Methods of PTS - DISTRESSING, please don't read if easily upset

When my mare was to go, I asked the vet's opinion. He said that he used to say gun, but since the new injection came out he preferred that. When I asked on here it was very much 50/50. I eventually went with injection.

He sedated her in the stable and then I led her up to the arena. Once there I held her whilst he administered the final injection, then he took the lead rope from me and had me step back. She stood for a moment, then her knees buckled. At that point I had to turn round and pretty much collapsed into my Dad. For me that was the most frightening thing, seeing her fall.

I turned round when the vet touched my shoulder and said it was over. She didn't look particularly peaceful, her tongue was sticking out and her eyes were very wide. You could also tell she'd thrashed a bit with her legs though the vet told me it was just the nervous system.

She didn't look as peaceful as I'd hoped by the end, but she didn't suffer any pain. How she was laying at the end didn't affect her.

Whatever you do, arrange for someone else to be there for when they take the body away. My dad, who is non-horsey, had asked a few horsey colleagues about it and point blank refused to let me be there. The yard owner was also insistant that I should come in and not witness it.
 
We had to have our beautiful thoroughbred pts. He broke his leg, which started to give way whilst being ridden. We had him shot by the vet. It was instant. My only advice for anyone in an emergency situation is to ask the vet to bring the gun, as they do not carry it normally, so at least you then have the choice. I was frantic by the time the vet arrived and had to ask him to take the gun up to the field as I knew there was no doubt our horse had to be pts as the break was so bad. Also as we had to wait a horrific hour for the vet - I would in future call up several vets and pay the call out for them all to get someone there the quickest. Personally I would not witness the winching away of the body, just unnecessary upset. Our meatman was happy to work alone and we gave our horse the dignity of a cover over his body in the field overnight; he was really respectful and kind.
 
I have seen many horses shot and it's always been instant apart from once and that was my own horse.....I rescued her from being pts and dreamed about winning the gold cup with her ! She was closely related to Red Marauder who won the grand national and I thought it was going to have a dream ending but instead she shattered a leg while turned out for the summer.
She was out of sight of the road and when I went to check the horses was dying of shock and clearly had broken her leg several hours before. My vet and the knackerman were too far away so I rang the local vet who I suspect had never shot a horse before. It took an hour for her to die, she kept struggling to get up to reach her companion and he was frantic too. The useless vet just kept apologising an clearly didn't know what to do - it was so bad my farrier who happened to come past wanted to hit her on the head with his hammer which I would have gone with but the vet refused.
I had nightmares for months and nearly gave up horses but it helped that recently another vet told me that horses in shock tend to have dehydrated brains and so shooting her was the wrong thing to do as the bullet kept missing.
She was called Bonny, which is why it's my name on here and I still miss her.
 
Over the years I've had 4 horses put to sleep by lethal injection and one which was shot.

The 4 that were injected were quick and went down quickly with no complications -- all were sick horses rather than injured horses. The 1st was my baby -- that horse that you'll never replace and was the worst experience of my life (cried for 2 days non stop) but it was good as it could be

The one which was shot was an emergency euthanase (Colic in a horse that had had previous colic surgery as a youngster and vet told us that surgery wasn't an option) he didn't have the stuff for the injection there - cos this is my preferred method - but had his bolt gun. There is no way I'd let a horse suffer cos of my personal preference and he went down fast - no twitching etc but this all happened late at night 10pm ish and he was left in his stable til morning and the blood was running down the yard in the morning. My farrier (coming to shoe another horse on the yard) found me, yard brush and hose pipe in hand trying to clear up all the blood... and sent me away. God bless him he washed the yard down for me.

Can't beat a good farrier...

As I said I don't regret putting the horse down that way cos it was the quickest way to get him pain free but I found the next day clear up difficult to bare.

Blitz
 
I had my old girl put down with injection.

Will say, hand on heart, that she was so pumped full of medication (she was maxed out on everything) that whatever method we'd picked, she would have died instantly. She already had a line in, so no stress administering the injection.

TBF, she wanted to die too. So as soon as the injection was in she was gone. Only thing making any noise was me.

The worse part wasn't afterwards, afterwards I knew she was at peace and it was too late to undo. It was before, between deciding this was it, the injection being drawn, and the vet telling me to stand back. I didn't want to let her go and in the end had to be held back. Wouldn't have done it any other way, my girl needed her Mum with her when she died, to let her know it'd be okay.
 
MissSBird said:
Whatever you do, arrange for someone else to be there for when they take the body away. My dad, who is non-horsey, had asked a few horsey colleagues about it and point blank refused to let me be there. The yard owner was also insistant that I should come in and not witness it.
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Ditto this. I'd be there for the putting down again as I feel it more of a duty to be there with them then.

However.

What I wouldn't do again is be there when they take him/her away. The sound of the hoist/winch is the most disturbing sound to me now. Got told not to be there for it, but I tried to stay for it. I had to turn away soon as he started being winched up into the back though as I physically felt sick.

So yeah.

Anyone take the advice not to be there when the removal is happening. It stays with you and isn't what you want to the last memory of your horse to be.
 
15 years ago, a friend of mine had an old hunter that was getting worse and worse with arthritis every winter. She had owned and enjoyed him all of her life and hunted him every week during the season as we lived on the estate and close to the kennels. On that last year she decided that he would not go through another winter in discomfort and that the time was right for him to go. On a misty early morning, she tacked him up as she did to go hunting and rode him through the woods and onto the kennels, where the kennelman waited to call out the dogs. There in the beauty and familiarity of the parkland the dogs ran around his feet excited and ready to go. My friend slipped off his saddle for the last time, the hunting horn was blown, the old horse lifted his head, pricked his ears in anticipation of the hunt ahead and he was shot.
 
I had my Tb put down 18 months ago by the gun, i couldnt face the injection for him as i wanted an instantaneous death, knowing when he was gone, he was gone.

The vet was very supportive. I chose not to be there and said my goodbyes 10 mins before the vet arrived. He had developed a fear of vets after a knee op, and in the end they PTS in a seculded field at the yard, he did need sedating as he was just trying to barge off around the field. Bless his little hooves.

She rang and explained what had happened and he was picked up straight away by the crem who were waiting down the lane.

Next time i would probably choose the hunt.

RIP Checky x x
 
elsbells said:
15 years ago, a friend of mine had an old hunter that was getting worse and worse with arthritis every winter. She had owned and enjoyed him all of her life and hunted him every week during the season as we lived on the estate and close to the kennels. On that last year she decided that he would not go through another winter in discomfort and that the time was right for him to go. On a misty early morning, she tacked him up as she did to go hunting and rode him through the woods and onto the kennels, where the kennelman waited to call out the dogs. There in the beauty and familiarity of the parkland the dogs ran around his feet excited and ready to go. My friend slipped off his saddle for the last time, the hunting horn was blown, the old horse lifted his head, pricked his ears in anticipation of the hunt ahead and he was shot.
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I just don't have any words. what a beautiful ending. my eyes are pricking.
 
I have seen many PTS during my work at an equine hospital by both gun and injection. Probably 90% by injection and 10% shot. With the gun I saw no problems, death was instant every time. Personally I hate the noise but appreciate that it is a good way for the horse to go.

I saw one horse injected which reacted and ran backwards before going down but the majority were very peaceful and I would have been happy to have been there if I had been the owner.

I chose injection for my own horse and it was very peaceful. I would also advise not being there for the removal.
 
I do apologise for me going into too much detail.
I had one done by gun first and was very happy with how the whole situation was handled, it was all over and the mare was in the van and driving down the road in less than 15mins. It was completely mess free which I was thinking it would have produced some mess. I think the worst bit was hearing the shot and the sudden thought of OMG.

My other mare had an injection when she had pretty much given up on life so we helped her along. Unfortunately she was shutting down so needed 2 injections and a lot of digging to find her vein - this produced a lot of blood on her neck which i'm sure would have been painful for her. I wasn't there and rushed back and went and said my goodbyes to her but the amount of dried blood on her neck still haunts me now not the fact I was saying goodbye to a dead body. She was collected and winched into the back of a van and I watched this and although I was told it would be distressing I was surprised it wasn't that bad. I just wish I had let my pony watch it so he knew she was leaving as he pined for weeks after that as he was shut in a stable so he couldn't see it happening.
 
I had my first pony put to sleep in 1983,as she was very sick.The vet arranged for the knackerman to come and do the deed,I stayed away as devestated,the man who owned the field (friend of the family) was there and made sure it was all done gently. I cried and cried for weeks.

Next time it will deffinatly be by Injection.

Dex sorry to hear what you went thru.
 
my old welsh X (40+) was shot by my vet
he didn't come through his last winter very well so I decided he could have one last summer but would go before the autumn hit
he hated the vet and was a nightmare to sedate in order to get his teeth done and would fight like mad - so injection wasn't really an option as he would have got so stressed out - he hated his teeth messed with and turned into a 2 yr old every time
the vet was brilliant, went and said hello to him in the field and explained everything to me first
I held a bucket of feed and the vet shot over my shoulder. It was instant and I don't regret having it done that way. there was a bit of blood but no-where near as much as I'd expected
I could have done with a warning about how loud it would be as it was literally right next to my ear with the vet stood behind me!
He was buried at home with a pre-arranged JCB waiting, the worst bit was when he went into the hole and got covered over.
If I had to do it again I'd go the same route
Debs
 
30 years ago when I was in my first job my boss made me deal with having one of the full liveries that I looked after put down. I had to talk to the knackerman and arrange where we were going to do it then I had to bring the mare round. He had told me to bring a bucket of feed with me. He quietly took the rope from me, rubbed her forehead gently, let her eat from the bucket and she shot before I knew it. It was over so quickly with no fuss and very little blood. I hated my boss at the time but soon realised I had been tought a very good lesson which stood me in great stead when I had to put my own down.

Since then I have had to deal with 20 put down using a gun and 2 by injection. I have been lucky to deal with 2 very good caring knackerman and have never had a problem. I have only ever held 3 who wouldn't settle straight away with someone else holding them. I always walk away immeadiately and never stay to see the body removed. I have not had any problems and also not had vast amounts of blood. The two I had put down by injection luckily went fairly easily.

I would definately choose a gun over an injection but only by an experienced knackerman. You also have to pick the location carefully, if you have a choice, for ease of removal.
 
I have seen the injection used three times, each time peaceful, 'instant' and without any after effects. The attending vet said he wouldn't euthanise any other way. Not sure why he would say this, but he has been a horse vet for many years.

I don't know why I read or contribute to these threads as I never fail to get upset. However, Haper_Gal - the 'Only thing making any noise was me' made me smile and the recount by elsbells was utterly beautiful.

My lad adores hunting but I simply couldn't take him there and leave him. I wonder if I could get the hunt (and hounds) to come here... He'd love it. I have four more heartbreaks to endure at some point and I hope I can offer the peaceful end I have given on two occasions already. I did see an injured deer shot and an am afraid to say the noise of the pistol will stay with me for ever. I can't think of that being my last memory of my horse.

However, if it is the only immediate, humane course of action, I would take it for the horse's sake. Please God, I never have to. Some of the recounts above are shocking.

I do love my horses so much; whichever way they go will kill a small part of me.
 
flamehead said:
Benjamin, I'll do it! Haha.

This post is for people's stories of horses being PTS by injection, or by gun. NOT a post about which is best, just people's experiences. If it was good, say why. If it was horrific, PLEASE say why, not just "Oh it was awful" because thats no help to the people trying to decide for themselves.

I can't start as thankfully I've had no experience so far of either, but I hope someone else will.

Hannah x
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I had my pony pts by injection by the vet. It was very peaceful and we had no problems. She was heavily sedated prior to the injection as she had serious colic and we had to get her out of the box and to a place where she could be pts and then collected. That was hard to do as we all had to push and shove, but necessary in our situation.

My vet organised the hunt to collect.
 
Thank you every one for for posting, some of them were obviously still distressing for you, I know I'm sitting here crying.

A very timely thread as will be having my old girl PTS at end of summer, she was my very first horse and have had her for 22 yrs. I would have liked her to go to the hunt as she adored her hunting but not sure if I could cope with gun, I really want to be there with her at the last.

So a numpty question - if done by injection, apart from cremation what other options are there for disposing of the body? (wish there was a nicer way of saying that). I know I can ask my vets, but will be blubbing so much I want to know first, at least on here I can cry in the privacy of my own home.
 
I can only go on injection experience - I can't bring myself to stand there if shot and think its their due that I stand with them.Haven't seen one shot so its more an emotional choice than anything else to go for injection method
Both mine were peaceful and fairly quick ends ,vet sedated them then final injection done.Then I leave horse and YO/friend will deal with carcus pick up.
 
I had my lad PTS by injection whilst at vets, he was in for a week and I always said i'd let him go peacefully by injection, so thats what I did and it was very peaceful for all of us!
The thought of having him shot - Not for me thanks.

I could not be there for his body to be taken away, but I also had his ashes back and they are still with me.

RIP Merly..mummy always loves you and misses you baby! xx
 
elsbells said:
15 years ago, a friend of mine had an old hunter that was getting worse and worse with arthritis every winter. She had owned and enjoyed him all of her life and hunted him every week during the season as we lived on the estate and close to the kennels. On that last year she decided that he would not go through another winter in discomfort and that the time was right for him to go. On a misty early morning, she tacked him up as she did to go hunting and rode him through the woods and onto the kennels, where the kennelman waited to call out the dogs. There in the beauty and familiarity of the parkland the dogs ran around his feet excited and ready to go. My friend slipped off his saddle for the last time, the hunting horn was blown, the old horse lifted his head, pricked his ears in anticipation of the hunt ahead and he was shot.
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I read the whole thread up until this post without getting any tears in my eyes, I'm now sobbing because my two are going to be pts soon and I wish I was able to do this for them, they loved their hunting days. I want them to go to the hounds though, I feel they will live on in them and be out hunting again in spirit.
 
My old boy was shot by the local knackerman - I was fairly new to the area and went with the YO recomendation to use them

I spoke to the vet beforehand but as he was a locum (my own vet was on his honeymoon) he didn't have a license for a gun and I didn't want him injected because he used to have to be twitched to get a needle in him.

It was the 1st time I'd held a horse to be PTS and I looked away as the gun went up and ran as soon as I heard the shot and stayed about half a mile away until he was loaded and gone. There was no sign of blood when I got back...

I've since held a few more for the same firm and discovered that they immediately put a black bag over their head as they remove the head collar which can help avoid a mess IYSWIM. I've also seen them winched on which is horrible, especially if there are already others in the back but I would NEVER see my own on there - I feel my duty has been done by holding them until the shot.
 
Thank you for all your stories - although distressing for the people writing them, this is hopefully an invaluable source of info for those having to make the decision.

Even though there are horror stories on both sides, I think it makes it much easier to bear if you have at least processed the possibility that things might go wrong before it happens. Thanks also to those posting advice and thinks not to make mistakes with.

Please keep adding xxx
 
elsbells said:
15 years ago, a friend of mine had an old hunter that was getting worse and worse with arthritis every winter. She had owned and enjoyed him all of her life and hunted him every week during the season as we lived on the estate and close to the kennels. On that last year she decided that he would not go through another winter in discomfort and that the time was right for him to go. On a misty early morning, she tacked him up as she did to go hunting and rode him through the woods and onto the kennels, where the kennelman waited to call out the dogs. There in the beauty and familiarity of the parkland the dogs ran around his feet excited and ready to go. My friend slipped off his saddle for the last time, the hunting horn was blown, the old horse lifted his head, pricked his ears in anticipation of the hunt ahead and he was shot.
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I had managed to make it to this post untill crying but this has tears streaming down my face what a fitting end :(
 
I had my last horse pts by injection. It was very peaceful, I found her one morning with surgical colic. I had recently retired her at 8 yrs old with ringbone, DJD and she was beginning to struggle so we had decided to let her have the summer and see how she was coping before deciding to pts. Knowing that I would have to make a decision in the near future was horrendous and I really feel for all of you who have known the date and time your horse was to be pts. However finding her that morning made everything so different, you sort of go into auto pilot, have to cope and deal with it the best you can. Surgery wasnt an option, she was a bad traveller, was permanently lame and vet reckoned she wouldnt cope with the box rest if she came through the op as she was so far gone so she was pts.
We walked her to the field, the vet sedated her, sewn a canular?? into her vein and gave her the drug, she went down peacefully, The vet said she had to warn me that she could whinney, go forwards or backwards and to be aware of that.
I sat with her for a short while, wouldnt let the vet go as I was petrified she was still alive, then I just had to get away, sounds awful but I think the shock set in then. My friend covered her with rugs as the petcrem hadnt been booked as it was an emergancy and then waited for them to arrive. I didnt watch as she was put in the trailer but was broken hearted as it drove past us on the way out.
What annoyed me most was all the by standers, I realise they only wanted to be there for me but in the end the Vet told them to go away. One even went to watch her being put into the trailer after I said I wanted no one to watch that.
 
elsbells said:
15 years ago, a friend of mine had an old hunter that was getting worse and worse with arthritis every winter. She had owned and enjoyed him all of her life and hunted him every week during the season as we lived on the estate and close to the kennels. On that last year she decided that he would not go through another winter in discomfort and that the time was right for him to go. On a misty early morning, she tacked him up as she did to go hunting and rode him through the woods and onto the kennels, where the kennelman waited to call out the dogs. There in the beauty and familiarity of the parkland the dogs ran around his feet excited and ready to go. My friend slipped off his saddle for the last time, the hunting horn was blown, the old horse lifted his head, pricked his ears in anticipation of the hunt ahead and he was shot.
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I have read all of this post and yes, it has been upsetting but this really did bring the tears on. What a fitting end.
 
My daughter's pony was pts by the knackerman with a gun and it was very quick and sympathetically handled.

An old pony at the yard was pts by injection after suffering severe colic and went very peacefully. His owners found it very distressing that his body, although covered, was left in sight for a day or so while waiting to be collected.

As other people have said, when your beloved horse is about to be put down it is not easy to be practical and level headed but it is vey important to make sure that the horse is going to be easily accessible afterwards. Some years ago I found my mare dead in her stable (totally unexpected, went into early labour and had complications) and the only way we could get her body out was for my OH to drag her out with his tractor and then carry her body in the bucket to the waiting knackerman, not a sight I ever want to witness again.
 
Ist pony that i had pts was shot by the vet,i led him down the field and left,hunt came to collect.
dinky found in field,i knew it was time,vet came out was injected,i didnt stay but
did go in to stable after he was pts,to say final goodbye.
Poppy will be pts at the end of this summer,at the moment i am undecided with which way,but have talked with my vet so they are in the loop,has once i have decided it will be done on that day.
 
We know when we get our horses that eventually they WILL be pts because we don't sell on. We had one pony pts by injection because she had laminitis and had been treated by the vet, who did it as part of the treatment, when he felt that he could do no more. That pony really didn't like injections and did not co-operate. All the others have been pts by gun, either local knacker (now equine crem) or the hunt, either planned or in an emergency. The latest emergency, the attending vet arranged for the equine crem, who was there within an hour. She did ask us to go into the house (the horse was so far gone she wasn't aware) because she had recently had an incident where an owner threw herself onto the horse as it was being winched onto the wagon and didn't want a repeat of this. Our local knacker firm are great and actually bring a bucket of food for the horse, although we always provide our own. I have stayed until the winching and know that the gun is quick, the horse knows nothing about it, unlike the injection and is not worried at all because has no previous experience. All ours have gone down with feed in their mouths. The local hunt has also been very calm, efficient and quietly sympathetic. Whenever we need to do the deed in future, we will have the horse shot.
Incidentally, I find that looking after the others helps me to get over the very upsetting loss and choosing another horse also helps.
 
As I'm already in tears reading this I may as well post, 10 years on I still cry thinking about my lovely boy :(

I've only had one PTS, he was of indeterminate age but certainly mid to late 20s, a retired TB eventer. He suddenly just got old and vet suspected liver failure. We didn't investigate as he owed me nothing, and didn't like retirement anyway. The spark had gone from his eyes so I knew it was time. We chose to have him PTS at my Dad's house as I wanted him buried somewhere that would remain in our family. My Dad dug the hole the night before; my friends all came to say goodbye to him, one of them brought some of the mane of their mare (his girlfriend :)) which we plaited into his. I spent the night sobbing and thought my heart was going to break.

I took him and my other horse, his best friend, to Dad's. We took both of them in the field where he was to be buried, it had lush grass and both of them happily ripped at the grass while we waited for the vet. When he arrived, my mum spoke to him and he gave her the option of gun or injection. Being a mum, she chose injection, on the basis of what would be better than me, not the horse. I know that sounds harsh, but her view was that he was going to be gone either way, and I was the one who would have to live with it. She didn't want the noise of the bullet haunting me.

The vet was great, told me what would happen, that he would fall down quickly but not be dead immediately. He also explained about the escape of air so I knew to expect it. Mum held my other horse, while I held my boy. She had asked me if I was sure I wanted to be there; but as others have said he was my best friend, he'd given me everything, there was no way I'd leave him on his own when he needed me most. Can't remember if he was sedated first, but I don't think so. He's always been fine for the vet so no stress, he went down exactly as the vet said. The only bits that were a bit of a surprise was that as he started to go down the vet grabbed the leadrope from me and pulled his head forward - I now know that was to control the way he fell. Also the fact he kept checking for a heartbeat. Seems obvious now, but at the time I wondered if something was going wrong.

According to my mum I collapsed on the ground at the same time he did; and just lay stroking and kissing him. It probably looked heartwrenching, but actually it felt sort of ok. It was exactly as I wanted, peaceful, I got to say my goodbyes, he wasn't in pain and I had done right by him. Beforehand my concern had been that I wouldn't want to leave him, but actually I very quickly realised this was just his body, that he wasn't there any more. I hope that doesn't sound hard, it is meant as quite the opposite! So I got up, took my other horse from mum, lead him over to sniff the body (meant to help with their "grief"), then said one last goodbye and walked away.

Whilst I took my other horse home, my poor Dad buried my old boy. I left strict instructions about how his blanket was to be laid over him, and that Dad had to sprinkle a pack of wine gums about his head (sentimental fool that I am!). Dad was insistent I didn't see that and I was glad for that. When I turned my horse out later it was pretty upsetting to see him galloping about neighing for his friend, but he settled fairly quickly.

My one regret is that, as I left my yard in the morning, I said to the yard owner "I probably won't feel up to mucking him out straight away". What I meant by this was that it will be the last time I get to muck him out, and I want to be ready to do it (again, v sentimental). Sadly the yo misunderstood me , and by the time I came back he had fully cleared out his stable, and hung his rug outside to air. I took that very badly :(

Sorry this is so long, I feel disrespectful if I give the short, clinical version of the story. The one thing I would say to those who are at the planning stage is that I found the actual event not as bad as my anticipation of the event, if that makes sense. I cried far less the night after he went then I had before. 10 years on the memory still makes me cry, so it's not that it doesn't hurt; it's just that now it's a tangible event, not some horrid weight hovering above as a great big unknown misery.

My thoughts to those of you dealing with this. FWIW, I'd choose injection every time.
Still miss you E xx
 
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