The old and failing horse.

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Isabeau

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Greetings from New Jersey, USA!

Regarding older, "melting" horses, what are the standards in the UK? Here were have clients insisting on keeping going with older horses that are quite unhealthy and unsound. Horses that lay down and cannot get back up, repeatedly. Perpetual jaw and foot abscesses (6 months or more of oozing puss.) Quite lame on 2 feet. Breathing so impaired there is 'whistling' and swallowing difficulty Etc.

Not riding these horses, but insisting to treat and keep alive horses that cannot hardly walk to the paddock.

If you have your own facility, and want to torment your old horses, then that's your own business (so many would feel here.) But where do business owners in the UK draw the line on "this horse is in too much pain, I'm not going to help you keep torturing it?"
 
I can't speak from a business owners point of view but as a horse owner, I hope I would have the sense and courage to relieve a horse before they reached zombie status, i.e. extreme deterioration of mental, emotional or physical wellbeing.

Horses are in a category of their own. Not quite livestock, not quite pet and I think in part because of this, there is a grey area regarding palliative care. With livestock, it wouldn't normally be entertained. With pets, we tend to keep them going until they drop. Horses seem to fall somewhere in the middle, however, I feel no horse should be forced to endure uncontrollable, chronic pain and misery, nor forced to live beyond the point where they can't get up or stand on their own two feet.
 
I would hope that in those situations, that a vet would be involved, and that the vet would have the strength of character to have the conversation with the owner. I know that the owner can ignore the vet, and even change practice, but the vet should not ignore suffering.

What you are describing sounds like 3rd world conditions to me, that you see the Brooke Hospital treating, not what should be going on in a 1st world country. Owners should not sentimentalise horses, and the final decision is tough, but is the responsibility we take on hen we have any pet.
 
I've recently had to have my horse put down due to a chronic hock infection - it was horrible, but in the end an "easy" decision in that he was lame and losing condition rapidly despite all our best efforts. The insurance company initially suggested that he be retired to the field on bute - he was on 2 a day and still 6/10ths lame. I had already made the arrangements and was going ahead anyway when they reconsidered. I don't doubt that some people may have followed their advice in order to not lose money.
 
I would always be guided by my vet and I would also have the sense to know when to call it a day. If you have been with a horse for two or three hours every day for twelve years you know the horse inside out, you know how it feels just by looking at it, its an unspoken 'knowing'.

I've seen horrific videos of horses in Egypt where they amputate horses legs because it is against their faith to euthanise such an animal. I've seen a pony night after night lying in its stable groaning in pain with laminitis and I've seen horses clearly in pain will ill fitting saddles and sore mouths rearing, bucking and literally silently screaming in pain.

I don't feel we should force any creature to live a life of pain just because it makes us feel good or because its against our beliefs to euthanise it!
 
If you have an "old school" Vet and a strong relationship with them, then they might tell you that "it's time." But most likely the vets in my region will only offer options, not advice.
 
We have a saying "Better a day too soon then an hour too late". Euthanasia is to prevent suffering, and hard as it is to accept all hope is gone it is vital to be able to let go. I had an old mare who had had a horrendous winter and she quite clearly asked me to let her go, she just refused to get to her feet one morning. No distress or difficulty, just "I have had enough". That helps me realise that for them, it is a blessing, not a thing to be feared.
 
Isabeau said:
If you have an "old school" Vet and a strong relationship with them, then they might tell you that "it's time." But most likely the vets in my region will only offer options, not advice.
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Same in the UK, Isabeau. I also think you'd find the same sick and sorry animals as you are describing being kept alive in livery yards around the country. Provided a vet is involved at some level, it's legal for people to keep a horse alive long beyond what many would consider reasonable. I remember a thread when someone was asking for advice on how to treat an ataxic horse. It was over thirty years old and quite obviously should have been put down. Unfortunately some people put delaying their own pain at having to make the decision above the horse's needs.

I'm currently trying to edge a friend into either giving her horse some bute or putting it down. She's told me four times now that the horse is not lying down because it can't get up :(
 
I would be the type to try what i can and if it doesn't work PTS. I think a lot of horses suffer silently, and may look a bit fed up or stiff but stuggle on anyway cause thats what they do. When the day comes they are physically unable to make themselves stand up, or the day they "tell you" its time..is a day too late in my book.
 
Letting them go in better health before they are in pain is the option id choose. I had my dearest friend pts in December aged 30 as she had an obstructive colic the only treatment was surgery.
For the slim chance of success vrs the amount of pain I chose to have her pts straight away.my regret is I didn't find her sooner as id have preferred to have had her pts sooner before she had to endure pain. I hurt like hell, still does, of course I think what if she had successful surgery but I didn't want to put her through that for my selfish reasons of not wanting to let her go.
 
amandaco2 said:
Letting them go in better health before they are in pain is the option id choose. I had my dearest friend pts in December aged 30 as she had an obstructive colic the only treatment was surgery.
For the slim chance of success vrs the amount of pain I chose to have her pts straight away.my regret is I didn't find her sooner as id have preferred to have had her pts sooner before she had to endure pain. I hurt like hell, still does, of course I think what if she had successful surgery but I didn't want to put her through that for my selfish reasons of not wanting to let her go.
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I think when they are older, if they get colic when they've never really been ill before its the start of their body packing up. Fixing things becomes like fighting an out of control fire and the kindest option is to PTS x
 
My girl had a lipoma most likely, a lot of fluid on her stomach. Surgery is a major decision for a young horse but an older one, even in great health like mine......its not something id consider. I was riding her the week before, she still acted like a 3 year old, jogging all the time. But she was still an old girl and seeing her so ill, she looked frail and it would be damn selfish of me to even ask her to step on the lorry, never mind endure months of rehab if she indeed made it through.....
 
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