Im so sorry freddie, i tried :(

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Arniebear

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Ive been playing the worst case scenario around in my head for weeks but now its real and it really really sucks :(

Hes had 8 months off, 8 weeks of shockwave therapy, steriods and 6 months field rest but hes still 2/5ths lame, scan shows absolutly no improvement and vet said he can waste all the money in the world on him but its hopeless he wont come sound :( :(

Hes the first horse ive ever spent all my hard earnt pennies on and now i have to make the hardest decision :(

Im so sorry freddie i tried i really did :(
 
I am so so sorry :( Its a horrible decision you have to make, and whatever you decide I am sure it will be because you love Freddie and want to do right by him. Big hugs xxx
 
I'm so sorry :( but he's a lucky boy to have had such a wonderful owner who did their best for him. It's what every horse deserves but very few get. Whatever you decide you should take comfort in the fact you did all you could xx
 
Big Hug for you (((((HUG))))) - it is the hardest decision that you will ever make but sometimes it is for the best - I remember my lovely grey TB - he had navicular - if he had been prepared to take retirement easy and mooch around the paddock he would have had a long life but he wouldn't. He was a racehorse by breeding and his life was all about having a hoon around the paddock whenever anything exciting happened or when it didn't! This would then leave him crippled for several days after. I just couldn't bear to see him in so much pain.

I held him while he received his last injection and he is buried along with a packet of mints and his best headcollar with his name on. I cried buckets but knew in my heart I had given my best friend his freedom.
 
I had to make the same agonising decision last year...it's so horrible but you have to be kind to yourself and realise that you are doing the best thing for him. It's quality of life that's important and you are doing the kindest thing - you have exhausted all the options for him and tried your very hardest.

It's a heart wrenching decision to make but know that he won't be in any pain anymore and running free over Rainbow Bridge.

Sending hugs x
 
While I'm not saying don't pts, as that is a sensible decision, if it is a possibility I'd try further field rest. It took my mare two years to come sound after a ddft injury that the vet said would take 3 months initially. I realise that this isn't an option for everyone though.
 
Really sorry about everything. I'm not sure what injury your horse has had but my mare did a large hole to her DDFT in her hind leg and it took her 6-9 months before she really showed much difference in her gait. She was never massively lame but took a long time to come sound.
Before she got too big from pregnancy we were hacking agian and she was staying totally sound and is fine at the moment, we're about 18 months post injury.

If it's an option and your horse has a reasonable quality of field life might be worth giving him another 6 months in a field and see how he went. At the same time only you know the details and know whether thats an option for you.
big hugs and whatever you decide will be the right decision for you and your horse
 
alex2601 said:
Ive been playing the worst case scenario around in my head for weeks but now its real and it really really sucks :(

Hes had 8 months off, 8 weeks of shockwave therapy, steriods and 6 months field rest but hes still 2/5ths lame, scan shows absolutly no improvement and vet said he can waste all the money in the world on him but its hopeless he wont come sound :( :(

Hes the first horse ive ever spent all my hard earnt pennies on and now i have to make the hardest decision :(

Im so sorry freddie i tried i really did :(
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Sorry if I'm being really unfeeling here, I don't mean to be, believe me. Is he sane and sensible, in that is he a bombproof hack? There are jobs around for horses that will hack safely. He may not be sound for running and jumping but a quiet hack??? My mother likes those!
 
Sorry, I don't know your story. What's wrong with him? If tendon/ligament it could well take a fair bit longer than that. Although it does depend I guess on how they do being kept out (ie if they're sensible enough to not do more damage). Sometimes it does take a very long time for these things to come right.
 
ladyt25 said:
Sorry, I don't know your story. What's wrong with him? If tendon/ligament it could well take a fair bit longer than that. Although it does depend I guess on how they do being kept out (ie if they're sensible enough to not do more damage). Sometimes it does take a very long time for these things to come right.
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This. One of mine has had more than a year off and then has come right.
 
Two fifths lame isn't much, can be made really comfortable with bute :confused: most of those with hock arthritis, bone spavin, are two or three fifths lame behind but are being controlled with careful management. Has the vet given you any advice in relation to management? Try not to let your feelings of disappointment effect your decision making x
 
My sister's horse has been lame now for about 2 years. Did a ligament in one hind leg (PSD), then got some tendo problem in his other hind leg (tenosynovitis) after he's come sound for a bit. This year, after coming back in to work, he then went lame in a front leg and after putting him on box/small paddock rest for 4 weeks then turning out, he was still lame. Got vet, he has tendonitis in one foreleg and is currently 4 weeks in to 6 weeks of box rest. Hopefully (fingers crossed) after that he MAY managed to stay sound long enough to get back in to work! He's 13 now and we've had him since a 4 yo. He was sound up until 2 years ago!!
 
Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Heres his background, he has torn both his hind suspensories significantly, due to scar tissue vet reckons original injury was back in racing (he left 2 yrs ago). While i think hes a dude he is probably more of a fruit loop! His idea of hacking is to canter sideways down the road due to this and his general go faster attitude he isnt what i would class as a happy hacker. He is happy galloping round a hunt/xc field!

Vets comments today were i could spend all the money in the world but he wont come sound, even surgery would be hopeless. U could hack him on bute possibly but thats about it.

My biggest issue i have is he is generally unhappy atm, he is living out but if u watch him he is constantly shifting his weight from each hind leg and generally looks uncomfortable, when he was on field rest he would stand away from the herd and basically look depressed. I just want to do what will make him happy. He has lost his cheeky spark. I wont be making any snap decisions he can chill out with his mares for a bit

Thanks again for the kind words i had a feeling this was coming but its just so real now :(
 
I am so so sorry. I too have had to make this most difficult decision. You are doing the right thing and when time passes you will be able to look back and know you did the best for him and helped him when he needed it most. xxx
 
Have you tried bar shoes on behind to support the suspensories, also put on bute and walk and trot exercise, gradually building up, certainly try for 10 days and see if any improvement, if improves gradually take off bute, 1 bute every other day and so on, if still lame, then you have done the final try.
 
I'm so sorry OP but it does sound like you've done all you can for him and that it would be unfair to let it go on.

To PTS a much loved pet that is in pain and distress is the last good and loving thing we can do for them.

Don't beat yourself up OP, be strong.

((((hugs))))
 
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