Putting a healthy horse down

Luci07 said:
All we were told is that she can't keep the horse and chooses to put down a healthy young animal who has no issues.
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The only information we were given about the horse was that it is a mare, it is 10 and the OP described it as "lovely". We were not told it was healthy and we were not told it has no issues.

None of us have sufficient information to make any sort of judgement about what this owner is doing. Not that some seem to regard that as a barrier to doing so.
 
Llanali said:
……..

In hindsight, I wish I had put the older, but not ancient, healthy bitch down to make room for both puppies. But had I done that, half this forum would say I was selfish, vile,narcissistic. Getting rid oof older, for a youngster, thinking no one could care like I do.

Until you find yourself in the mouth of your personal hell, and I pray you don't, please take a care with your judgement. I adore my animals, they are my pridv and joy, and Imake many sacrifices for them, but human life tops out I'm afraid, and sometimes, decisions made that we can never be truly peaceful with, but that are absolutely necessary at that time.
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Some would pass judgement perhaps, but not all. It's all so often true that the right decisions are rarely the easiest. I too live with the decisions that I've made and the only 'right', was that on balance, there was no other choice.

Alec.
 
fatpiggy said:
Hmm, not all the beef stock do unfortunately. I grew up in beef land and we let our field to a local farmer. The boys were out on beautiful grazing, doing what beefy boys do until they went to market at 18 months. The farmer took them himself in his small lorry. The local abbatoir was only 8 miles from the market. I played out with the boys constantly as there weren't any other kids around, gave them names, sat on their backs and generally enjoyed their company. But I still ate my roast beef on Sundays. Contrast this to the poor little souls which were kept by a local gypsy in a pen on the farm where my horse retired to. They arrived at just a couple of weeks old, put into a concrete pen with no bedding, just slats (I don't think that is legal actually) with just straw and nuts to eat. As they grew the space around them shrank until they could barely turn around. They lay in their own filth and crapped on each others backs because they were wedged in so tight. Out of one batch, two died of bacterial pneumonia due to the terrible air quality, they were all alive with ringworm and one went down and was trampled to death by the others. These were the lucky ones, their suffering was over. As they got bigger they became more sexually active so were fighting and mounting each other in their matchbox of a pen. Then one day the lorry came for them and the evil creature that owned them beat them into it with a thick stick. Those poor animals never had so much as a day of having grass under their feet, to run and kick as all baby animals like to do. Their short lives were absolute misery and the whole set-up was a total disgrace.
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Oh that is just terrible. Those poor, poor animals. I don't eat meat as I dislike the whole mass produced conveyor belt mentality of it all, even with the better kept animals. I am of the opinion that meat should be at least ten times as expensive for the consumer, so that farmers can afford to give them the best possible lives and make a good profit out of it. Also, I would want abattoirs to be smaller and more local to avoid long journeys and give each animal more time. Meat should be viewed as a special treat, to have far less often than we do. Only then might animals that are slaughtered to provide it, be treated far better. People would be healthier too. We eat meat so often now and it's packaged so people can just forget where it came from. It's a shame.
 
Illusion100 said:
Indisputable facts about life are uncertainty and finality.

I, for one, would rather have a humane end amongst those who love me than dying amongst others that don't.
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Excellent post.

This owner has given her mare a good life and wants to ensure the horse has a good death.
Not all horses settle well in new homes. I have PTS and I have sold on, but it was the stuff I heard back about the ones I sold on that kept me awake at night.
 
Micropony said:
The only information we were given about the horse was that it is a mare, it is 10 and the OP described it as "lovely". We were not told it was healthy and we were not told it has no issues.

None of us have sufficient information to make any sort of judgement about what this owner is doing. Not that some seem to regard that as a barrier to doing so.
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If the horse was unsound, dangerous, had massive issues, was in constant pain or was elderly there would have been little point in posting in the first place. There would have been even less point to posting and not mentioning these conditions.
 
Micropony said:
The only information we were given about the horse was that it is a mare, it is 10 and the OP described it as "lovely". We were not told it was healthy and we were not told it has no issues.
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The thread is entitled 'putting a healthy horse down' so I think we can assume that it is healthy, at least as far as the OP is aware. I actually wish the OP would clarify a few points now that she has posted this thread as perhaps all of this disagreement could have been avoided. For example, if she had said the horse was lame, or unrideable, then I think most people would not have a problem with what the owner is doing. If she said the horse is a useful riding horse, then people saying that we don't know about it, would then know. But from the title of the thread, and the OP, we know that the mare is a healthy 10 year old with a nice temperament.
 
Wagtail said:
The thread is entitled 'putting a healthy horse down' so I think we can assume that it is healthy, at least as far as the OP is aware. I actually wish the OP would clarify a few points now that she has posted this thread as perhaps all of this disagreement could have been avoided. For example, if she had said the horse was lame, or unrideable, then I think most people would not have a problem with what the owner is doing. If she said the horse is a useful riding horse, then people saying that we don't know about it, would then know. But from the title of the thread, and the OP, we know that the mare is a healthy 10 year old with a nice temperament.
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I take your point, and Cobgoblin's, but lots of people who didn't know the detail would have referred to my last horse, who I mentioned in my previous post on this thread, as "healthy" and "lovely". He was, as long as he never went out for too long, or in mud, and you didn't mind supporting most of his 650kg when picking out his front feet, and he was ridden religiously 6 days a week, and you were happy to pay for the vet to I/v sedate for the farrier every 5 weeks. And you could cope with his quirks under saddle. He had shivers in front, navicular and rubbish feet, most of which wouldn't be immediately obvious to someone not closely involved in his care. Doesn't mean it would have been possible to find him a good long term home though, had I not been able to keep him.

You're right, there's a lot of information we don't have.
 
This is an interesting topic and I can certainly understand why it has provoked such strong feeling on both sides of the argument. We don't have anywhere near enough information about the horse or the owner to judge in this situation. When the OP said "can't bear to sell" my first thought was that the horse had maybe had a bad past and the owner wouldn't want to risk leaving her vulnerable to being in that situation again. Or perhaps even if a perfect home could be found, the stress of a move would be too much for the mare to cope with. It is not a decision the owner will have taken lightly and she obviously feels it's in the horse's best interests, whatever her reasoning may be.
 
Micropony said:
I take your point, and Cobgoblin's, but lots of people who didn't know the detail would have referred to my last horse, who I mentioned in my previous post on this thread, as "healthy" and "lovely". He was, as long as he never went out for too long, or in mud, and you didn't mind supporting most of his 650kg when picking out his front feet, and he was ridden religiously 6 days a week, and you were happy to pay for the vet to I/v sedate for the farrier every 5 weeks. And you could cope with his quirks under saddle. He had shivers in front, navicular and rubbish feet, most of which wouldn't be immediately obvious to someone not closely involved in his care. Doesn't mean it would have been possible to find him a good long term home though, had I not been able to keep him.

You're right, there's a lot of information we don't have.
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There is some information that we do have, that a lot of posters are ignoring. We know that the owner's "life situation has changed and she cannot keep her horse", which is the reason she is considering the horse's future.

As it is half-term in some areas, I am taking the view that many of the less charitable, more vociferous posters are very young, with little life experience and cannot imagine dealing with a crisis without the support of parents or other relatives.
It does surprise me that rescue charities have been suggested as a possibility, I thought it was well-documented that they are all, good, bad or indifferent full to bursting with horses which have suffered in their previous homes. They have no room for those with responsible owners who are willing and able to make difficult decisions about their horses' care.

Any-one who cannot keep their horse cannot take the risk of loaning as the horse may well be returned at very short notice, as we hear frequently on here.
 
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We know the horse is healthy, we have no idea if it is even broken.

Ditto life changing events, a friend had kidney failure which then involved regular trips to dialysis and now regular trips to the hospital because her transplant has never been happy. Horses kept at home, husband working as much as possible outside of delivering her to hospital and money tight as she can't work. She made that decision for a couple of hers and considered it for one she bred - when she was well, schooling young horses for others etc as she had not been able to put the time in that she would have wanted to if even considering sending her out into the big wide world.
 
Gixxernic said:
Why dont you try NOT being so rude and actually respect other peoples comments!!! This is an open forum! And your not even the original poster!

Each to their own #ignorance
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Maybe try respecting other people who have not asked for their situation to be pulled to bits on here and nasty comments made about them having had to make a difficult decision already! Your in a position to defend what you said they are not so grow up!
 
Gixxernic said:
Why dont you try NOT being so rude and actually respect other peoples comments!!! This is an open forum! And your not even the original poster!

Each to their own #ignorance
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Perhaps you should try to remember which media you are using. Hashtags belong on Twitter.
 
if you have horses though then surely it's your responsibility to formulate a plan for them if circumstances DO change in your life suddenly, either mentally or physically.

If anything happened to me, my close horsey friends know exactly what i want to happen to each horse. Some would be pts due to issues, but some could go on to lovely homes. I don't have any respect for the 'i couldn't bear' brigade. If you take on responsibilty for a horse's life then its your duty to 'bear'. I couldn't bear to see any of mine sold, and would worry if they got passed on - but it's my duty to find them as good a home as possible and trust in the fact that 90% of horse owners are lovely and kind.
 
Well I couldn't bare it if I sold one of mine and they ended up locked in a barn with no food or water.

Extreme example maybe, but it's exactly what happened to my grey's half brother (who was sound, young, healthy and sane). He wasn't the only horse in that barn either and I know that the people who sold or loaned those horses to that stud find what happened to those horses very hard to live with.

Once a horse leaves your control, there's nothing that you can do and for a caring ex owner or owner who has loaned, it's going to be hard to bare if it goes wrong. Now I know the chances of it going wrong are far smaller than the chances of it going right, but that's no consolation for those it has gone wrong for.

We don't know if this person has had a bad experience with loaning or selling in the past that maybe colouring their thoughts because we just don't have enough information.
 
Luci07 said:
The original post said the owner couldn't bear to sell the horse on. People are judging but we are basing our responses on what we were told in the first post. No, we don't know the whole story, we weren't given it. All we were told is that she can't keep the horse and chooses to put down a healthy young animal who has no issues. I sincerely hope there isn't an awful back story but people are only responding to what they have been told. Anything else is just guesswork.
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Exactly. We can only go by the information given by the OP!
 
Sorry not read any other posts (i will though, just wanted to put this down before i forget or get influenced!)

On fb recently a rescue advertised a 20+ year old horse, who was no able to be ridden and had other health problems, as an urgent home needed. Owner who adored it had passed away and the family were going to "murder" it but they had begged for some time to find a home. Of course one was found immediately and there was uproar.

I just felt very sad for the horse, who looked a bit pathetic anyway, and was now having to go through the stress of a new home all because people thought putting him to sleep was abhorrent.

People need to toughen up.
 
Truthfully selling a horse, even a good one, is a potential minefield. It is a project with an uncertain deadline. Ideally you should be at your best when selling. If you want the best for your horse you want time to vet prospective buyers and homes. You want to be picky. You have no guarantee how long it will take before the right person comes along (and even then you have no future guarantees, as unexpected things can happen for a buyer down the road as they did for you). If you find a good home you still have to hope for the best.

So if you find yourself in a situation where your life has changed to the point you can no longer keep a horse, do you have the time and resources and health to take on supervising a sale to ensure the horse lands on its feet? Can you still afford to be picky? If you can no longer keep a horse I expect this needs to be resolved swiftly, instead of risking advertising for months with all the costs that comes with it.

Putting a horse down is not a quick fix, as anyone who has had to make the decision will know. And yet it might sometimes be the only realistic option and what is right, for the person in question, at that point in time. Some won't realise this until they face it themselves.
 
Relevant for ignorant narrow minded people! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but popsdash seems to have a problem with everyone that doesnt agree with them , horsey world is the bitchiest place ever! Full of lots of nasty folks!
 
Quite. If I cared a little more, I might even take offence. If.

I concur with Alec that this is a hard life. Case in point, the fridge containing the tonic is downstairs, yet the gin is up here in the sitting room. Buggeration factor 20.
 
popsdosh said:
All I will say FF is you did a wonderful thing today for that lady! God bless you
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Thank you

luckyoldme said:
thats so sad.puts the whole thing into perspective.
Like others have said we only have the ops version of this story and she has done a runner, in effect we are judging someone whos life we know nothing about, and might not evan exist.
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Exactly :)

Gixxernic said:
<snip lots of c r a p > ...horsey world is the bitchiest place ever! Full of lots of nasty folks!
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Take a long look sweetie, you might just find one in a mirror :)
 
I agree with Margot C we certainly dont know how quickly the OP needed the situation resolved. If I had got to the end of the line with any of mine they would be PTS mostly because it is a nightmare trying to sell and an even bigger one trying to loan a horse. If I didnt have the time, resources and health to wait for what could be years to find a new home I would PTS, no brainer really. The old girl and the young dartmoor couldnt really go anywhere else and the youngster is a hot highland which most people wouldnt want as she needs a rider not a novice. I do have the option of a retirement home for the old girl but if funds were so short I could no longer pay for them then I would PTS before they had a chance to suffer through my loss of money or ability to care for them
 
MargotC said:
Truthfully selling a horse, even a good one, is a potential minefield. It is a project with an uncertain deadline. Ideally you should be at your best when selling. If you want the best for your horse you want time to vet prospective buyers and homes. You want to be picky. You have no guarantee how long it will take before the right person comes along (and even then you have no future guarantees, as unexpected things can happen for a buyer down the road as they did for you). If you find a good home you still have to hope for the best.

So if you find yourself in a situation where your life has changed to the point you can no longer keep a horse, do you have the time and resources and health to take on supervising a sale to ensure the horse lands on its feet? Can you still afford to be picky? If you can no longer keep a horse I expect this needs to be resolved swiftly, instead of risking advertising for months with all the costs that comes with it.

Putting a horse down is not a quick fix, as anyone who has had to make the decision will know. And yet it might sometimes be the only realistic option and what is right, for the person in question, at that point in time. Some won't realise this until they face it themselves.
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This is one of those times when I wish HHO had a 'like' button.
 
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