PTS a healthy horse

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sprytzer

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How do people feel about pts a healthy horse, unridden for 7/8yrs, been advised at his age, 15 yrs, being bought back into work after so long isn’t advisable due to back muscle changes after so long off.
Been looking to loan him out but not having luck, I can’t ride due to my health so I’m seriously having to consider his future due to finances and his best interests.
I love this horse to bits and only want what’s best for him but I feel so guilty even considering this, I can’t afford retirement livery and no one wants a companion so it seems nowadays.
I know the saying better a day to early than a day to late, but a perfectly healthy horse I’m having a problem with.
 
Have you spoken to a rescue? Our local one takes in horses like yours and re-homes them properly, we have one from them who is just a companion. I am afraid putting a healthy horse down goes against everything i believe in.
 
Red-1 said:
But he isn't perfectly healthy, if vet has advised he is unsuitable to be brought back into work?

If he just needs a rehab plan to adjust to ridden work then that is different, but if vet advises no longer suitable for work, I would PTS rather than sell as a companion.
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I saw the question mark after your first line and I disagree. A horse can be perfectly healthy enough to live in a field/as a pet etc. Horses don't have to be ridden, it is not a requirement in their view of their lives. Being unrideable for some reason doesn't make it unhealthy. Riding is a human requirement not one needed for horse health.

I don't know what OP should do but personally I couldn't put down a horse who could canter around a field, roll, get up, eat well, maintain weight etc etc and I don't even if it means me not being able to ride.
 
I've never heard of a horse being unsuitable for ridden work because of changes in back muscle from having not been ridden.

If there is nothing actually wrong with this horse, then I would get it going under saddle again and sell on.

If you want to PTS, then that is entirely your decision. It's your horse. Putting to sleep means the buck stops with you. There is no risk of landing in the wrong hands or future suffering. There doesn't need to be a reason to choose that option.
 
paddy555 said:
I don't know what OP should do but personally I couldn't put down a horse who could canter around a field, roll, get up, eat well, maintain weight etc etc and I don't even if it means me not being able to ride.
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Neither could I, but I have enough space at home to just absorb another field ornament which isn't an option for everyone.

However, OP said finances are a concern and if the horse cannot be ridden, it isn't possible to guarantee his future once sold on (even as a companion) and therefore I don't see PTS as the worst option.

If you do PTS you need to be at peace with it but as long as you are, ignore any outside opinions and its no one else's business but your own.
 
If you can't guarantee him a place to come back to if the loan goes wrong, or the loaners circumstances change, plus the fact that you're sadly dealing with financial issues at the moment, I would say that there is nothing wrong with PTS.

You'd have closure as you'd know exactly what happened to him, rather than him going out on loan, someone drugging him up, flogging him on as a ridden horse and it ending up all going horribly wrong x
 
Unless something has physically happened to this horse I don’t personally think extended time off would be a major issue. If he was 19/20+ and had 7-8 years off, maybe, but I don’t see why a 15yo with no previous issues couldn’t be slowly brought back. Did they tell you anything other than back muscles? Is he showing significant lordosis or really poor posture for some reason?
 
Did you approach the rehab centre about having him, but they turned him down due to his age and ridden history?

It may be that that's just their policy about taking horses on and it isn't about him specifically?

ETA: I would also prefer to quietly PTS at home instead of taking the chance of passing on a horse to an unknown fate, regardless of age. It's different if they can 'do a job' for someone who will then hopefully look after them into old age, but when they can't it's a bit different and as others have said it risks unscrupulous people starting them on a downward spiral. Selling or giving away any horse is a risk for them, but each horse has a greater or lesser risk of staying safe and content, and in part it comes down to weighing up the level of risk. Sometimes you can be lucky and find someone who just wants a horse to love, or who feels emotionally attached to that particular horse and is willing to give them a home regardless of whether they can be ridden or not, but that's often not the case - and once they're signed over or sold that's it.
 
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Personally if he’s not been in work I’d get a vet to look at him. If he’s suitable for work then I would sell him as such.

If not then if you cannot afford him and he cannot go to a racehorse rescue or normal rescue then I would PTS. I’d rather know they went happy and healthy than end up in some unscrupulous hands who would cause him harm.
 
I got him as a hack, rode him once, shortly after my health started going so never rode him again. He has been kept on my ex husbands land with daughter horse who sadly recently had a tragic field accident, I moved him to a temp place until I could sort myself out.
Being an ex racer I went through the signing him over to the racehorse rehab BTRC, but heard back that it’s unfair on him due to age, muscle wastage, unridden so long.
Advised trying to loan him as companion which I’ve been trying for since I had to move him, no joy.
I’ve approached a local yard re. grass livery, which is the option I’m going for at the moment.
But I’m also trying to think ahead about his future should I find myself where i have to go down the pts route when my finances and health, (plus I’m almost 70) really aren’t coping.
It’s having to make the healthy horse pts decision I’m not getting my head around
 
sprytzer said:
I got him as a hack, rode him once, shortly after my health started going so never rode him again. He has been kept on my ex husbands land with daughter horse who sadly recently had a tragic field accident, I moved him to a temp place until I could sort myself out.
Being an ex racer I went through the signing him over to the racehorse rehab BTRC, but heard back that it’s unfair on him due to age, muscle wastage, unridden so long.
Advised trying to loan him as companion which I’ve been trying for since I had to move him, no joy.
I’ve approached a local yard re. grass livery, which is the option I’m going for at the moment.
But I’m also trying to think ahead about his future should I find myself where i have to go down the pts route when my finances and health, (plus I’m almost 70) really aren’t coping.
It’s having to make the healthy horse pts decision I’m not getting my head around
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Would it make a difference to how you felt if you looked at it as securing his future and giving him safety, rather than PTS a healthy horse? x
 
sprytzer said:
I got him as a hack, rode him once, shortly after my health started going so never rode him again. He has been kept on my ex husbands land with daughter horse who sadly recently had a tragic field accident, I moved him to a temp place until I could sort myself out.
Being an ex racer I went through the signing him over to the racehorse rehab BTRC, but heard back that it’s unfair on him due to age, muscle wastage, unridden so long.
Advised trying to loan him as companion which I’ve been trying for since I had to move him, no joy.
I’ve approached a local yard re. grass livery, which is the option I’m going for at the moment.
But I’m also trying to think ahead about his future should I find myself where i have to go down the pts route when my finances and health, (plus I’m almost 70) really aren’t coping.
It’s having to make the healthy horse pts decision I’m not getting my head around
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I think I see what the rehab means - it would be a lot of work for him & them to get him to a level that their likely clients would want to take on? That said, an individual with a lot of time and no great aspirations to bomb about the countryside might well want an older chap to mooch about with so I would maybe consider lwvtb as a low level hack with an emphasis on needing slowly bringing back, rather than strictly as a companion. If it doesn’t work out he can always come back and take option two, nothing lost for trying.
 
I've just commented on the post above this. Have him PTS. There are far, far, far, FAR worse fates than a dignified end at home. I know as one of mine went through it. Starved, probably knocked around, ridden by people too big and too heavy in badly fitting tack while lame and emaciated. I got him back, at the time I had money and resources and he was only on loan.

I got him right and he's out on loan again. It is his last home. If they cant keep him for any reason then he will be PTS and I will have no issues with it. I would shoot him myself rather than let anther person starve and abuse him. And there just isn't the loan homes for these sorts of horses. Once you let them out of your sight they are at risk. I effectively stole mine back, with police support when he was left unattended. I could do that as he was on loan and I could prove it. I was still lucky to be able to do it and I put myself through living hell in order to get him back, and still couldn't have done it without the help of a ton of people who put themselves at risk to help me.
 
IMO a horse would be better off pts than passed around and treated badly .

We have a horse that can’t be ridden as he is dangerous to ride and has issues, we always said he would stay with us or we would pts I want to have the say about his future he is my responsibility as I took him on . However he is perfectly field sound and happy as a companion so for the last 17 yrs he has happily been munching in the field . He doesn’t care if he’s ridden , why because he can’t be ridden have to die?
 
Ah bless you, it's a hard place to be. I have 3 who can't be ridden but are otherwise sound and healthy, gifted to me from similar situations. I agree with what many of the others have said though, it's securing his future of you cannot find a suitable outcome for you both. He won't know it's coming or anything about it, and you won't be left wondering what's happening to him etc. To echo another poster, there are worse fates for a horse than a peaceful, dignified death. If I can no longer look after mine for whatever reason, this is the route they will be taking rather than being passed on to uncertainty.
 
If he were to be in sound mind and body, with no pre existing conditions and having had a solid ridden career many years ago, he could absolutely come back into work. We backed a 16yo ex brood mare last year. She was feral so I am reasonably confident she’d never been ridden before! She has adapted absolutely fine to ridden work. We won’t ask much beyond low level kids’ pony with pole on the floor type jumping aspirations, but she is healthy and happy.

If this horse was out of work due to past vet issues or behaviour issues then I would pts.
 
You are securing his future and preventing him being passed from pillar to post. There are far worse fates for horses than pts - look up the thread in clubhouse about "Pilgrim" to see what can happen to these horses

Not everyone can afford to keep such an expensive animal as a pet, you shouldn't have to struggle financially just to keep an unridable horse going
 
ycbm said:
Am I the only one who feels squeaky about taking a horse who has mooched around a field for 8 years and turning his world inside out by expecting him to work again?
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No and the sort of people who would take the punt generally are looking to make a profit and pass on. Add in full TB and I'd be PTS, I know its easier said than done but the chances of a good future out there for him are miniscule, its not a risk I'd take.
I have had to learn this attidue the hard way over the years.
 
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