Please please don't do this to your horse ...

Rowreach

Rowreach

Adjusting my sails
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A few months ago someone booked their horse and pony in for livery with me this week while they went on holiday. About a month ago, she told me that the pony, which had Cushings and laminitis, had got worse and she thought the time had come to have him PTS.

However, she keeps the horses at her mum's, and her mum likes going out and patting them and giving them carrots, and was appalled when she said she was going to do it. At my suggestion, she got an equine vet out to see him (rather than the local pet-vet she normally uses), but unfortunately she didn't prime him properly, and he told her that they could keep the pony going a bit longer on Danilon. Cue happy mum who still had a pony to pat
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On Tuesday night the horses arrived here. I have never seen the pony before, and to say I and OH (who is a farrier) were appalled would be an understatement. The pony could hardly move, and she admitted she had to shout at it to get it on the trailer. I got her to write me an authority to have the pony euthanased if it's condition deteriorated further - I was hoping she would agree to having it done immediately - but an hour or so later I rang her and told her straight that it needed to be PTS.

We than had the mum here in floods of tears, telling us that she "wouldn't want to see him suffering" (at which point I had to withhold OH from telling her exactly what he thought) and the owner saying it was probably a good thing that the decision had been taken out of her hands.
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So I have had a great time nursing the poor little beggar, waiting for the vet, whose car broke down delaying things even further, having to extricate the pony's body from the stable because I refused to make him walk a step further, and getting the knackerman out to collect him, while the owner suns herself on some Spanish beach.

I have been in this business a long time, and seen a lot of horses PTS, but this one has upset me (and even OH shed a tear over him) because the SUFFERING WAS UNNECESSARY and was entirely due to human beings thinking more about their own sensibilities than the quality of life of the animal in their care. And I include the vet in that as well.

So when the time comes, I beg you, please, please do the right thing by your horses - they deserve it from us.
 
That sounds absolutely awful, I am so glad you were able to get the poor pony put out of its misery
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I must say I DETEST people who keep animals (whether horses dogs cats etc) alive because 'they cannot bear to be without them' when the animal is obviously suffering
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As you rightly say, we owe it to the animal to ensure that they do not suffer
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thats awful, thank god it came to you for a holiday else it could of suffered for a hell of a lot longer.
 
That is awful, poor pony
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'I must say I DETEST people who keep animals (whether horses dogs cats etc) alive because 'they cannot bear to be without them' when the animal is obviously suffering '

Ditto this, but what a shame the same doesn't apply to humans in similar cases
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What am I missing as I read this that she wanted to have pony put to sleep a while ago and you changed her mind and are now complaining that she didn't have the pony put down and it is suffering? Am I reading it wrong?
 
at least the poor pony is now at rest, we all understand that it's a really horrible decision to have to make, but as owners we have to realise we take on that burden the minute we become the owner of any animal. i've always said i would rather be guilty of letting an animal go a week too soon rather than a week too late.
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What am I missing as I read this that she wanted to have pony put to sleep a while ago and you changed her mind and are now complaining that she didn't have the pony put down and it is suffering? Am I reading it wrong?

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Yes, entirely wrong, sorry if I wasn't clear - her mother didn't want it PTS, and the vet (who I recommended
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) sadly suggested keeping the pony going on drugs "for a bit longer".

I had never actually set eyes on the pony before Tuesday. If I had, I would probably have stuck my oar in sooner.
 
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thank god it came to you for a holiday else it could of suffered for a hell of a lot longer.


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Absolutely, poor pony, lucky fate led him to you.
 
well to be honest i know its unfair on the pony but without seeing it... the origional vet recomended keeping it going a bit more, you cant blame them for following his advice. And a lot of horses with cushings do well on drugs for a while longer. What do you mean by 'not primed it properly'?
I agree its unfair to keep them when theyre suffering but like i say, it was the vet that recomended it and he's the one who's supposed to be in the know about things like this.
 
i think you make a fair point somethingorother, it's not always as clear cut as all that when you're up to your neck in it

although i'd never go off on holiday and leave a horse as sick as that for someone else to look after
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although i'd never go off on holiday and leave a horse as sick as that for someone else to look after
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well yes i cant agree more with that, i'd be worried sick and spending every second possible with it, and i'd want to make sure i was there at the end.
Strange people, obviously got their priorities very wrong.
 
ROWREACH you are a true animal lover and put the poor animals quality of life 1st, exactly how it should be. My 1st pony had a hard life through laminitis and i had him 11 years it ripped my heart out to have him PTS but there is no way after all the years i had the privelege to own him i was going to allow him to suffer, animals only know quality of life and with out that they may aswell not be on this planet.

You done the right thing, it's a pity the bloody owner didn't have as much heart as you & your OH
 
That is sick, that poor poor pony.

I had to make a difficult decision the day before my birthday because my cat's kidney failure had suddenly deteriorated to the point where she was suffering and I did not want her suffering because it was my birthday, so I made the hugely sad decision to have her pts. It was her time and although I miss her and feel so sad, I am glad I did not prolong her suffering just for my benefit.

Its awful and nobody likes making the decision to pts, but the animal has to come first, no matter what.

I know it wasnt a nice situation for you or your OH to be in, but thank goodness you were there for the pony and did him a kindness.

Some people do not deserve having animals.
 
Poor pony.. We have to think whats best for our horses rather than ourselves.. I had to make that decision last year which was really hard but i knew it was the right thing to do ..couldn't watch him suffer
 
Lots of people just can't face putting an animal down. They want it to die peacefully in its sleep or have someone else tell them, preferably a vet, so it isn't their final decision.

Some vets are a bit naughty about keep supplying medicines, when the eventual outcome is going to be death, they seem to want to extract the very last penny from the owner. Still, I suppose if the owner insists that they want to keep it going, then the vet is doing his best to stop suffering.
 
poor little thing, how can people bear to see their animals in such pain and do nothing about it. The danilon obviously wasn't doing much to help.
I am sorry you had to be the one to have to do this. it is a traumatic thing to do. At least the poor pony is out of pain now. I hope his lovely owners have a nice holiday!! Don't get how they could do that!
 
I would blame the equine vet, it doesn't matter if he wasn't primed properly a professional should be able to make his own decision about a horses condition. You can't blame the owner, the vet told her it would be alright on Danilon.

She also arranged for the horse to go on livery whilst she wason holiday - a lot of people would have left the horse at their mum's
 
poor wee thing, he'll be happier now in horsey heaven, but i hav to agree with dieseldog she did do as the vet said. its a wee shame for the wee thing tho

RIP little pony xxxx
 
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