If a horse on your yard broke it's leg...

Do you have a horsey res?

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smirnoff_ice

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...or neck, or something else that required immediate euthanasia, and you couldn't get hold of its owner, what would you do??

Our YO is a farmer and he has a gun. Our nearest vet is at least 20 minutes away.

Would you ask the YO to shoot the horse? Or would you wait for the vet?

If it was YOUR horse, what would you want to happen?

Sorry, I know it sounds morbid, but it's something i've been thinking about and i want to know other peoples' opinions.
 
If it was someone elses horse, I think, depending on how bad it was wait for the vet. If there was clearly no way there was anything to do, shoot the horse. If it was mine, I would want the YO to shoot it.
 
Ask the YO to shoot the horse, or borrow the gun and do it myself - not room for discussion or apportioning blame then, it is all down to me. I would want to be pretty certain though that the injury could not wait, and a broken leg might not fit into that category IMO
 
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and a broken leg might not fit into that category IMO

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Oh yeah - i meant like a SHATTERED leg / open fracture. Anything that you KNEW would require euthanasia.
 
Just to add:
I would only ask to be shot if I thought the vet could do nothing. I say this as a horse at our yard broke its leg quite badly. She is now back in work after about 5 months of box rest, little turn out and very light work.
 
If I knew there was no chance the horse would live from the injury I would want it shot there and then, if it were my horse (who is kept at home) then my dad would shoot him.
 
It isn't that easy to shoot a large animal with a shotgun. If the vet was going to be ages, and the injury was catestrophic (?sp) then shooting would be an option, but only as a very last resort.
I wouldn't like to take this decision for someone else's horse.

Generally a shotgun is used for small things like birds, rabbits. A fox needs larger ammunition and deer shooting requires a rifle
(which is what cowboys have in western films).

A local farmer was telling us that he shot one of his pigs with a shotgun and everyone was interested in the outcome! He said it was instant, but messy.
 
If it wasn't mine, I am afraid it would have to wait for the Vet. As a YO my contract states that I can call the Vet to any emergency PRIOR to contacting the owner, and, if owner cannot be consulted, what the Vet says, goes. If he recommends euthanasia then so be it.

If it was my own horse I would shoot it myself, my Vet could be four hours away.
 
No way in hell would shoot someone else's horse or ask the YO to do it either; you could end up in a whole heap of trouble.

I lost my first horse with a broken leg and one thing i always remember being told by the vet was that they arent in the enormous amount of pain that people assume. She said that with limb pain, horses could almost block it off and the pain related to colic was much more severe.

I was fortunate enough to arrive before the vet and got the chance to say goodbye to him. If id arrived and someone had shot him id have had to be pinned down tbh.

I also know of a livery on my old yard who's horse was PTS when she had not signed a full contract giving the YO permission to do so. That resulted in legal action being taken and the YO got into some degree of trouble over it.

What exactly would happen if the YO failed to kill the horse instantly? Can you imagine if any of that got back to the owner? Assuming the YO had permission to act on behalf of the owner and have the horse PTS, then it should be done by a professional.
 
First q I have said vet, I would just be worried that in the heat of any upset the owner may not see my thought process in it being shot immediately.

Q2 I really am not sure as to what I would want, it has got me thinking tho, i'll tell you that!
 
Wait for the vet, I would be incandescent if a fellow livery took it upon themselves to make the decision without vet input as there are many injuries that can be fixed etc.
 
I'd have to say wait for the vet because its not as easy as "shoot the animal". As others have said its incredibly easy to do it wrong - and the thought of what would happen if it went wrong is not a nice one!
 
Yep, have to say I would wait for the vet in both cases as I am not one!! How awful would it be of you could do something for the horse or it wasnt as bad as you thought?! I would find the decision hard enough having it confirmed by a vet.. deciding off my own back I'm not sure how I would feel about it
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what if u had it shot and it wasnt as bad as u thought???

iv only ever been around once when a horse broke its leg out in the field, the short wait for the vet was the perfect time for the owner to say goodbye.
 
Dad is effectively YO, and no way would I ask him to shoot one of ours, we would always wait for a vet, or see if the slaughter house less than a mile away could help.

Haz
 
If was someone else horse I have said other. It would be very circumstancel, how well you knew the person, how bad the injury was, and tbh I think I would wait for the vet!
If it was mine then probaly shoot it. I live on an island and the vet could be a while [obviously only if it was in large amounts of pain]. Ive considered this before, if the ferrys were off, or during the night when obviously the vet couldnt get here. Id get a farmer who knew what he was doing and let the horse go. Not to sure how Id feel if someone made this decision for me though.
 
I have a letter signed by myself, authorising the calling of the vet and horse PTS without permission if vet deemed it necessary, which YO keeps with my contract. I like to feel this would be done even if I couldn't be contacted so that my lovely boy wouldn't suffer. As for shooting with a shotgun, surely you can't be serious? It would inflict horrendous injuries and might not be instant.
 
unfortunately mum was put in a similar position a good few years ago, she was riding her horse with a friend on anouther of her horses on a mountian path when it collapsed beneath her and she, her horse and her friend and that horse fell nearly 100ft. She was a 2 day ride from any help (in the mountains in newzealand), this was before the invention of mobile phones and the horse she was riding had shattered a foreleg. Mum slit its jugular with a knife as the horse was in pain, there was no way she would be able to get help for it and leaveing it there for 3 days would have been cruel. she still says that that was the best option at the time and the kindest thing for a horse (a horse bleeds out alot faster then it dies from exposure). Luckily the other horse and both riders managed to survive with cuts and bruises

If it were someone elses horse i'd get a vet if at all possible
If it were my horse, i'd call the vet if possible and i hate to think that i'd ever be put in a position like the one mum was put in
 
As did mine. He had some bute syringed down his neck and he was munching away rather quietly...

I remember asking if there was a problem with the vet wait (which was about 30 minutes) and she assured me he'd be fine and his pain would actually be rather low.
 
would wait for vet, they are qualified in doing this and do it well and also for insurance purposes you may need someone other than a YO to do, when my boy broke his leg i knew that if the vet said there was no chance to save him then i had a proffesional advice, sadly there was nothing that could be done
 
I'd wait for the vet in both cases. The only time I would consider another option would be if the horse was blatantly dying ie serious RTA and was writhing around in agony.

I wouldn't want to attempt to diagnose something as a general rule, as injuries can look horrendous but not actually be that serious.
 
Unless I knew the owner really well and she had expressed a wish should something happen to her horse I would wait for the vet.

If it was my horse I would be mortified if someone else made the decision to have her shot. If that was the only choice I would want to be with her.

Having said that I wouldn't like them to suffer so I think what I'm really saying is ' I'll cross that bridge if and when needed' I know it's a COP OUT
 
Conniegirl - what a hurrendous story! That shook me to the bone, I feel so sorry for your poor mum and her friend (and the poor horses of course).

I'd wait for the vet in both cases - no way would I want to be responsible for killing a horse which later could turn out to have been able to be saved, and as said before a shotgun can do horrible injuries.
 
Haven't read all other replies as too close to home.....................2 weeks ago a friends horse broke his leg while out hacking (bone completely shattered and foot almost severed off). By all account the horse once caught the stood quietly waiting for the vet, eating treats (didn't appear to feel a thing).

I guess all circumstances are different, but in 99.9% of cases I would wait for the vet. IF and only IF there was a gun available (that was of a high enough verlocity to do the job) and it was an obvious open fracture and the horse was in distress then would I be happy to shoot my horse or somebody elses or have someone shoot mine in my absence.

I also know of another horse who broke his leg in the field, he lay grazing round his feet waiting for the vet, so to be sure he stayed comfortable they gave him several bute in a feed while they waited.
 
Thank you for all of the replies. I must stress though that i only meant if it was something where the horse was obviously suffering a great deal. I have also had a horse who broke his leg and after 7 months, he was fine.
I honestly dont know how i'd feel if i got to the yard one day and someone had shot one of my horses. I've heard about it being done before when a horse has been hit by a car and the nearest farmer has shot it.
I know nothing about guns, but i know our farmer has several different types (he shoots various things - clag pigeon, real pigeon, ducks, foxes, deer, etc. etc.).
Like someone said, we dont know until we're put in that situation, but i think if the vet was a long way away and the horse was REALLY suffering, i'd want him/her to be shot.
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Hopefully, none of us will ever have to know though.
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