making tough decisions.

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ilovecobs

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***Warning, long post***
Well, im only 16 and i own a 12 year old horse who i had since i was 10 and he was my first pony and hes the most friendly chap you could ever meet, hes a real people person and talks to everybody on the yard and is such a character. He continues to have such a happy feel about him despite the fact he is incredibly lame.

He has ring bone in his front legs and sometimes he is comfortable for a while, this has ranged from 6 months to as little as 1 or 2 weeks recently. Then he will go and run around the field a lot and be really lame, at first he would just need 2 or 3 days boxrest and then he would be comfortable again. (When i say comfortable he is still lame but not a lot) a small while ago he went quite lame and we box rested him for 4 days and he was ok again so we put him in the field. (he is in a starvation paddock) and after about 4 days, maybe 5 the YO suggested he go in a different paddock that had a little more grass in it as he has lost some weight and was looking better for it. So he went in there and was so excited over the grass he went mad jumping about and running about a bit and went very very lame, it took the YO 15 mins to walk him down from the field ( it is usually a 1 min walk max) and its painfull to watch) he has now been on boxrest for about 6 days with his bute upped for 1/2 a day to 1 a day and he has ony improved slightly over this time. Hes looking better then he was but hes still very lame.

The problem is that my mum is just pleased that hes improved and i dont think she can see what a mess he is still in. Yes he has improved but its taken a LOT longer then it used to and his episodes of lameness are getting closer together. He is in pain but you wouldn't know it to be around him hes so lively and you can tell he wants to live. He always gets a fuss off everybody as hes the cute friendly chatterbox of the yard and his personality hasn't changed a bit since he got ring-bone, it makes the thought that he may have to be PTS even more difficult to come to terms with. I also think if i dont say anything to my mum it will be left much too late, i wouldnt know what to say and i also wouldnt want to feel responsible for him dieing, but dont want it to be my fault he is suffering. If he was grumpy from the pain, or was depressed It wouldnt be so difficult. Also in winter with the really soft ground you would think he was sound in walk and my mum just keeps saying she cant wait for winter to come and she just needs to get him through summer. I just dont know what the right thing to do it.

If you made it through to the end you can help yourself to cookies
I also apologise for my bad spelling.
 
A horse that has long term lameness problems that cannot be managed by low levels of pain relief daily has not future, imo.

Similarly a horse that becomes lame after doing what every horse should be able to do (have a run around etc), again has no future.

Very easy to say from a distance - and being brutal about it why pay good money after bad? After all it's an expensive hobby.

Sorry, I am very practical about these things - but hugely sentimental too, so understand the difficulties.

But essentially, if an animal is struggling and nothing can be done, then it would be put down.
 
Hi,

I was in EXACTLY the same situation as you at the same age, however my parents left me to it! I had a lovely 15hh welsh mare, who was 13yrs old, she was sound for about 6 months when we bought her, then went on off lame. Xrays revealed ring bone so I moved her to another yard. She was kept in a small paddock on her own for a few weeks, wile she settled. We then put her in the big field (about 100 acres) with a small herd of mares. This was very natural environment, hills, wooded bits etc. took all her shoes off too. In the summer on hard ground she would go lame, I tended to not box rest though, but would rather give her a couple of bute and leave her out, as sometimes if you rest them then turn back out they do charge round and hurt themselves more. Luckily the other liveries understood why she was lame and it was on vets advice to let nature take its course and see what happened (he had said PTS if in 6 months it hadn't settled enough for her to be permanently paddock sound at the very least). After a few months she was sound enough for light hacking, so we then found her a loan home as a light hack, where she was very happy. She has since been in two loan homes and I have gifted her to her loaner now (she's now in her 20's and still light hacking). The thing is with ring bone it needs time to settle, once its fully formed it should be manageable and your horse should have some use as a happy hacker providing rider is understanding. We have been lucky in that both loan homes knew that if they hammered her she would go lame, but to medicate with bute if she's having an off day. Had she not been as sensible a hack I would have PTS in the first place, but I owed her enough to let her have a chance and she was a really special little horse and never looked unhappy in herself.
 
Such a hard decision to have to make! I do feel for you

Unfortunately as amymay said a horse that cant just be a normal horse and whose pain isnt being controlled by bute doesnt really have a future

I would have a very long converstation with your vets, voice your concerns and get their opinion and then go from there, if PTS is the right option you have to do what is best for him.

Well done on being responsible about this and putting him before yourself, it is very admirable. Especially as your only 16...i dont think i could have done this at 16.
 
Thanks everybody, i think ill ring the vet, im glad people dont think its cruel, ill see what the vet thinks as hes always very honest with us, thanks.
 
He sounds just like my arthritic horse with his happy disposition - mine's a real ladies' man (equine and human)!

If I were you I would try to keep his regime/environment as stable as possible so that you can reduce the likelihood of him running around, as this seems to be setting off the inflammation. You could also try magnetic boots and a joint supplement as these can help to keep him stable. Is he on bute all the time? How big is he?

I would involve the vet in any tough decisions you may have to make in the future, but from what you have describled he doesn't sound like he wants to go just yet.
 
Hes 14.2hh hafflinger, was on 1/2 bute a day permanently untill about two weeks ago, he is now on one a day everyday. and your right he doesnt seem like he wants to at all.
 
ilovecobs said:
Hes 14.2hh hafflinger, was on 1/2 bute a day permanently untill about two weeks ago, he is now on one a day everyday. and your right he doesnt seem like he wants to at all.
Click to expand...

Ah, well a bute a day to keep him sound and happy is fine - and I would not look to make any decisions on a horse kept sound on that little.
 
Mine's a 15.3 chunky TBX. He was diagnosed with knee arthritis in 2005. He went straight onto Danilon and had various flare ups where he would have to have 2 x 2 for a couple of days, then gradually back down to one. Then he would be ok for a few weeks and then have another flare up before settling down again.

At the moment he is on half a sachet a day as well as a joint supplement and magnetic boots. I think in his case the arthritis has stabilised in that everything which was going to fuse has fused. He's been completely retired for the last three years for a combination of reasons, but still has his joie de vivre!

Has your horse had ringbone for long? It may be that it will settle in time, but your vet will certainly be the best person to guide you and your mum. Good luck!
 
hes had it for 3 years and what everybody seems to agree on is that is is best to get the vet out so will be doing that and seeing what he thinks. If all is well i will probably give magnetic boots a go.

thankyou for your advise everybody.
 
Definately give the magnetic boots a go - they're brilliant. You can also get a band for his fetlock that can stay on permanently.

A previous horse of mine had low, non articular ringbone and she stablised within 9 months to retire sound to the field.
 
Just one bit of advice I would give - try and get an alternative to bute. My old pony - many years ago now - was on 1 bute a day for his spavin for a few years (we didn't know better back then really) and it damaged his liver which resulted in some terrible problems.
 
Cairo wore magentic straps which he wore all the time for the rest of his days - they are designed to be left on - this is where I got them from.

http://www.magnetic.uk.com/

For him, he went from hobbling in walk to not requiring any pain killers and was sound to be ridden -1/10 lame on the left rein and 2/10s on the right but vet said not to worry about it. He had low ringbone. I also fed him linseed for his joints which also seemed to ease him.

They might be worth a try.

Towards the end of his days, he did have more joint problems and was on 2 danilon a day - sounds a lot but he was a clydesdale and this kept him sound enough to do a 20 min walk hack - he loved to go out and about, and enjoy time in the field sound enough to move comfortably. He also had some very expensive injections done by the vet which again probably gave him another year of being comfortable.

I would also have a word with your vet. Finally better to have a potentially shorter life due to the side effects of bute but comfortable in my opinon.

If all this fails then the pts option would be best as a horse that can't be sound in the field to walk comfortably when on medication does not have a good quality life.
 
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