Morbid Q - What do you do with The Body?

smanf said:
And reading yours made my breath catch for a second! :o Tbh, it was something that someone said to me at some point during my dispair after he had gone. It was probably the best comfort out of all that was given.
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I've not had to experience any of mine departing this earth yet, only friends ponies that I know (which has been bad enough) but one day, when their time comes I will remember those words. They're lovely and so true as the memories will always live on forever in my mind.
 
My old girl was taken away and used, I did not want ashes and a fuss, it was cheaper by a lot and I felt it would be a waste otherwise. I kept a lock of her tail. In the end I guess you have to do whats best for you.
 
Ok, you've all set me off now!! And I'm at work on a building site with a load of blokes around me!!

On the weekend after he went, I spent the day making a montage of all the best pictures that I could find of him that had been taken over the past twenty years. It helped while I was doing it, as it was a day dedicated to Lloyd, but once I had finished, the finality of it kind of hit home :(

I am glad now that I am through the worst of it, that I have all these things though, they are very important to me.

Now my new lanky ginger div accounts for most of my expended energy lol
 
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My horse was PTS by sedation...it was an emergency situation, he was in pain and suddenly old.:(

The vets recommended a disposal service- they came and collected him....OH dealt with them, they were really good apparantly.

I kept his tail....I still havent got round to doing anything with it....but its there in my special box.

Oberon.....I was there when he was PTS. I was devastated.....but these days I remember him in his prime and not how he was at the end....
 
Be aware that if you arent sure what you want to do when your horse goes, or god forbid there is some accident involving you riding them so you cant deal with it, it is worth registering with the national fallen stock scheme.

This means that altho you are free to choose any of the options discussed on here, if you cant make a decision eg if in hospital or dont want to deal with any of it, one phone call will get your local collector out pronto to deal with the horse and take away the body.

I find it a great comfort knowing this is set up, and having used them for sheep in the past, know I am happy with them doing it (Old hunter chap would prefer the hunt but there arent any up in Grampian!). I might decide to bury instead but I like the idea of having the choice. Also the cost is set up on a DD so you dont even have to be there if the animal has already been PTS, they can just turn up and do it all and leave the paperwork.

Personally I wouldnt cremate as I did with our cats and I really cant relate the box of ashes to the animal I loved. I would give the money to WHW instead, along with the rugs and tack. Or to the Brooke hospital.

i must be starting to think about it with 20yo chap as he snagged a bunch of tail hair out the other day in the field and I have put it aside and kept it........:-)
 
This is a really useful thread.

I have not yet had to deal with losing a horse, but have two of our dogs buried at home.

I always thought that I would want my old boy cremated, and use the ashes to make a piece of jewellery so that he was always with me. I thought I would find comfort in this.

Then I had an interesting conversation with a friend on the yard. Her view is that the body is just a vessel that you use to travel through life. So once the body is no longer useful, it doesnt matter what happens to it, as the soul has gone elsewhere. I hadnt really ever thought of it like that, but its good to see how many other people on this thread believe the same sort of thing.

It still hasnt helped me decide exactly what I will do, but it definitely made me question whether my original plan is worth it (emotionally and financially).
 
Not had to face this yet, but I think I'll be calling the local hunt and having his shoes and some of his tail - and that's it. I have my memories and will carry him in my heart always . . . for me, that's enough. I do see, though, how it might not be enough for others.

P
 
We had individual cremation for my sisters pony. It cost us £600 and his box is sat by her bed.....little pony who we lost last year we just took a cut of his hair and will put it in a frame with his picture when I find the right frame.
Xxx
 
My horse is going to the nearest university for the students to dissect. I had decided to have him cremated, but then changed my mind as it is so expensive.

I studied Equine Science, and dissected a horse and it was fascinating. I don't think you really understand how everything works until you see the ligaments and bones etc.
If my horse can help research and future vets, then it can only be a good thing.
 
I have spoken to the local pet crem.

The price of collection and group cremation with no ashes back is something I can afford to save and have ready just in case.

I will keep some of his hair in order to make a bracelet - as well at the memories, that is all the keepsake I need.

Obi is still doing just fine, btw :D

But I had a scare with him a couple of days ago and it got me thinking that I should have a plan in place and have the money sat aside.
 
My horses will always go to the local hunt. It's cheap, and then the body is going to do something useful when the horse has no need for it anymore.
 
It only cost me about £580 to have Pts, taken away and individually cremated. I was gunna have him group cremated but when I found out it was only like £60 more for individual I went with that, I wanted to keep my boy forever, alive or ashes. He was my first horse and he was the apple of my eye :') I needed him home for my own closure. No I can truly say to myself he will always be with me. He was quite skinny when he was Pts cuz of his illness and only 15.2 tb x cob but everyone at the vets couldn't believe how much of a heavy boy he was in his wooden box :)
 
The 3 I have lost have all been buried in my field and my loan horse was PTS back with his owner and buried on her land. One of mine was PTS by injection and it was a very peaceful affair where by she laid down and was gone. The other mare I found dead in the field, she was 35 years old and had been happy and healthy right to the end, the other was my miniature's still born foal last year. I know i could not have any of mine taken by the hunt and would have to find the funds to cremate if I couldn't bury them at home.
 
Mine are buried on the farm. I want it all over quickly. A neighbour digs the hole, the job is done, and it is covered over within minutes. I usually wait for a day when I can turn my mind off and not think about it too much.

I had one PTS by injection and, although I know it is quite humane, it is not for me. Some may be shocked to hear that I put down my own animals with what the Press call a "high powered rifle". I have shot and stalked all my life and take pride in doing the job cleanly. I've had to put down two ponies. Both were taken into a field of fresh grass to graze while I sat with the rifle. When they are quite relaxed and eating contentedly, a head shot drops them instantly and there is no movement. Then they are taken to the hole, already prepared, and it is over in minutes.

Then I try to forget and get on with the next job. Death is a normal part of life on a farm and there doesn't seem to be much point in dwelling on things. Having seen my parents fade away in an old people's home, I like to hope someone would do the same for me -- though I doubt it!:D Not too bothered what happens to my body though so long as I'm not there. I don't particularly like the local undertaker so will probably opt for the knackery!;)
 
Luckily for me - I'd have been a basketcase - my old dear just fell down and died very quickly and this is so true:-

PandorasJar said:
Once the eyes fade the animal I knew and loved isn't there
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Despite it being twenty years since I looked into those fading eyes - I'm still feel a certain tighting of the throat and stinging in me mincers writing this - but for me this fading of the light was so so poignant. After she'd crashed to the chippings she seemed gripped by some kind of fit, she clenched her teeth till lumps flew off them and was galloping lying down - ludicrous to do so but I crawled around to her head and lifted her nose, stroking her neck "you don't have to keep fighting like this - relax and drift away" and she did, her eyes - always big, opened entirely, bloomed blue ....... and as you say.... faded as she stopped moving. Though one of my most moving Horseyevents - as I am convinced she was happy to have me there.

Then - as the O.P asks - what to do with the body?
Pandora again: then I've always hated the idea of burial.
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Well, I'd always taken it for granted that the Y.O. would let me bury her on the farm - I mean flippin' heck, there must be somewhere on 69 acres for a big hole that gets filled back in! But what with Y.O.'s being a funny lot anyway and her being moderately physcho - apparantly it was my turn to be non-flavour of the month so she said no - the knackerman was the only other alternative. So there was I, waiting........ as I'd waited quite a few times on behalf of other liveries that couldn't face it..... my mare had been on the yard for fourteen/ fifteen years and was such a favourite with most folk they'd all shown various degrees of shock, horror, and gone home.... leaving me.... waiting with the wind making my mare's top door utter that little squeek from the hook in the wall. Flippin' good job I didn't have a gun any more!

Couple of hours later, there was me fastening chains around my best friends ankles and guiding her out of her box for the last time - "she wassa beg ol'gal weren't she" offered the knacker - but the thing is - as Pan said - this "thing" lying there wasn't my mare anymore, she'd long gone - if anything the body had seemed to have shrunk .....

Then, and a bit odd for some, but came out of a thread on here recently, I would like something done with their coat and would keep some tail.
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Yes, I did, I kept a long shank of her great tail and her forelock - there might be something in Jussaic Park DNA nonsense one day. Hahaha.
 
Guess everyone is different, but my views are -

Burial - couldn't bare the thought of having my beloved old girl put in a dark hole in the ground, plus would have got upset every time I went past that spot.

Cremation - group - did this first time and was ok about it, liked the idea of her going with others, they could all keep each other company, seemed nice idea. Regret not having the ashes back now though.

Last old boy had ashes back and glad I did, we'll be moving house in next year or two to forever home so I plan to have pet cemetery, and plant trees for them all. Sad maybe but then I'm a softie
 
JVB said:
...... plus would have got upset every time I went past that spot.
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Ah, funny thing you should say that! I would have been an alchy before long! I made some serious inroads on the stocks of good Claret as it was!

plant trees for them all.
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Yep - I put a Horse Chestnut in her favourite corner and it's now big enough to stand under.

Sad maybe but then I'm a softie
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I'm an admitted OLD softie - no shame in that!
 
1stclass. All of mine are still here but I was with a friends when it dropped and did the same. Smashed a few things up around the yard on his way down and OH wouldn't let me near as I was already broken at the time and horse was thrashing, OH stood with him so he wasn't alone.

The horse wasn't collected til the next morning so we covered him up. The next morning we helped hook him up and guide him up. Not once did I feel upset at this process as it was just a carcass, the horse who was loved by lots certainly wasn't there anymore.
 
PandorasJar said:
1stclass. All of mine are still here but I was with a friends when it dropped and did the same. Smashed a few things up around the yard on his way down and OH wouldn't let me near as I was already broken at the time and horse was thrashing, OH stood with him so he wasn't alone.
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Yes, unfortunately there's a lot of nerve endings in a big animal that don't want to give up all at once.

The horse wasn't collected til the next morning so we covered him up. The next morning we helped hook him up and guide him up.
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I would have stayed with mine because a friend's lovely mare was partly eaten when left - as you say - doesn't make much difference but doesn't seen quite reverential enough!

Not once did I feel upset at this process as it was just a carcass, the horse who was loved by lots certainly wasn't there anymore.
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Well, you soft girlies can be as hard as nails when the circumstances need it - I agree about the body being just that - but I'd been so affected by her going that I was kind of stunned - literally, as if I'd been electrocuted ( had a few good shocks so I know how they feel!) it took quite a few days for my hearing to return to normal. I couldn't stand all that again - I get so emotionally attached. Of course bear in mind that this occurred after three weeks of looking after her through a second bad dose of Equine Flu' - at her age I knew this was really bad news and it was. I'd not long remissed from my worst arthritic problems either which made everything more difficult.
 
1stclassalan said:
Yes, unfortunately there's a lot of nerve endings in a big animal that don't want to give up all at once.



I would have stayed with mine because a friend's lovely mare was partly eaten when left - as you say - doesn't make much difference but doesn't seen quite reverential enough!



Well, you soft girlies can be as hard as nails when the circumstances need it - I agree about the body being just that - but I'd been so affected by her going that I was kind of stunned - literally, as if I'd been electrocuted ( had a few good shocks so I know how they feel!) it took quite a few days for my hearing to return to normal. I couldn't stand all that again - I get so emotionally attached. Of course bear in mind that this occurred after three weeks of looking after her through a second bad dose of Equine Flu' - at her age I knew this was really bad news and it was. I'd not long remissed from my worst arthritic problems either which made everything more difficult.
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He was tarped and concrete slabs over tarp edges and outside our bedroom window (literally about 6ft away) so didn't think anything would happen. The cats would have screamed the place down had a fox/dog or anything wandered on site so little chance.

People talking about upsetting things on here has me in tears and was a state when a friends horse who I had no particular attachment to was very ill (diving headfirst into ground) in front of me.

But ones I truly care about (human and animal), I have no reaction at all, no tears, no upset, no guilt etc. Think it's my body/minds way of coping. When alive I'd flatten anyone hurting them but be very rational if ill as it would give them the best chance of me making the right decision, but dead it is very much a shell to me. I'd be in a much worse state if I thought the body was still them, so it's not - what made them, them, has gone.
 
PandorasJar said:
I want shot by someone I know. Then, and a bit odd for some, but came out of a thread on here recently, I would like something done with their coat and would keep some tail.

Once the eyes fade the animal I knew and loved isn't there for me so the individual cremation has never appealed to me. I'd want them cremated and not buried though, but then I've always hated the idea of burial.

And only if I had the money as it's not cheap... I'd have the legs freeze dried and various sections opened and gift them to OHs dad as he uses things like that frequently when possible as a farrier but are hard to come by and I think quite fascinating.

To me keeping them alive in memory and use is more important than the shell.
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I know it sounds grim, but I want MJ's palomino coat as a rug/wall hanging. The same with my dogs when they go. My decor is going to looks just gorgeous - isn't it :D

I carry a Humane Research donor card.
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/other/ALL/386/
 
Mine'll probably end up being rugs. Last one I did was a giant rabbit... Would send the horses away to a professional though!
The humane research card looks interesting.
 
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