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

Only had 1 and that was PTS via injection. He was sedated first and then injected. Fortunatly it was text book and he went peacefully, without struggling. He wanted the pain to stop. I did as he wished and took ALL the pain away. He was already suffering with arthritis and suspected navicular and other foot issues. It was colic that was the final illness.

This was xmas 2008 and I am now typing this in tears.
 
Last edited:
Haven't had to deal with making that decision as yet, but know it will come about one day.

However, where we used to keep our pony, the farmer's stallion that he'd bred and cherished for 26 yrs had been put down by injection a couple of days earlier (think again it was over a bank holiday period) and disposal hadn't been arranged.

The farmer decided that he'd have Sunny buried in the top corner of the field, the hole had just been dug and all the other liveries were absent, he asked me if I would walk alongside the jcb and hold Sunny's head (farmer had dealt with pigs being shot during foot/mouth but couldn't cope with seeing his horse being buried). This was my first experience of a dead horse but seeing how much it meant, I duly agreed, he was winched up ever so gently, I was holding his head so that it didn't bump off the floor and slowly we made our way over the field to his final resting place, the chap driving the jcb waited at the edge of the hole so i could get in and make sure he was put in with dignity (farmer was watching from the barn), gently he was lowered in, I made sure his rugs were straight, I said goodbye and clambered back out, didn't look back, but was able to watch him being covered over.

I doubt I will be this calm when it comes to Bud's turn, but felt I owed it to the farmer as he'd always been so good to us all.

Was a very surreal experience, there was blood dripping from the horse's nostrils and over the period of time, he was very bloated, now I am usually very squeamish but found that I coped absolutely fine.
 
I have only seen pts by injection.

The only time i have felt distressed was the last time, this summer, as i dont think it was handled as subtly as it has been in the past. The hunt turned up before the vet which made things feel so much worse tbh. The actual pts bit was fine. It was the overheard conversations and the huntsman approaching the horse at the last minute and trying to grab him, which frightened my boy and was totally uneccessary.

But you live and learn. Next time I will tell them to keep away.
 
We had our old boy put down 2 years ago, he was my loan horse and when he became ill aged 29 with liver failure I stayed with my friend trying to encourage him to eat and drink all night, we discussed if the worst happened how he would go, my friend didn't have a clue. He perked up for a couple of days then as i was taking my son to nursery she phoned to say he had taken a turn for the worse and needed to be put down straight away.I said i would get there as soon as possible.

I drove like a maniac to be there and see him before he was taken away, when i got there he was at the back of the barn, for a second i thought he was ok then my friend explained the vet had forgotten the gun! When the vet arrived she explained that we needed to lead him out, i held his lead rope with my friend then as we emerged out of the barn the vet said to get behind her, within a split second she raised the gun and shot him. My friend fell to the ground and the sound was ringing in my ears, Spud lay thrashing and groaned but the vet was flicking his eyes and saying he had gone.

I left my friend and sat with Spud, i removed some of his tail hair and covered him with some rugs and phoned for the cremation people to collect him, they had no warning and were there very quickly, they were lovely, I didn't watch them winch him on, we stayed but turned our backs. The lady phoned me later and asked if i wanted some of his tail and his shoes, she returned them to me polished (I have one in my car)

The worst part was cleaning up, there was no blood initially but as he was lay there for a while what i can only presume was brain tissue that had come down his nose was over the straw, i cleaned this up absolutely choked, I couldn't tell his owner what it was, i hid it in the muck heap.

I am sat in tears reading these stories and reliving that day but when my horse goes i will be there again holding the rope, it was quick and something i owe him to be there, but i can understand people who can't, it takes a long time to get over it. The night Spud was put down i physically ached, it was a horrendous pain like i had been run over by a train. I had never felt so ill.

RIP Spud and all the horses on here xxx
 
Sorry to hear about Spud. Vet sounds like a bit of a disaster.

It makes me want to vomit thinking about losing any of ours. So far I've not lost a single animal and I'm dreading it - but if you can be their holding the rope, you're doing the best for them.
 
This is looming for me as I promised my old boy he wouldn't go through another winter( Cushings and arthritis). He has had a happy retirement but I don't want him to suffer.
My previous experiences have been with my daughter's best loved pony. I arranged to have the vet shoot him, after many discussions with friends about the best way to go. I groomed him, fed him and led him to a bucket. He was calm and happy and I was coping - then the vet fired a blank, apologised (I had to resettle the pony who fortunately was very trusting), then he shot him.
I still have memories of realising it was a blank shot and I would have to mentally prepare myself all over again. It was pretty cruel ( for me)
Our youngster with grass sickness fought the injection even though he was very ill and sedated - never again.
I wish there was a hunt in this area but there isn't - so it will be the knacker man who I'm told is expert and kind, at home.
I can't beat the noise of the horse being removed, never mind the sight of it. Last time I sat under the kitchen table with my fingers in my ears.
 
Over the years I've seen dozens pts by all three methods. (injection, stun type gun and revolver used by the vet)
Firstly if you want to use a gun the hunt tend to be more used to it than the vet. With the best will in the world the hunt are more likely to be shooting horses than the vet.
I have watched both shooting methods, the gun at the abbatoir and the vet, and both mean blood and the horse dropping like a stone provided it's done right. I have also seen it done badly and that's horrible.
We use the same method every time here, the horse is sedated via a vein, once it's sleepy it has an overdose of anaesthetic into the same vein , falls to the floor but mostly more slowly than with a gun, then a final injection to stop the heart is given.
They know absolutely nothing about it, it's kinder for you to see, and if I were to be pts I know damn well it's the method I'd choose..
There was some talk in an article that horses retain brain awareness for several minutes afterwards with the shooting methods, so I wouldn't take the risk. Let's face it if you have a general-a you don't have a clue what's going on so why should your horse?
This is based on my experiences which I promise is genuine (retirement home so lots of oldies who have to be pts at some point)
 
I've held and witnessed many horses whilst they have been PTS (having worked full time with them for most of my life), always by injection, have yet to see one shot.
TBH, every one I have witnessed has been quick, quiet and painless.
 
I had my horse PTS a few months ago by injection.

Obviously a traumatic time as it was so sudden/unexpected.

He went very peacefully- he was gone before he hit the floor- he just sunk down as though he was getting down to roll. The vet was brilliant. I was able to sit with his head on my knee until the disposal man came to take him away.....he just looked as though he was asleep.
 
I had my old boy PTS five years ago; he'd struggled with cushings & lammi and had repeated absesses to the coronary band. His poor old feet were so sore he was lying down a lot of the time and had stopped eating, very unusual for him as he so loved his grub. The vet decided PTS was the only way to go.

On his last morning, I put him out in the paddock to eat some grass; something he'd not been allowed to do for many many long months where he'd had to be stabled. The look on his face said it all really, it was like, wow there's all this lovely green stuff and I'm allowed to eat it! Bless him, he managed to eat for about twenty minutes, then his feet were obviously getting too sore so he lay down and was eating the grass around him which he could reach, which was where he was when the vet arrived to do the deed.

We had to get him up, which was difficult, as the vet explained that we had to put him somewhere where he'd be easy for the removal people to get out, and not in view of a road. It was awful walking around and deciding where he should die, basically, that was very hard to deal with.

So we led him into the place we'd decided on, which was just inside the gateway of a huge field with lots of grass around. The vet gave him the first (sedating) injection, and explained that this would basically take away all his pain and distress, but that this injection wasn't the fatal one; but the next one he gave would be basically the point of no return and would be the one that killed him.

It was such a relief to know that at this stage my poor boy would no longer be in pain; for him it would be gone forever from this point in.

After this (second) injection had been given, the vet took hold of the headcollar rope and very gently helped him fall onto the grass. He then kept monitoring and checking whether the heart was still beating on my big brave beautiful boy, and then about 20 minutes later told me that's it, he's gone.

I have to say my vet was superb throughout; he was as upset as anyone could be and kept blowing his nose. He arranged everything, including someone to come and pick him up afterwards; and they were very thoughtful too - after asking whether I wanted shoes/mane/tail etc they said that they strongly advised owners not to be around for the winching into the lorry, so I went away and that was the last I ever saw of my lovely horse. Bless him, I'd do it again for him if I had to, and when the time comes around, as surely it will one day, for the one I've got, I'll have to do the same for him.

My first pony broke a bone in his hock and the vet I had then (25 years ago) said to get the hunt out, so that's what we did. The livery yard where he was at were hunting people so they arranged it all; I wasn't there to see it, but would consider using the hunt to shoot if it was necessary.
 
2 horses PTS. Both by gun.

First one had snapped her upper foreleg completely. Vet came out, sedated her as she wouldn't stand still for a clean shot, and it was very quick. She dropped like a stone, and had just a tiny hole in her forehead, with a very small trickle of blood.

Second one was pre planned. Dug the grave, stood her by it, and vet shot her.
Thankfully she fell straight into her grave, which was lucky, as I have never seen so much blood in my life.
It was pumping out her so badly, that by the time the vet had jumped into the grave to rod her, he was practically ankle deep in blood. Horrific.

That said, I would still have the gun.
I have seen too many small animals fight against lethal injection. Shame there isn't an option to have them shot...
 
Only had one - he was PTS by injection at Newmarket Horsepital. I wasn't there for it as I was 16 and went by the vet's advice. Don't regret that. He had been there a month so, and the staff were all without exception BRILLIANT with him so he went in exceptionally good hands. We said our goodbyes and left, then an hour or two later when the final test results had come through (just for double conformation of what the vet had observed) he was PTS.

Since he had been through 3 ops in the month he was there, apparently he just lay down peacefully thinking it was another op. As it was at the vets they had the perfect equipment for winching him out and contacts for disposal etc - he was cremated along with the other horses who had been collected by that particular firm in that time slot. It helped so much that they vets just dealt with all of that, and all we had to do was say goodbye and go home to deal with it.

Whilst the injection was absolutely right for him at that time,in general my preferance before and since would be for a gun.

I would urge all horse owners reading this to make the contacts, the provisional decisions, and ask the questions and keep the names and numbers in a list somewhere you'll remember where it is, for when the time comes.
 
It's so heartbreaking to hear all these stories, even though it is a fact of life.

Benjamin was put to sleep on 1st October.
It was a wet and blustery morning.
Vet was due at 10.00, so I got to farm to give him a groom, and lovely big breakfast and a handful of ACP. He had a munch on the lovely lush grass while we waited for the vet.

As I saw her driving down the field towards us, I couldn't keep my emotions contained. I put his bridle on and led him to his favourite tree. We stood there to shelter from the wind.
The vet gave him some more sedation. He had always fought vets in the past, but that morning all he did was flick an ear of distaste and just started to nod.

Vet prepared the cannula, stitched it in place and we were ready. One small syringe in, vet told me that he wouldn't know what was going on now. She had prepared 3 syringes of the lethal injection, but it only took one. It was about 20 seconds before it took effect, he took a big sigh, his knees buckled, and he lay down. His heart stopped within a minute.
I stayed with him for a while, aware that Resting Pets were waiting for him.

One thing that upset me more than anything is that his eyes stayed open and all I wanted in the world at that point was for him to get up.

He went with grace, and dignity, and thankfully, without any drama.

My life feels very empty at the moment. I don't plan on getting another any time soon.
 
Pharaoh was put down on the 4th and even though it wasnt a nice thing to happen it was a pleasant experience.
Pharaoh had a flare up of uveitis over the weekend and that was probably the most stressing thing due to our vet practice at the time! On monday he was loaded up and taken to Arundel hospital. When we arrived Pharaoh was unloaded and taken by me into the examination room. He was sedated, had bloods take, eye looked at and an ultrasound done. Unfortunately there were abnormalities in his scar tissue and really there was no hope for him :( we could have tried cortisone but it would have been very expensive and to be honest just prolonging his suffering which was not fair at all. My mum was always the positive one and hoping that he would get better but I had done alot of research and it was obvious what the end result was going to be. As he was already sedated the nurses came and stitched in a cannula and he didnt flinch a bit bless him. I lead him out to a grassy patch behind all the stable block and let him have some grass, vet asked if I was ready and I nodded then he asked me to lift his head. Once his head was up Pharaoh struck out in temper like he usually does when he was made to leave the yummy grass and by then he had been injected, so as his foot went down he went to his knees and then fell to the side. It happened so quickly that the vet had to pull me and take the lunge line so I didnt fall over aswell! There was no twitching or deep breath, he just lay there silently. The nurse came and cut some hair for me and that was it really. He had to go for a post mortem as the reaction he had after the rig op was so rare as it caused or triggered an auto immune dissorder and it turns out that 3 years down the line he hadnt completely healed from the operation and there were still some undissolved stitches in him! No one knows why as everything was done correctly. Just Pharaoh was (as usual) and odd case!
The staff there could not have been better and I think it was down to them that the experience was as good as it could be in the circumstances. I was definitely worried that the process would be strung out as I know some people like them sedated enough to make them go down and then the horse be injected whilst the head is on the owners knees which I would never have coped with. Some people have definitely been shocked that I was there as I am 16 but I could never have left him with another person as he hated that and really would have messed about lol. This Xmas is going to be a strange one though :(
 
have had 2 done by huntsman at kennels. very professional. he took the horse on his own (did not want me holding it) but i watched. he fussed the horse, especially around the forehead, until it was totally accepting of the bolt gun being put there. with one horse this took 20 seconds, with another it took quite a few minutes, which he spent very patiently and kindly. then a loud report, and the horses buckled and were instantly gone. some kicking, and flanks keep moving for a while, which is upsetting.
PLEASE can I add this.
If you take your horse to be pts, watch it done.
I know someone whose ex- used to be in hunt service. He would stable the horse, reassure the owners that he'd do it when they'd gone, and then sometimes take the horse to the sales to make some money.
Don't trust ANYONE that your horse is truly gone unless you watch it done.
My huntsman is always surprised that I stay and watch (esp as it really upsets me) but I have to see it done to know that I don't need to worry any more.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Of all the heartbreaking stories here that I've been reading, this one has me in tears - what an amazing way to go, your friend is quite someone. x
 
kerilli said:
PLEASE can I add this.
If you take your horse to be pts, watch it done.
I know someone whose ex- used to be in hunt service. He would stable the horse, reassure the owners that he'd do it when they'd gone, and then sometimes take the horse to the sales to make some money.
Don't trust ANYONE that your horse is truly gone unless you watch it done.
My huntsman is always surprised that I stay and watch (esp as it really upsets me) but I have to see it done to know that I don't need to worry any more.
Click to expand...

Yes, I too know of this happening.
 
We had Ellie pts this summer and opted for the knacker man who then took her to the hunt.

He was fab, he and I walked Ellie to the corner of the field where the deed was to be done and he asked if he could take her while I came round the other side. Next thing I knew there was a crack and Ellie was down, mid stride, ears pricked, never knew a thing about it.

She did twitch a bit after, but she had definately gone, although OH needed some reasurance. We left her where she fell for half an hour while the boys had a sniff. I cried when Blue gave her a kick as if to tell her to get up, but they both accepted she had gone very quickly.

I couldn't watch her being winched up onto the trailer, that would have broken my heart, but OH helped the knacker man as he wanted to make sure he treated her well and didn't hurt her!

I was dreading having Ellie pts, but it was as painless for all concerned as it possibly could be, and I am glad I was there to see how instant it was.
 
Over the years we've had too many go to really want to think about it too much.

The ones that stick with me are:

I was 11 and my dad's best team chaser came in from the field with a shattered fetlock. My parents were away until late that night. I rang them, and they called the hunt. The hunt came, I held the horse and he was shot. He jumped really high in the air and kicked out backwards with both feet. It was horrific for me, but he was without a doubt dead before he hit the ground. I had to clear up the mess and I used a hose, really silly as it made a red river all the way down the concrete yard. I never wanted to do that again.

Another old boy had gone down in this stable and there was no way he was getting up (it was the end of a long line of false alarms with the same problem). The hunt came again and did it where he lay. Due to the layout of the yard, I had to dismantle the railings behind the stables, which overlooked a field, and then had to arrange a jcb to come and drag him out with ropes. I stood and watched as they joisted him up by his 4 feet and took him to the hunt lorry which was a way down the lane. There was a trail of blood and stuff all the way and I had to clean it up before I could turn out the others. The huntsman (bless him) bagged up all the soiled bedding from the stable and took it away with him, and then he nailed the railings back up. The lesson to be learned here is if you ever have a choice, get the location right before you do the deed.

And possibly the worse was my daughter's lead rein pony who had to be prebooked in (the others had been emergencies) and I found the waiting too much to bear. However, as many may agree, when the time comes it can be less harrowing than the waiting. She was pts by injection in the sand school and it was very quick and very peaceful. I do however always ask the vet to check 3x that the heart has stopped. I would choose this option again if able to.

I had always been a fan of the bullet (if you can say that) but I've gone soft in my old age. Each to his own, its never going to be a nice thing, so you have to do what you can cope with. My heart goes out to all those who have been through this, but it is a sad fact that nearly all of us here on the forum who have horses will at some point have to deal with this.

One note though - my vet told me when I mentioned that i liked the sedation before the injection, that sometimes it isn't a good thing as you want the lethal drug to circulate and work quickly and if a horse is sedated that can in turn slow down the circulation of the lethal drug. Also, there are several different drugs out there - my vet uses a combination of two and it has always been a swift and peaceful end.
 
I was there when my friends horse was pts in the field. We'd found him with a broken fore-leg, looked like it had smashed half way down the cannon bone, and was dangling, and bleeding, it was pretty awful. We called the vet, and waited.... if I'd had a gun I would have done it myself, it was late on a Sunday evening, and the waiting was just unbearable, she was holding him, I was holding his field mates as we couldn't move him, and didn't want to panic him by moving them.
The vet arrived, assessed, said there was nothing she could do (we knew), so gave him the injection. She had us undo his rug, but we left it on until the last second before pulling it off, and giving the drugs. He seemed to react, and reared up and sort of gasped a breath like he was panicing, but was dead before he hit the ground. The vet had us bring the other two over to sniff the body, so they knew he'd gone, apparently something they recommend these days (?)
It certainly wasn't the peaceful 'slipping away' I'd imagined, but would probably still choose this method if I ever have to make that decision for my boy.
 
Last time i read this thread i still had my wee man and now i think my previous post was very nieve!!! Its been nearly 4 weeks and i miss him ALOT but i havent become a hermet like i expected lol and well now i understand why my friend and others get a new horse so soon after.
I was just watching Speedy, speeding around the field as i usually did and he just came round the corner hopping and stopped on the top of the hill looking at me. I thought he'd caught his leg in his rug or lost a shoe or something but when i got up he had a severe wound to the side of his pastern and was bleeding alot and non weight bearing. He stood as quiet as an angel while we bandaged him up with everyone else still galloped around. It then took half an hour to walk him out of the field, which he was such a gem with and really got the hang of the whole limping thing, he got the hang of it so much he was going to fast near the end i had to stop him to get his breath back. Got him to the stable and the vet came and said it was a complete fracture of the P2 (short pastern) so had to be pts asap. He was given an injection for the pain then taken out were he could see his friends in the field and pts with lethal injection. I said goodbye before the vet came and didnt want to see him go. But the vet came back after 10 mins and said he had gone quickly so i went to see him and he had gone :( He was my first horse and i was hoping id have him till the end but never dreamed it would be so soon. I can still remember the feel of his silky coat ... which needed clipped lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top