Is it unthinkable....

RuthnMeg

RuthnMeg

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to have a retired healthy horse PTS just because his friend has to be?
Mac is 26, 17hh irish hunter type and he is suffering from arthritis, cushings and liver damage. His owner (my uncle) is moving to America and has rightly said its time. (my dad will take him to the kennels at some point soon).
His friend 'Horse' is a 16.1 28 yr old TB. He is healthy and looks very well. ''Horse'' hasn't been ridden for about 5 years now, and enjoys sharing his field with Mac. If Mac goes, ''Horse'' will be on his own with only some cows for company, although there is a possibility that a connie pony will be joining in April.
I could consider taking my dun mare over to act as companion, but she needs some tlc and dad isn't very good at that!!
Would you take ''Horse'' with Mac, just because they are friends?

should add that ''Horse'' is his name, (C'est La Vie is a bit long winded!)
 
I think I'd take them both.

It'd be better for 'Horse' to go happily with his mate than for you to find he pines like mad and then have to take him when he is down and out of sorts a couple of weeks later.
 
Would take them both rather than risk poor Horse pining for his mate, think it will be dignified & less stressful for them to go together. Plus your uncle won't have to worry about him when he has moved.
 
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I think i'd let them both go - he has lived a long life (28) so I'd let him go happy with his friend.
 
going against the grain here, sorry, but although it isn't unthinkable at all, and i can totally see why it would be more convenient to take them both together, if Horse is healthy and happy then I would keep him going but make sure he has a good new (probably oldish aged) friend to live with... not exactly a shortage of companion horses around, obviously. but this would depend on having space and ££s and time etc to keep him and new friend happily fed, sheltered etc through the winter...
sorry, i'm a big softie though.
 
Had to make this decision (pony on loan so decision made with his owner) and decided to PTS both, as loan pony (who I was happy to keep) was very attached to his field mate, suffered from separation anxiety and got stressed moving yards. As he was somewhere between 30 and 35 it was decided that it was better for him to go calmly with his friend than get stressed without him.
 
Horse wont understand why he's alone, and being miserable and distressed would be awful for the old man.

I've got a 32 year old who's been retired for over 6 years, and he is so set in his ways, any change to his routine would distress him and he's very attached to his specially chosen mate, who doesn't bully him. I think if I had to change my old boys routine or move yards I probably wouldn't put him through the stress of it either. He's got athritis and is hangin' in there, and he looks forward to coming in and going out every day. His field is next to a popular footpath and he enjoys watching people walking up and down and being petted during the daytime.

I also wouldn't send my boy to one of the 'retirement homes' The people who run them do their best, but they're not looked after the way I would want my boy to be, and I think I owe it to him to look after him as best I possibly can all the way through to the end.
 
I too would let them go together. Yes you could try and get a companion but there is no guarantee they would bond as Horse and Mac have been together so long. I went to a talk on caring for the older horse last night and it was mentioned that old horses can becoming very attached to field companions leading to high stress levels if they are separated which in turn can lead to problems like colic which again the older horse is more prone too.
 
We were very fortunate that the youngest of our long term partnership died first, if they had been the other way round then the younger would have gone at the same time. She would never have coped without her best friend, even though we had others. They had lived together for twenty + years and the slightly younger one depended entirely on the old girl. It does depemd on the horse, but no way is it unthinkable, probably the best outcome for 'horse'
 
There is something quite nice about the two going together. Like best mates going on a journey. I would take them both xxx
 
I'm sorry, I wouldn't. I couldn't have a healthy, happy horse or any animal PTS. Unless I knew that horse would become seriously distressed and suffer without his mate. If it has companionship of some sort it may not actually be overly affected.

Still, you're the only one who knows the horse best and how it would react without its friend.
 
Not unthinkable but not something I'd consider. Being happy and healthy his quality of life makes it worth preserving. There are plenty of charities you could loan an aged companion from and when Horse finally passes away/has to be PTS for a better reason companion horse can be returned to the charity. Sorry but unless Horse proved to be in sustained decline after loosing his friend and meeting a new companion I don't think this would be in his best interests.
 
Sadly at the end of the day neither horse belongs to me. I can completely agree with my uncle, Mac doesn't have his quality of life. Horse is owned by my dad. I know Horse very well, I had him on loan, and 'did' him when he was P2P. (Quirky old sod!) He is a very hansom boy, who I can call my own, but I would never have the last say even though I have better knowledge than my dad - who is also a quirky old sod!! lol
All I can do is tell dad what I think is best and by the answers to this, it has confirmed what I would like to see. I would never put a healthy horse to sleep, but an old boy who will miss his friend has swayed the scales. Thankyou everyone.
 
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Not unthinkable but not something I'd consider. Being happy and healthy his quality of life makes it worth preserving. There are plenty of charities you could loan an aged companion from and when Horse finally passes away/has to be PTS for a better reason companion horse can be returned to the charity. Sorry but unless Horse proved to be in sustained decline after loosing his friend and meeting a new companion I don't think this would be in his best interests.

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I agree. Horse might not bother that his friend has gone and will form a bond with another companion.
 
That is a really sad post and I'm so sorry for you to be in that situation. I don't really have a strong view either way, never having had to make that decision (thank god) but I'm sure whatever you do will be in the best interests of Horse.
Hope it all works out for the best.
xxxx
 
Absolutely take them together - much better to go out as a healthy, happy horse than to suffer the likely pain of arthritis and other conditions that are almost bound to start afflicting the healthy horse soon. I would be interested to know how many of the (very few) people who object to this view are vegetarian?!
 
Sorry, couldn't condone putting a healthy horse down, just because his mate is going.....

I'm actually rather taken a'back that anyone would ask........
 
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Horse might not bother that his friend has gone and will form a bond with another companion.

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exactly. i sold my big lad recently, and after 4 years in a field devotedly nannying my two youngsters, he bonded within a few days with a gelding at the new place, and a few weeks later is now irrevocably in love with a donkey weanling who was bought specifically to be the special friend of another horse - who detests her!
you can never tell how fast they will bond with a new friend, or where their affections will go.
if Horse is absolutely best friends with (as in, utterly inseparable from) the one who is going to be pts, i can understand sending them together, but if not, i think it is harsh to send him while he is well, i.e. before his time.
i firmly believe that there is a right time for all horses to go, fwiw, i'm not a hopeless bunny hugger!
 
I would pts together in this situation with this phrase in mind
"Better a day too soon than a day too late"

Some people are right - he may not pine or suffer - but who wants to see an old boy pine/suffer/greive and then have to pts - I would not take the risk - I would take them both, they've had a very good innings!
 
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Better a day too soon than a day too late

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How exactly does this have any relevance in the case of a fit and healthy horse?
 
I would have them done at the same time. I don't think i have ever heard someone say "Oh I wish I hadnt had him PTS so soon" but I sure have heard too many people say "I wish I had had him PTS sooner".
 
I would send both together. I have no problem with this esp. as your taking them to the kennels, I think its very mean to take one away live and leave the other who will be wondering where his mate is. If you were to pts mac in his field with horse watching and able to say goodbye after it would be slightly different. FYI we are taking two elderly horses to the kennels ourselves next week, they are both late 20's and have had 5 yrs of retirement but didn't do well last winter and so are going together with dignity now rather than going skinny and depressed mid winter. While he may be fit and healthy now, horse is old for a TB and unless you can find a companion for him to settle in with now, its simply not fair. Horses do not know what's going on and will have no idea what's coming. I personally like to take the oldies to the kennels plaited up and clean as if they were going hunting and looking great. Ours are old hunt horses anyway and so its a fitting end to their lives.
 
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