Is pts the best thing for my 14 yr old?

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rideawaylate

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I don't know what to do for the best so would like some opinions..

My 14 yr old tb came back from 8 month loan with a tear on Deep Digital Flexor Tendon and Sacroiliac injuries. He has been on 2 months box rest and so far 2 months paddock rest. He also had previous injuries to front tendons from racing. He isn't totally sound but is driving himself mental being on paddock rest and regularly breaking fences and getting out, windsucking, box walking and headshaking. It's going to be a slow recovery for him and if he comes back into work there is no saying what level it will be and for how long. He is currently due to start a rehab program which requires 20 mins work twice daily.

I'm on maternity leave which is due to end, in reality I can't afford to keep him once this pay stops but if I have to go back to work I won't have the time for him and my baby and still not sure that I'd be able to afford him unless I went back full time which I don't want to do.

I doubt he'd sell as he has alot of issues and tbh he is hard work and has been dangerous on occasion. I would not loan him out ever again (he was totally sound and out competing when he went out on loan and came back ruined!) I'm starting to think the fairest thing would be to have him put to sleep but can't help feeling like it would be selfish :(
 
If he were mine I would definitely pts. You've enough on without a horse that's stressing, lame & generally unhappy.....
I'm not saying it's an easy decision, my heart goes out to you, but sometimes it's best all round... :(
 
rideawaylate said:
I don't know what to do for the best so would like some opinions..

My 14 yr old tb came back from 8 month loan with a tear on Deep Digital Flexor Tendon and Sacroiliac injuries. He has been on 2 months box rest and so far 2 months paddock rest. He also had previous injuries to front tendons from racing. He isn't totally sound but is driving himself mental being on paddock rest and regularly breaking fences and getting out, windsucking, box walking and headshaking. It's going to be a slow recovery for him and if he comes back into work there is no saying what level it will be and for how long. He is currently due to start a rehab program which requires 20 mins work twice daily.

I'm on maternity leave which is due to end, in reality I can't afford to keep him once this pay stops but if I have to go back to work I won't have the time for him and my baby and still not sure that I'd be able to afford him unless I went back full time which I don't want to do.

I doubt he'd sell as he has alot of issues and tbh he is hard work and has been dangerous on occasion. I would not loan him out ever again (he was totally sound and out competing when he went out on loan and came back ruined!) I'm starting to think the fairest thing would be to have him put to sleep but can't help feeling like it would be selfish :(
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Given what you have told us here, I would have him put to sleep. It isn't selfish, it secures his future forever and your priority must be to your child and yourself.
 
I think you have 3 options, 1) pts he will know nothing about it and as he sounds a troubled boy it may be the kindest all round.
2) go ahead with the rehab, it will need you to be 100% committed, not easy with a young baby and winter fast approaching, I rehabbed, well am still doing so, mine with a SI injury and it is essential that they get the correct work, regular physio and it is done properly otherwise it will not work and that is without the tendon injury, if you cannot do it properly there is little point in starting which leads to option 3) find grass livery in a big field and turn him away, you can take a step back both financially and mentally to give you time to decide whether you do option 1, he has done the required box rest and confined turnout in reality if he cannot cope with full time turn out he will probably not cope with full work, if he heals himself great, if not your decision is easier but you need to do what is right for you, the horse and your family.
 
Lame horse needing a lot of care and not likely to come back into any realistic amount of work..yes. Good on you for thiking about this rather than giving him away.
 
How lucky he is to have such a thoughtful owner, but yes, I would have him PTS. It sounds as if his future is uncertain with regards to his recovery from these injuries and he is certainly not a happy horse whilst in recovery and this is most likely going to hinder the recovery process if he is unsettled. Putting him to sleep is not selfish, as others have said, you are securing his future and your priority must now be your child. Let him go before the cold of the winter gets here, with the sun on his back.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

Having seen him this morning, I think my mind is made up. He is stiff, swollen on two legs and miserable. He's bitten me and pinned me against the wall using his whole body.

I've turned him out with the herd for now. The damage is done, he may aswell go out and be a horse for a while rather than stuck in a paddock stressing.

This decision has been in the back of my mind for a while and I was struggling with it but it seems clear today.. Physically he should recover (however long it takes) but mentally he isnt the horse he used to be and I don't think that that will ever change.

Just wish that I'd never put him out on loan :(
 
rideawaylate said:
Thank you all for your replies.

Having seen him this morning, I think my mind is made up. He is stiff, swollen on two legs and miserable. He's bitten me and pinned me against the wall using his whole body.

I've turned him out with the herd for now. The damage is done, he may aswell go out and be a horse for a while rather than stuck in a paddock stressing.

This decision has been in the back of my mind for a while and I was struggling with it but it seems clear today.. Physically he should recover (however long it takes) but mentally he isnt the horse he used to be and I don't think that that will ever change.

Just wish that I'd never put him out on loan :(
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My friend had a horse with a history of tendons (he was an ex-showjumper and hunter) but she was only hacking and doing a bit of showing so he should have been fine. He blew a tendon, she did all the treatment and rehab, it healed and she started riding again. A week later he was stupid in the field, blew the tendon again and she had him PTS immediately because she didn't want him going through another 6 months box rest. I think turning him out with his buddies and then booking the vet is absolutely the right thing to do OP. It can't get any worse for him now. I take it you put him on loan because of your maternity leave? Don't blame yourself, you were only trying to do the right thing and the sad thing about horses is they can break alarmingly easily.
 
fatpiggy said:
My friend had a horse with a history of tendons (he was an ex-showjumper and hunter) but she was only hacking and doing a bit of showing so he should have been fine. He blew a tendon, she did all the treatment and rehab, it healed and she started riding again. A week later he was stupid in the field, blew the tendon again and she had him PTS immediately because she didn't want him going through another 6 months box rest. I think turning him out with his buddies and then booking the vet is absolutely the right thing to do OP. It can't get any worse for him now. I take it you put him on loan because of your maternity leave? Don't blame yourself, you were only trying to do the right thing and the sad thing about horses is they can break alarmingly easily.
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He was on loan with a view to buy because of pregnancy. He's not the sort of horse that copes well out of work so I thought it was best for him.

I'm waiting for my vet to get back to me but seeing everyone's replies definitely helped me make up my mind x
 
Why not try turning him away for the winter, seems a shame that he's been through all that rest only to be shot now. It can't do any harm and you will get the winter off and should be a much cheaper option ?
 
He isn't coping well with being out of work now, I doubt it'd be any different through the winter. Because of the injuries also I've been advised to keep him in if it's really wet, slippery or icy so I don't think turning him out would be fair to him.

I've tried to have him living out once before in the summer and he jumped the gate back into the yard!

It's not something I want to do, I just get the feeling he has had enough now
 
I get the feeling that the one who has had enough is you, which is understandable but horses do adapt and in your circumstances it is what I would do.....and have in fact done in the past with a tb with a much worse injury.
 
bonny said:
I get the feeling that the one who has had enough is you, which is understandable but horses do adapt and in your circumstances it is what I would do.....and have in fact done in the past with a tb with a much worse injury.
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Not at all. I would and have done everything I can for this horse. He came back with 2 days notice when my baby was not even a month old and since then I have done all I can to make him happy and get him right. If I thought it would make a difference, I'd try but I can't see it and I'm dubious of moving him again as he's moved yards 4 times in the ladt year anyway.
 
In your situation then yes, I too, would pts.

Horses do NOT know that this is their last day, they don't wake up thinking "this is the day I die" , it is the responsible owners that wrestle with the decision that suffer, and it is not easy, one day you think "OK I'll make the call" and the next "Oh, he looks fine today, maybe next week" many of us have had to do it and will understand exactly where you are coming from. It sucks, but often, when the decision is made it is as if a giant cloud has lifted from your shoulders and you know you are doing right by him, and that's what it is about, doing the right thing by them.

It is all well and good for people on the outside looking in to suggest this that and the other, give him time, my horses are with me until the day they die, blahdy, blahdy, blah. Well, he WILL be with you until that day.
 
rideawaylate said:
Thank you all for your replies.

Having seen him this morning, I think my mind is made up. He is stiff, swollen on two legs and miserable. He's bitten me and pinned me against the wall using his whole body.

I've turned him out with the herd for now. The damage is done, he may aswell go out and be a horse for a while rather than stuck in a paddock stressing.

This decision has been in the back of my mind for a while and I was struggling with it but it seems clear today.. Physically he should recover (however long it takes) but mentally he isnt the horse he used to be and I don't think that that will ever change.

Just wish that I'd never put him out on loan :(
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The what ifs will eat you up if you let them. He could have just as easily done himself damage if he'd been at home.

There is no right decision. Someone once said to me "the minute the decision to call it a day becomes easy is the day I give up keeping horses". You feel horrible and guilty because you care, and that means that you will make the most appropriate decision for both of your circumstances, even if it is hard.
 
samsbilly said:
I was always told better a day to early than a day too late. I would let him out in the herd for a few days and book the vet.
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I can't help but think that's a really pointless saying unless an animal is suffering badly which this horse doesn't sound like he is.
 
bonny said:
I can't help but think that's a really pointless saying unless an animal is suffering badly which this horse doesn't sound like he is.
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Hmmmm "He is stiff, swollen on two legs and miserable. He's bitten me and pinned me against the wall using his whole body. "

That ^^^ doesn't sound like a happy, pain-free horse to me.

Bonny, perhaps you can take him on then? Would you?
 
Enfys said:
Hmmmm "He is stiff, swollen on two legs and miserable. He's bitten me and pinned me against the wall using his whole body. "

That ^^^ doesn't sound like a happy, pain-free horse to me.
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Doesn't sound like he needs shooting to me....but then he's not mine or yours for us to make that decision.
 
Bonny, you and I are both just voicing our personal opinions, they just happen to differ that's all, I daresay in another scenario we would agree. No, it isn't our decision to make I agree (there, see, we DO agree! :) ) but sometimes faced with a dilemma it really does help to have the opinions of total outsiders to make things clear, or to vindicate decisions.
 
bonny said:
Doesn't sound like he needs shooting to me....but then he's not mine or yours for us to make that decision.
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This isn't about whether 'he' 'needs shooting' it's about what is best for the combination of the horse, the owner and the owner's family. I don't personally have any doubt about what the answer to that is, given what we have been told. I'd be on the phone this afternoon.
 
SusieT said:
I would turn him away tbh regardless of the injury and see how he copes.
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We have already been told that he doesn't cope mentally with being turned away and the owner has been advised that the injury will not cope with bad ground conditions and that she should not turn him away.
 
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Turning him away isn't an option. He will do more damage to himself if I try and leave him out overnight. Physically his injuries will heal eventually but the mental damage that will be done during the healing process makes it difficult. He's always been a very active horse, he needs to be kept busy. I had him in daily work and out competing at weekends and he was happy, he thrives off it. For him to be standing in a paddock or a field or a stable day in day out is destroying him as well as starting to make him dangerous. I know everyone will have their own opinion's and I expect that when posting on a public forum but believe me I have done and would do anything possible for him.
 
Personally I think PTS in this case is the best thing all round. If he's not happy now, he sure won't be any happier when it's cold and miserable!

You also need to think of yourself. You and your child are more important than a horse
 
It's my opinion that the best thing that can be done for your horse and for you too is that you send him peacefully on his way. Neither he nor you are currently enjoying life and it would seem that were you to pass him on to another, you would simply be passing on a clear liability and one without hope of insurance cover. Even were you to continue with treatment, would it really be in the horse's best interest? Not from here it wouldn't. Sorry.

Alec.
 
SusieT said:
what is the turnout arrangement? Paddocks or proper big fields with company and good fencing?
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We have already been told that the veterinary advice is that the injury will not withstand slippery icy or muddy conditions and that the horse should be stabled at those times. You clearly disagree with this horse being put down and you've made your point, now let the poor woman make the best decision for herself and her family and her horse without trying to make her feel any more guilty than she already does. Please.
 
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