carry him by hand?
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He was PTS in the field right by the gate and it had double gates so the lorry could back up. I enlisted a bit (ok a lot!) of help and he was carried on
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In my fluffy pink bunny world i like to think his are the only ashes in the casket ( and yes it was huge )
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( please dont shatter my illusions on this one
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I worked for a big pet crematorium a few years ago and they are monitored so very closely. If you paid for individual cremation with all ashes back (and yes, it is a small mortgage!) you WOULD have got the right ones.

Each animal has a body card and this is traced along the whole proceedure, ensuring everything is correct.

There should be no doubt in your mind as these people provide a very good service and are all animal lovers themselves xx
 
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I was very awkward and insisted he wasn't winched onto the lorry ;-)

[/ QUOTE ] So how did he get on there then? Did they have to carry him by hand?
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He was PTS in the field right by the gate and it had double gates so the lorry could back up. I enlisted a bit (ok a lot!) of help and he was carried on
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Wow that must have been a few people!!
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also you wouldnt put a bullet in ur granny's head either would you?

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No - with her I've been thinking about piano wire at the top of the stairs....

Tanky - I think they will accept horses that have been sedated at the zoo but I seem to remember them saying to only use a small dose. This was London Zoo (I think) and it was about 5 years ago
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For all those who don't want to think about it, better to think about it know and have a plan in your head than have to do it all in an emergency.

[/ QUOTE ] Very wise words, indeed! I know a lot of people find these type of threads 'disturbing', 'shocking' and 'sickening' but they give people a chance to assess all the options available whilst they are still calm and unemotional, rather than having to make a snap decision when they are in a distressed state when an animal is clearly terminally ill.
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I know when I had to have a pony PTS I was very glad that I considered all the options carefully a long time in advance.

This is one of the biggest and most important decisions we have to make for our animals, and it is not a topic to shy away from.
 
It is interesting that you feel that way. I would be disturbed by having the ashes sitting on the mantelpiece. In my mind once they are dead, they are dead. I have photos and memories. But that is your choice and I understand that. It is just not what I would want. I just wouldnt want to look at an urn or have the ashes back!
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Gives me the eebie jeebies just thinking about it!
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I would bury them if I could but it would be purely to save on disposal costs and would have to be practical. It wouldnt be for sentimental reasons.

So all I am saying is that whilst TTs decision disturbs you, equally yours could disturb others.

No offence meant!
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If you are disturbed by TT planning ahead, when you have oldies you do tend to make plans as you know you will have to make a decision sooner rather than later.
 
are you serious??

we had a new forest foal shot in a stable back last summer...it was 7 months old..and needed lifting with a tractor because it was too heavy for 8 adults to pull him on to a flatbed trailer...


i can't believe you got enough people to lift a fully grown horse.....
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The sad thing with horses are that they are too big to bury in the garden like people like to do with pets and sadly they nearly all at some point need PTS and which ever way it is done its not nice.
My horse was PTS by injection but then had to be dragged into a trailer to be took for cremation by her legs. I couldnt watch this. Yes she was my baby but at this point she was dead. I didnt want her ashes, I had the memories of her alive and thank god I didnt as I never realised how much ashes you got. A friend got hers and it was in a massive box.
A friend had her horse shot, it was done and they had gone in minutes.
Its awful which ever way its done but sadly its life and I think the poster is being very responsible and thoughtful for her old pony who may or may not need PTS in the near future
 
I intend to have my lad cremated when the time comes.....had him all his life so a bullet and sending him to the dogs i just couldnt do
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I dont wish to have his ashes back...but i will have a big section of his tail,and shoes!
 
I find it quite unbelievable too, sorry BH
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. I know when little Cloud collapsed and she is only 12.2hh, weighed 400kgs and was alive, it took 6 big men to lift her up. I can't imagine there being enough legs or necks or whatever for any more people to hold on to.

Mind is a-boggling even more now BH
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A lot of people thought I was mad. I slept in the stable the night before with him and woke up to a stunning sunset for him to go out and play in the field. I talked to him and held his head while he went. Carrying him on (with my lovely helpers) was my final act of what I saw as love and courtesy to him. I took a photo of him 20 mins before he went which still reduces me to tears. Everyone deals and grieves in their own way. I couldn't have had him shot, but equally I don't disapprove of those who do. And a gratuitous photo of him - the last one, I still can't believe how well he looked

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I'm intrigued too - how big was the horse?

We had a day old foal die and two adults struggled to carry him out of the stable - it was the size rather than the weight - horses are an awkward shape to carry....
 
I think that the zoo is a rather dignified end myself! What a great way to go out in style.

Mind you ... I'd probably not send my two jack russells to the zoo, but they are pure muscle and gristle, and would get stuck in the lions teeth!!
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sorry maybe phrased it wrong! The way they explained it they were going to drag him out the field and up the ramp. He fixed the winch so it half lifted him IYSWIM and then we had me, family and friends to lift him up the rest of the way and onto the lorry so he wasn't on the ground. He went down with a sling on the ground under him so we could do that
 
You have the make decision some times when the animal is young and in their prime. We had our big mare shot at home last easter at the ripe old age of 11. She was going to be here all her life, but went much sooner than we expected. We were pretty devastated, however that did not stop the event from being a normal part of our life,. The knackerwoman is a good friend of a good friend, and once the deed was done and the carcass was winched into the waggon, it turned into a social call. As the father of the good friend used to say 'when you have livestock you have dead stock' It is much better to be prepared, however old and apparently healthy your animal is.
 
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