Permanently stabled horse

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Smogul

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Would you keep a horse that may have to be kept permanently stabled? Horse has incurable condition which has recently worsened, to the point of hair falling out and leaving bald patches. Skin has to be kept dry or it becomes painfully infected. iI is not known if the hair will grow back. After three lousy summers, it is unlikely that any of the fields will be dry enough for him to be turned out safely if the bald patches remain. All three schools are water-logged and did not dry out completely last summer. Horse is currently grazed in hand from the road for about an hour a day which he enjoys. He cannot be ridden at the minute because of bald patches on tack area. Apart from this, he is happy and relatively healthy although his condition is terminal.
Opinions in the yard differ as to whether he should be put down now as his quality of life can only get worse or whether owners should persevere in the hope that the hair may grow back and he recovers from this flare up sufficiently to be ridden and turned out. What would you do if it was your horse?
 
Smogul said:
Would you keep a horse that may have to be kept permanently stabled? Horse has incurable condition which has recently worsened, to the point of hair falling out and leaving bald patches. Skin has to be kept dry or it becomes painfully infected. iI is not known if the hair will grow back. After three lousy summers, it is unlikely that any of the fields will be dry enough for him to be turned out safely if the bald patches remain. All three schools are water-logged and did not dry out completely last summer. Horse is currently grazed in hand from the road for about an hour a day which he enjoys. He cannot be ridden at the minute because of bald patches on tack area. Apart from this, he is happy and relatively healthy although his condition is terminal.
Opinions in the yard differ as to whether he should be put down now as his quality of life can only get worse or whether owners should persevere in the hope that the hair may grow back and he recovers from this flare up sufficiently to be ridden and turned out. What would you do if it was your horse?
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What a horrible situation. I really feel for the owners. If it were me, I'd set a time limit of say 3 months and if there was no positive change, and the horse was to be confined to his stable 24/7 all year round, then I'd PTS. It's an agonising thing to have to put a horse to sleep that appears relatively healthy. Much easier if it is in pain. I do hope things start to look up for this horse, but being confined to a stable and not ever having the freedom to graze without being held, is no life for a horse IMO.
 
Sounds like an utterly heartbreaking situation. Poor horse and poor owners. :(

I don't know what I'd do if he was mine. It would depend on a lot of factors which only the owner and those close to the horse would know. I have nothing but sympathy for anyone having to make such a hard decision, and trying to do the best for their horse.
 
Agree. The only thing would be if there was a change of living arrangements and he could live in a barn or a large corral type arrangement. But if his condition is terminal .........
 
Easy to say, hard to do but I think I'd pts after giving a reasonable time period for improvement :(

It is no life for a horse, just because some will tolerate it doesn't mean it is ok to do it to them IMO, they put up with an incredible amount from us as it is.
 
Would a Boett with a breathable rainsheet over the top or one of the Rambo fly rugs which have a waterproof liner help possibly? As you already said it comes down to quality of life and only those of you with him in front of you will really know the answer to that.
 
In this situation I would try really hard to find a solution where the horse wouldn't be pts. Any chance of the emigrating to a hot country? I'm only half joking on that one!
 
ISHmad said:
Would a Boett with a breathable rainsheet over the top or one of the Rambo fly rugs which have a waterproof liner help possibly?
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No. Protecting the body is no problem but there are large bald patches on his legs which is what stops him being turned out.
 
If he were my horse I would hope someone would help me to make the right decision, I wouldn’t want to loose my horse, but I know that he would hate to be kept in, he’d go insane. A couple of weeks maybe but months, maybe forever would be too much for him to cope with. It’s terrible to write it like that but I know my horse and I know he wouldn’t be the same after an enforce period of box rest.
 
Such a difficult decision, poor horse and owners.

First off I would be looking at different livery yards locally to see if any had facilities that would suit the horse better - such as an indoor school that the horse could be turned out in for a run around daily or a dry coral area (ideally with a tame friend so he could have some horsey interaction?).

It would also depend v much on the personality of the horse. I know with my mare that I would have to pts if she developed a condition that meant she couldn't be turned out. Even if she needs to stay in for one day if it is very icey she gets bothered and stressed and just box walks. Our other mare seems to enjoy being in more, so for her having more time in and supervised turnout would be more of an acceptable option.

I have to admit though, even with a horse that doesn't mind (read - doesn't show stressful outward signs of not enjoying it) being in, I'm not convinced it would be a decision I would be happy with for the horses lifetime. Where you draw the line though would be very difficult and I feel for anyone facing that situation. Maybe it would help to remember that for a horse there is no concept of tomorrow or time and oportunities lost. That is something that only we need to deal with and the horse is fortunatly without.
 
There's an american site run by a doctor called for love of the horse, he specializes in immune issues (pemphigus etc). He reads blood results and makes up herbs,ships to uk too.
It may be an idea to have a look on the site and see if anything can be done to help.
Xx
 
ThePony said:
First off I would be looking at different livery yards locally to see if any had facilities that would suit the horse better - such as an indoor school that the horse could be turned out in for a run around daily or a dry coral area (ideally with a tame friend so he could have some horsey interaction?).
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Scotland doesn't do dry! Indoor schools don't exist in our area apart from a couple of riding schools.
 
personally i wouldnt put a horse through prolonged box rest if there was no hope of a better life at the end of it.if theres no where dry to turn out the horse and its a terminal condition id pts sooner rather than later -i dont see the point in prolonging a horse with no hope and no prospects of a better quality of life (and i have had a horse put to sleep who was terminal and i did it before he was terribly ill so i do understand)(((((big hugs)))))
 
If his condition is terminal then I'd pts. Better to go when relatively pain free and happy than before things worsen in my opinion.
 
I'd get a snuggy hoods sweet itch hood and rug and get them to add leg covers down to jut below the knee/hock and then use turnout wrap on his lower legs if necessary. From the sounds of it, the horse could have an improved quality of life if effort was made, but he will never have 'normal' management. Also, maybe trying a new livery yard incase there is something there that is agravating the condition such as an allergy or stress.
 
Its a horrible situation but unless the owner is very rigorous with the cleaning of the stable the fumes will infect his skin. Will they ever be able to trust someone with his care if they went on holiday?

If it was my horse in this country i honestly couldnt live with myself letting him be in a stable for the rest of his life he would go absolutely mental. As said before, if they were able to secure a large barn or coral as a permanent home this might be half way acceptable as it would be big enough to let him run around a bit, but it would still be horribly depressing not being able to be out unless its dry.
 
This sounds very similar to something our pony had from being a foal, he was rugged 24/7 all year round, a vet who saw him for something else thought he had sweet itch but I never really thought it was because of how it presented al year round and worse in wet weather, earlier skin scrapings had given no answers. A couple of winters ago we had moved to a yard that, due to the set up and the number of horses we have, meant they all had to live out, we couldn't feed in the field so only provided large bale hay and haylage with them. As a result of this they all lost a little more weight than we would normally allow - this pony has never worn a rug since and has had no re-occurrence of the condition. May be something completely different but thought it might be worth a mention, it is as though the excessive weight loss has corrected something (he wasn't emaciated though, just very lean).
 
There is a horse at our yard who is permantly stabled. He has really bad allergies so can't be turned out. The owner loose schools him every morning without fail and takes him out for a walk as well. He is retired anyway but he seems to thrive on this routine . He is also in the courtyard area which means he always has a lot to watch going on. She bred him and he is much loved. Have to say that if someone told me this I would be sceptical but it seems to work for him. Oddly enough she also has an ex retired racing pony she bred. She took the pony back after it was being very poorly treated on loan. It does not like being turned out!! They can get it in the school and then it starts to create wanting to come in! Still she is still ridden but I think my YO lives in hope the mare will go out. They do keep trying!
 
it's a horrible situation for everyone if the horse was stressing in the stable I would PTS at once if he's calm and coping I would research every alternative avenue for treatment herbs ,uv lights in the stable everything then if I could not find anything that gives improvement I would PTS .
Poor horse and poor owners and I hope they have people around that support them though this difficult decision rather than lots of yard silliness.
 
Has the root cause of the problem been identified?

If stabling the horse improves the skin condition and his skin improves sufficiently, and he copes with being in and well exercised on a daily basis, either loose-schooled or ridden, then I don't see any problem with him being in at all. Many competition horses are kept like this and manage well. And before I get shot down, I know that lots of horses on competition yards have rotten lives, but many cope fine.

It has to suit the horse. If he turns into a psycho or loses weight or goes off his food, then he's probably not coping so well.

If it didn't suit him, or there was no way of keeping him sufficiently exercised, or he couldn't be ridden, for whatever reason, then I would have to consider whether it was worth keeping him going.
 
If the horse had a courtyard where he could see everyone and there was a lot to look at and he was happy then yes I'd keep him going until he told me otherwise.

If he is literally going from a 12' x 12' to an in hand walk and back again with no chance of improvement then I think I'd PTS unless I felt he was happy ( but in my mind thats no life for a horse ).
 
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