retirement or bullet?

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iduck

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My lovely welsh pony has still not recovered one year after fracturing his splint and is still lame- that said he is happy to hack out, but reduced excercise has left him extremely difficult. he has taken up bolting in open fields and spooking at traffic to the extent that I am extremely worried about getting hit. I am leaving for uni in the summer and was originally planning to give him to a riding school as he is such a cracking horse, but with his lameness they wont have him any more. Furthermore, hes 24!
So my question is, what do I do? I cant give him to a young family who'd ride him gently as he isn't safe, and I am worried that nobody would take him as a companion/he would have a very poor quality of life. That said, I really don't want to put him down (sentimental reasons, and hes so unbelievably lively), but fear I have little choice.

What would you do?
 
Is he sound on pain relief ? If he is that's what would be thinking regular pain relief and the work he enjoys.
But are you sure he's not misbehaving because of discomfort ?
 
Do what a lot of us do and give the horse a good retirement. My horse will never wear a saddle again but I'm just relieved that at the moment she's comfortable and able to spend her days in a field.
 
sorry, didn't make that very clear- he has been vetted and is moving comfortabley, but it is different to normal so he can carry himself without any pain- had him vetted by 3 diff vets and all assure me hes fine to ride.
Do you think its likely I will be able to find him a retirement home? I would keep him myself but I wont be here to look after him and don't want him left standing on his own in a field...
 
Why is he still being ridden when he is lame? If he is happy and settled, then retiremnet, but if he is in pain, and reliant on pain killers, then its not fair on him to keep him going.
 
If he is old, not rideable and you are not able to look after him I should think the course of action is obvious: have him humanely PTS.
 
Echo above. Either retire, if you time/facilities to do so (there are some excellent t retirement liveries about) or PTS. Passing him on at his age, you'll never know where he would end up and imo not worth the risk.
 
As others have said, if you cannot care for him yourself, let him go peacefully humanely. Too many times we read of sad cases where old lame ponies are sold on when they have either been given away or on loan. I am sure you do not want to risk someone else making decisions about him.

Hard though the decision is for you, it is about the best for your pony, who does not have human emotions.
 
Why don't you find a retirement livery for him? Plenty of time between now and when you go to uni to do your research and find a nice place. Then he will have company and care.
 
See,..this is one of THE most heartbraking decisions we have to make when we become a horse owner.

In my humble opinion i think the kindest (and safest) situation would be to say goodbye and put him to rest.

You've said yourself that you won't be around to take care of him in the future and at 24 years old i'm sure he's gonna need some TLC at his age and with the issues he has with his lameness.

It's your call, but please,...do not pass him on to then potentially suffer in the long run. As others have said, there's nothing more upsetting that seeing 20 + horses looking for a supposed 'home'. You owe it to him to do the decent thing.

It's the one true act of kindness that we can give to our soulmates when the time comes... it's the hardest decision i've ever had to make in my life,...but the best and most un-selfish one.
 
McCauley said:
See,..this is one of THE most heartbraking decisions we have to make when we become a horse owner.

In my humble opinion i think the kindest (and safest) situation would be to say goodbye and put him to rest.

You've said yourself that you won't be around to take care of him in the future and at 24 years old i'm sure he's gonna need some TLC at his age and with the issues he has with his lameness.

It's your call, but please,...do not pass him on to then potentially suffer in the long run. As others have said, there's nothing more upsetting that seeing 20 + horses looking for a supposed 'home'. You owe it to him to do the decent thing.

It's the one true act of kindness that we can give to our soulmates when the time comes... it's the hardest decision i've ever had to make in my life,...but the best and most un-selfish one.
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Agree. He is quite old, and something else could start to go wrong at any time. It is very hard, everyone agrees, but it is doing the right thing for your old lad.
 
What would I do? I bogged off to uni and left my poor mum to look after my horse without a backward glance! Occasionally reappearing to criticise her management. If you are 18/19 like I was you are far more mature than I and I do admire you for tackling this problem. Try to find a good retirement livery (that isn't your mum...) and when you can't afford it anymore you may have to make the difficult decision to pts. Good luck.
 
If he were mine I'd give him a nice summer at grass then pts before I went to uni in the fall.

Mine us 23 sound and still being I joyed but if I couldn't afford him, or he was lame etc he wouldn't be here as I would never pass him on, I promised him a mummy for life when I bought him 12 years ago and that's what he has :)
 
It sounds to me as though your pony is telling you the vets are wrong. I really wouldn't feel bad about PTS. Give him the time of his life and plenty of fuss and let him go.
 
Don't understand why you don't take him to a yard near the uni , or make arrangements for his care in your home area, as you'll be home for holidays and weekends.

Its usual to make arrangements rather than PTS.
 
Given what you have said, if he were mine I'd PTS.

Uni does take up a lot of time (and not long since I've been back in the "real world" myself), and did have horses through that time - at one point generally a barely walking vet bill not much younger than yours, but for me horses were my escape as I hate drinking and going out clubbing etc.
 
iduck said:
Do you think its likely I will be able to find him a retirement home? I would keep him myself but I wont be here to look after him and don't want him left standing on his own in a field...
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Nope. Put him down.

He's also got a lot older in the last 4 months.....
 
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To me if you cannot do retirement comfortably (and yes that includes consideration of your finances), then PTS is the right thing to do. It is a hard decision to make. I have a 30 year old and while he might go on another 5-10 years, at some point in time I will have PTS because I have to think about money as well. That maybe another 2 years away - but I am aware I cannot keep him indefinitely. He has had about 7 years retired (with occasional ride by kids) so far.
 
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