If your horse could no longer be ridden.....

If you could no longer ride your horse because he had a medical condition, WWYD?

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Funnily enough I was in this position a couple of years ago when I was advised by YO who had taken poddery horse to the vet for me for Xrays that he would no longer be ridden and if I wanted to have him put down she would stand by me.....????

I refused and promised to look after him as he'd helped me get my confidence back after a near-fatal fall

Fast forward 12 months, turns out she was lying and on a spiteful mission towards me, horse was fine, just sidebone - vets actual advice was 'rebalance the feet and rest for 6 weeks'...

He now regularly jumps 1m20 plus....
 
I've kept unrideable horses a few times as long as they were not in pain and could enjoy retirement despite my periodic muttering about getting the b****** shot.
Ending a horse's life is a serious business and there's always plenty of rides on other people's horses, so its part and parcel of ownership.

Wouldn't criticise other people's choices though as long as they were genuine and don't sell on 3 legged horses as sound.
 
Honestly?

I can't afford more than one (as in, all they need mentally, physically etc that I personally can look after every day). If I had an unrideable horse which I would not dream of selling or passing on due to the issues which made it unrideable, I would probably euthanise and buy another.

I realise that decision would not be everyone's, but it is mine.
 
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Broke_But_Happy said:
If it wasn't bad enough to warrant PTS then I'd find a retirement livery where he could live out and get hairy. I'd struggle finding a yard with decent enough turnout for an un-ridden horse (I've tried recently!) so think this would be the best option.
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^^^this. Sadly may be having to make this decision soon :( and I'm struggling to find a suitable place for him. He's back at the vets next week so fingers (and toes) crossed. I'm thinking I could loan or adopt a horse to ride in the meantime.
 
Keep as a field ornament as long as he was pain free and happy.
Couldn't afford two but would find rides somewhere :)
My boy is everything to me and I would not dream of having him pts just because he wasnt useable anymore, what a horrible thing to do a living creature.
 
I voted for the field ornament. I've done it before, we kept her for at least another 14 yrs (can't exactly remember when we stopped riding her). I was in a position to buy another horse to ride but would have kept her as a companion to her best friend anyway. We now have a 30 yr old retired mare, who stopped work when she had colic about 6 yrs ago. Whenever one of ours has had to stop work, we have kept them as long as possible as field ornaments.
I'm not sure that your poll isn't somewhat flawed, some people would choose pts even if not medically necessary, you haven't allowed for this option.
 
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I have 2 retired ponies as field ornaments, but I am lucky that we have our own land so they are relatively cheap to keep (if you don't count the Cushings pony's high dosage of Prascend every day:(). If circumstances were to change I would pts .
 
I have my fair share of field ornaments. Old ancient codgers who have served me well and now are being paid back for those joyful years. I also have a couple of younger ones, one broke a leg years ago, one has some metabolic thing going on. I keep them because they gave us a lot of pleasure when we rode them and they still give us a lot of pleasure watching them do their stuff around their fields. I find them rather comical actually and could spend far longer watching my herds than going out riding, and some days I do :) None of mine need bute to get by however if they were to need some daily maintenance of bute or suchlike to keep them comfortable then I would have absolutely no qualms what so ever about giving it to them.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm not sure that your poll isn't somewhat flawed, some people would choose pts even if not medically necessary, you haven't allowed for this option.
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As in, they just wanted rid? Didn't even occur to me, tbh!

Just having a minor panic about mine: hock x rays were done today, possibly bony changes which mean intermittent lameness. I was trying to put myself in a position whereby if he does need to retire (aged 9 :rolleyes:) I would know what to do. I don't know what the prognosis is yet, need to think through potentials just in case. I'm a bit weird that way. :o
 
I know what taz is like when hes not in work and tbh it wouldnt be worth it. he would be PTS. i dont wish to be kicked or lashed out at and he is the worst for keeping weight on during the winter, hes nasty in the stable and wouldnt cope out all winter (he doesnt like it anyway but he doesnt like being in either - even only 8 hours at a time) he wouldnt be happy out of work at he becomes unhandleable (sp?) and before anyone says he'll get used to it... he doesnt he was out of work for 10 months and he was still getting worse hence him coming back into work. PTS. no brainer tbh... cant be said for all though :)
 
It would depend on whether the horse would be happy as a field ornament - i think most will adapt / love their new easy and relaxed life, but there will always be some horses who can't cope with not being exercised constantly and I think in that case it's kindest to PTS - but I would always try the field ornament route first. I would never sell/pts a horse purely because it couldn't be ridden unless it would be unhappy with that lifestyle.

I've actually had this decision before, it was more on/off couldn't be ridden than a permanent thing at first, it went on for a few years and then I fully retired him as I didn't feel he was ever going to come right - he did love his life being a field ornament and although I couldn't ride anything else for a while I didn't mind just spending time with him and caring for him. I rode other peoples horses and then loaned one for a while before deciding to buy my next horse (and keep him as ornament). We do have our own land which made the field ornament option easy, if he had been kept at a livery then I probably wouldn't have been able to have an extra horse - though I would still have kept him as an ornament and found another way to ride.
 
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cinnamontoast said:
I was trying to put myself in a position whereby if he does need to retire (aged 9 :rolleyes:) I would know what to do. I don't know what the prognosis is yet, need to think through potentials just in case. I'm a bit weird that way. :o
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I don't think you're weird at all :) You sound like a normal caring horse owner :) Age 9 is such a spanner in the works to be retired at. My broken legged beastie was 8 when his injury was sustained. He's 15 or 16 now and he's still a pain in the backside in the field. He did recover from the fracture but he's not sound enough to ride so he causes all sorts of rucus in his field and is forever bombing around getting up to mischief. There are days when I think about how much he's cost me over the years and occasionally when he's being a total twit I tell him I should have put him down years ago, but I didn't and he's still with us. My thoughts when we chose to not have him destroyed was that the first time he seriously injures himself or comes down sick then we'd have him PTS ... damn horse hasn't bloody injured himself again in all these years!
 
hmm this is my present dilema!

My mare has been diagnosed with an incurable auto immune disorder controlled at the moment with steroids. She is largely out of work either due to the illness or to the side effects of the steroids with seem to be making her very spooky and her behavior can at times be horrendous bordering on dangerous.
so heres my dilema i can
a) make no changes continue as we are accepting that we are likely to lose her in the next 6-12 months.
b) loan another horse to ride
c) buy another unhandled baby,
d) PTS and then do both b and c (or at least one of them) or even buy a horse to ride as would get money from insurance if pts before march.
 
I'm facing this difficult decision at the moment. My 3yo has badly formed hocks which have developed bad arthritis. She was a twin so her joints weren't formed properly when born. It only showed this year when I started working her. She will never be sound enough to be ridden. Currently she isn't on bute the vet has said she will need it next year and only really gives her up to 2 years until she is too uncomfortable. So I feel why put her through a wet cold Winter when she will never get ridden and has a poor prognosis. On the other hand it seems awful to put her to sleep :( But I would NEVER loan her as a 'companion' and don't understand people who do this.
 
I've just turned my horse out as after hock injections and Tildren I didn't feel he was any better. He is only 9 and perhaps next year I will try him again and see how he is. If not he will live out his days in the field getting fat and hairy with his friends.

Luckily my Mum has lent me the money for a new horse, so I can still hunt, XC etc whilst I wait to see how the other one goes.
 
PTS if nothing else medical could be done and he/she was in discomfort or needed medicine every single day from then on.
 
Each case is different and there will be varying factors. We had our boy PTS this year as he had hock and back problems that weren't going to get better but degenerate further. He was 10 and the vet agreed we had tried everything so it wasn't like we hadn't given him a chance . He was a quirky character and wouldn't have been happy as a companion or field ornament. I couldn't have afforded to keep him as a field ornament had this been an option.
I wanted to secure his future, I could't have him passed from pillar to post so for me PTS was the best option.
 
Its happened to me..

I wanted Millie to retire and live out in a field it was all aranged including the move for a week later and sadly she just came in worse and worse everyday so i had to make the decision to have her PTS :(
 
Depends on the horse.

Currently I have five who I can't ride but I made the decision years ago to do without the facilities of a livery yard in order to afford my own land so I have a little herd living out there of two oldies, one TB mare and her foal. Another oldie and too small is out as a companion.
 
Little Fat Pony said:
If my horse was in any sort of pain I'd PTS, if not I'd keep him as a field ornament, not 100% sure which box to tick :)
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SNAP same I ticked field ornament which I did have on Bute but when Bute clearly wasnt working the decision I made was PTS. I would never subject my horse to lots of tests and treatments he had a good life. Despite my b....dy vet wanting to do just that, I had to justify WHY I wanted him to PTS(he was limping on hind, arthritic blah blah). Anyhow I havent caught up with my vet yet!!!! Perhaps I ticked the wrong box?
 
Really interesting how many are saying - if in pain PTS.

How are you judging the level of pain and control of pain before juding on must be PTS ?

Many horses, like people, can be kept comfortable on low level pain relief.

My horse will never be ridden again, has been a loyal servant and taken us to places most horse owners can only dream about. This morning he cantered across the field, showing off with a few flying changes, to meet me with his breakfast bucket. In that bucket was the half a bute that gives him the pain relief he needs.

It is a very sweeping statement to say pain = death.
 
If in pain that would affect their quality of life then I'd PTS, but otherwise they get a happy and pampered retirement. My mare had to retire at age 8 :( but I've kept her, and have a companion on loan for her :)
 
I have ticked keep as a field ornament, but I would not keep a horse that could not be kept comfortable on one or two sachets of bute. However, it depends on the horse as some cope with a low level of pain better than others. If they seem happy and bright then I would keep them going. Lots of people live with pain and are on anti inflamatories. It does not make their life not worth living. I think it's the same for horses.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Really interesting how many are saying - if in pain PTS.

How are you judging the level of pain and control of pain before juding on must be PTS ?

Many horses, like people, can be kept comfortable on low level pain relief.

My horse will never be ridden again, has been a loyal servant and taken us to places most horse owners can only dream about. This morning he cantered across the field, showing off with a few flying changes, to meet me with his breakfast bucket. In that bucket was the half a bute that gives him the pain relief he needs.

It is a very sweeping statement to say pain = death.
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Totally agree with you


As you say small amount of pain you can tolerate.
 
AA- I don't think people are really saying they wouldn't give bute. I think what most mean is that when quality of life is gone, despite painkillers, that would be the end of the road for them.

As to the original question. I don't know. I can't imagine keeping BH as a pet as he is really rather unpleasant when not in work. Equally I know I would struggle to have him shot. I guess I couldn't really say what I'd do until I have to deal with the situation.
 
I would keep as field ornament as long as happy and comfortable on low level of bute. Would pts if this wasn't working or horse looking unhappy.
I have semi retired my old boy to just few light hacks a week and he seems happy and coping with this. Fortunately am in position to take another on loan but if anything happened the loan would have to go back as couldn't part with older boy if he was still happy x
 
I know the answer to this because I have my wonderful Arab mare living in my friend's field with mates, having retired at the grand old age of 6. She's 14 now, and as long as she's obviously happy and comfortable she carries on. I don't think I'd bute her long-term because it would disguise the pain and goodness knows how much extra damage she'd do to herself as a result. We have a little agreement between us though, no more stays in horsepital... so when the time comes I'll break my heart and know what to do.
(Daft isn't it? I can't even think about it without my eyes leaking).
 
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