Thoughts on putting your horse to sleep because of financial reasons

I have no problem with PTS an animal that it would be unfair/unsafe/impractical to sell or loan if the owner cannot afford to keep it. But don't see why anyone would PTS a horse that is desireable and saleable for financial reasons. Either sell as a schoolmaster, or loan, or get a sharer or put on working livery or turn away for winter at grass livery.

OP for future years why not sit down and work out the annual cost of running your horse then set up a separate bank account for your horse. You can use a standing order to put a fixed amount in the account each month for the horse's keep. That way you spread the cost of winter throughout the year.
 
Interesting.Personally I think it would be a shame and a terrible waste if this horse was pts if he is healthy & active providing a sensible option was reached, ie secure loving home or full / part loan. OP i hope it all works out well :)
 
Wagtail said:
Goodness me, that would be the last thing I would consider in your shoes. I was expecting to read about an old unridable horse, not one that is only 17 and working at advanced medium. :confused:

Could you get a sharer? Or put him out on loan as a school master? People would be falling over themselves to have him. I would, if I didn't already have two field ornaments. :)
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This.

I would not even begin to think of putting him down, and yet I am one of the first to defend anyone who puts a horse to sleep, even for economic reasons.

But even economically, this makes no sense. A fit and healthy 17 year old Advanced Medium horse is worth serious money.
 
Ten years ago after two severe doses of laminitis I called my vet to put down an eight year old pony. I felt we had come to the end of the road as his first dose of laminitis was injury related. The vet duly came but refused to put the pony down as he was "far too bright" He then suggested the Laminitis Clinic. When someone throws you hope you grab it with both hands. After all he was a young pony hopefully with a future ahead of him. He went on a four hundred mile trip there and was successfully operated on for contracted tendons. Six weeks later I collected him and took him home with a long list of do's and donts. After care included having imprint shoes on and specialised remedial farriery which I had to travel a round trip of a hundred miles every five weeks.
The outcome however was not good. The pony was never fit enough to ride and was retired to be a paddock ornament suffering particularly in winter from a lameness connected with the original injury. We spent over eight thousand pounds on the pony (he had no insurance ) and last winter he again took a dose of laminitis, although very mild. I decided then to let him have a last summer and have him put to sleep before the winter got hard.
The vet who came was the original who had refused to put him down eight years ago. Had I known what the outcome would be ten years ago I would have insisted that he did it at that time.
 
I have no problem with it with old retired - or young unsound horses - but what you say is wrong on so many levels.
17 is nothing at all and hes working advanced medium? Don't take your depression out on your horse, sell him or loan him, don't kill him.
Bosworth and others are in a completely different situation and I have nothing but sympathy for them..
 
frozzy said:
Ten years ago after two severe doses of laminitis I called my vet to put down an eight year old pony. I felt we had come to the end of the road as his first dose of laminitis was injury related. The vet duly came but refused to put the pony down as he was "far too bright" He then suggested the Laminitis Clinic. When someone throws you hope you grab it with both hands. After all he was a young pony hopefully with a future ahead of him. He went on a four hundred mile trip there and was successfully operated on for contracted tendons. Six weeks later I collected him and took him home with a long list of do's and donts. After care included having imprint shoes on and specialised remedial farriery which I had to travel a round trip of a hundred miles every five weeks.
The outcome however was not good. The pony was never fit enough to ride and was retired to be a paddock ornament suffering particularly in winter from a lameness connected with the original injury. We spent over eight thousand pounds on the pony (he had no insurance ) and last winter he again took a dose of laminitis, although very mild. I decided then to let him have a last summer and have him put to sleep before the winter got hard.
The vet who came was the original who had refused to put him down eight years ago. Had I known what the outcome would be ten years ago I would have insisted that he did it at that time.
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That's a sad story when people advise on this thorny issue it's important to know where they are coming from vets trained for years and I hAve to say particularily the younger ones can believe that continued invasive interventions are justified ,that's driven by their training and life choices ( and dare I say need to make a living in some cases) .
Owners will form views based on experiances of those around them and and there own experiances .
Personally my views in the PTS area are strongly driven by the things I saw as a welfare officer and the plight of older horses clearly from "good" homes in their past I came across then they are seared in my brain and colour every desision I take about my own , I have sold very few horses the ones I have I think of in terms how old would he be now he must have 'gone ' I hope it was ok I worry for them far more than the ones I lead round the corner and hold while they are shot whatever age that happens at.
 
MysteriousMistletoe said:
Why wouldn't you sell him on/loan him out? 17 isn't that old and you said yourself he's still working fine??(
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This. Dont see why you cant loan him out or sell him? Quite a few people would probably take on a 17yo especially as he's still doing well dressage. I'd certainly at least try that route. I personally would never put down a healthy horse, I'd always try to rehome if necessary. Some people seem to think that an older horse will be passed around or badly looked after or something if sold but I really dont see why! I think its often the opposite, those prepared to take on an older horse in the first place are more likely to look after the horse forever more.
 
cptrayes said:
This.

I would not even begin to think of putting him down, and yet I am one of the first to defend anyone who puts a horse to sleep, even for economic reasons.

But even economically, this makes no sense. A fit and healthy 17 year old Advanced Medium horse is worth serious money.
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This.

If you are struggling financially you could easily sell your horse for a decent price (to a good home!), get back on your feet and go from there. By either PTS or selling, you will end up without the horse, and I'm sure your horse would rather go to another home than the great pastures in the sky.

Not every horse sold ends up being beaten, abused and neglected - there seems to be a strong idea of this being the case nowadays but it's simply not true. Your boy sounds like a talented, sought after type, and you will have your pick of homes for him I'm am sure.

Another alternative is a loan/share situation - a horse working at advanced medium would be snapped up and this would help you financially too.
 
MagicMelon said:
This. Dont see why you cant loan him out or sell him? Quite a few people would probably take on a 17yo especially as he's still doing well dressage. I'd certainly at least try that route. I personally would never put down a healthy horse, I'd always try to rehome if necessary. Some people seem to think that an older horse will be passed around or badly looked after or something if sold but I really dont see why! I think its often the opposite, those prepared to take on an older horse in the first place are more likely to look after the horse forever more.
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It was not my experiance as a welfare officer the saddest ones had one long term home then got passed down a grade and then again and then again often though lower end dealer until I ended up in a field with them with two RSPCA officers , but that's not to say it happens to them all of course it does not and OP's horse is sound it's the ones passed on carrying an unsoundness issue that are at most risk IMO.
However I would not condem OP for one second if she took the PTS route I would understand.
 
OP, you really need to do some serious budgetting. You say you make savings in the summer because he is turned out etc, so you need to be really strict with yourself and put that money in a pot to offset your winter bills. I run my gas and electric like that and it means I pay out the same amount 12 months of the year and most importantly, I know EXACTLY how much I'm paying. I used to buy 3 months worth of bedding in the summer, ready for the winter and got a good price because it was a bulk buy. You must wise up and really make your money work for you. Go and look on moneysavingexpert.com for some great advice on how to live for less. It is full of people just like you and me, only even worse off than the both of us!
 
I think the 'if I can't have him no one else can' attitude apauling. If you are struggling for cash I'm sure a medium advanced horse would fetch a decent price. Sorry of this sounds harsh op but it's my opinion.
 
I think the pts decision is such a personal one. Everyone you ask may have a differing opinion and until you walk in someone's shoes you cannot possibly answer for them.
I think foremost you have to be happy that the choice or path you take is one that sits well with you and not one that you might regret, as ultimately it is your choice. People can no doubt recount to you both happy ending stories and horror stories of horses falling into the wrong hands. Horse owners as with many other animal owners also believe that they are the only ones who can look after their horse properly. It's just human nature if you love your horse to believe you are giving it the best life, better than anyone else could or would. Never easy.

I must agree with the serious bugeting advice - horses are expensive to keep - we all know that from the outset.
 
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elsazzo said:
I think the 'if I can't have him no one else can' attitude apauling. If you are struggling for cash I'm sure a medium advanced horse would fetch a decent price. Sorry of this sounds harsh op but it's my opinion.
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It's not apaulling it's very very sad.
 
Goldenstar said:
It was not my experience as a welfare officer the saddest ones had one long term home then got passed down a grade and then again and then again often though lower end dealer until I ended up in a field with them with two RSPCA officers , but that's not to say it happens to them all of course it does not and OP's horse is sound it's the ones passed on carrying an unsoundness issue that are at most risk IMO.
However I would not condemn OP for one second if she took the PTS route I would understand.
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Excellent post.
PTS for financial reasons can often be the kindest thing to do. ((((HUGS))))) OP
This is the real world, not bunny-hugger disney land.
 
Goldenstar said:
It was not my experiance as a welfare officer the saddest ones had one long term home then got passed down a grade and then again and then again often though lower end dealer until I ended up in a field with them with two RSPCA officers , but that's not to say it happens to them all of course it does not and OP's horse is sound it's the ones passed on carrying an unsoundness issue that are at most risk IMO.
However I would not condem OP for one second if she took the PTS route I would understand.
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IF you could find a sharer and keep your horse at the present yard well and good.

There are too many posts on this forum about horses, sold on loan, passed through dealers, bought by 'over horsed' novices. I would abosolutely pts in preference to an uncertain future. OP don't beat yourself up.
 
If you can't afford retirement livery (some places when they are at grass 24/7 it can be as little as £40 per week then you don't have a choice.

I'd rather have my horse pts than have him passed from pillar to post and always wondering if he was happy and healthy if I couldn't afford anything else for him.

You might like to consider the blood bank, its a wonderful place where the horses live out naturally in large herds. They have to be drug free and of medium build and they live out without rugs and shoes so need roughing off before hand. Surely what every horse could possibly want, a natural life?

My friends horse went there, very nice, peaceful, all you could see for miles and miles where horses heads down grazing.

Sadly people that don't know anything about it feel they are free to make negative comments about blood banks when they don't know what they are talking about.
 
Goldenstar said:
Of course what's it got to do with the vet some might have misgivings but a bet that refused would be wrong to do so .
If more people thought as OP is there would be fewer of the pathetic heartbreaking things I saw as a welfare officer personally I would never pass a 17 yo from my care.
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I do agree with this, 17 is older for a horse, and I would never sell on a horse this age, once you sell you have no control, all our horses stayed with us for life, and were PTS at different ages, we were lucky each time it was for health reasons, but in the situation where money prevents caring for an animal as it should be, I do think that the OP is right to look at all options and if it is pts I do not think it would be a wrong decision, better to know what has happened to your horse than spend a life time unable to trace it or know what has happened.

Loaning is an option, but people are not always as nice as we think and even loan agreements we think are water tight do not always protect the horse.
 
Gah, I'm in almost exactly the same position bar for the fact that mine is long term lame but its intermittent and perfectly sound atm.

I think it has to be your decison. 5 years ago, summers were better, hay was far cheaper, feed was half the price etc. Trims weren't £45 each etc etc etc. If you are going to properly look after a horse it really does cost at least £50 per week atm (haylage alone is £30 for us)

It used to be fine to carry 'passengers' etc but those days are gone.

My neighbours said to me 'why don't you just give him away' and were swiftly educated in this matter. As I've posted previously, having done my first PTs recently it certainly isn't the easy way out, not by a long chalk. Good luck whatever you decide. He's had a better life than most I'll bet.
 
I have put down a healthy sound horse but he was not right in the head the hardest thing iv ever done he attacked a friend breaking her spleen ribs and leg she was not the first loads more people got hurt tough decision but the only one for him my only regret should have done it sooner instead making excuses for him.
 
sorry pressed post to soon unless your horse is like this i agree PTS if not find a loaner or a riding school that trains higher end pupils they would kill for a horse like this
 
I'm with Goldenstar on this. I've taken a lot of neglected horses on for rehabilitation over the years. Many of them were ex competition horses who, through injury or age, could no longer do the job. They'd been turned out and left with no care at all, just left to rot. Or loaned to the first person who'd have them, often someone with limited knowledge and budget who then underfed them and overworked them. At every livery yard I've visited regularly I've seen the miserable looking retired horses left in the field, fed sporadically if at all, with no consideration taken to whether their rug is warm enough or whether they need bute for their arthritis. No real care at all basically. Sometimes these were owned by someone who ought to know better, someone who'd competed the horse for years and provided a good standard of care, but who now has children, a busier career, or a second younger competition horse taking up their time.

I would sell a decent and healthy horse 14yrs and under, in the hope they had enough time with someone that the person would be happy to provide the horse with a caring retirement when the time came. But I wouldn't sell anything with health problems or anything that was no longer young. I'd worry too much about their future. It's not an arrogant "nobody can look after the horse like I can" attitude. It's that I've seen how so many people can't be bothered to provide a decent level of basic care for a horse that's no longer ridden. These owners often come across as the kind caring and generally lovely people that they are, when you speak to them, yet they somehow manage to have a blindness for the misery they're inflicting on their old horses. Of course then there's the ones who just don't care.

OP in your circumstances, if you can't afford the horse, I'd full or part loan from a yard of your choice, because the horse is safe to ride. If at some point the loan ends or the horse is injured/ill and you can't afford treatment, that's when I'd PTS.
 
Wagtail said:
Goodness me, that would be the last thing I would consider in your shoes. I was expecting to read about an old unridable horse, not one that is only 17 and working at advanced medium. :confused:

Could you get a sharer? Or put him out on loan as a school master? People would be falling over themselves to have him. I would, if I didn't already have two field ornaments. :)
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This
 
What do the people suggesting loaning or sharing suggest that the OP do when the sharer or loaner decides they don't want/ can't afford to continue the arrangement? The OP is then left in the same postion again, possibly at short notice, with no contingency funds available. While I hope never to have to make the decision the OP is contemplating, I would either sell or euthenase (and we have never sold a horse yet!)
 
There are (increasingly) times on this forum where I read things which have me sitting in a state of incredulity. This is one of them.

I have 2 horses who are 20 years older than your mere 17 year old OP and no mine won't be going anywhere as at 36 and 37 they deserve their last few years here. A horse at 17, completely sound and healthy, still has many years of useful service to someone else if you are fed up with all the work that winter entails.

I don't spend a lot of time on here but from the time I do spend on here I often wonder if I live in some alien planet. I've been breeding and selling horses for the best part of 30 years and I know where all the horses that have ever gone through my hands are. One buyer in all those years is not much of a communicator however I still know that she still owns the horse I sold her years ago. It seems on here that there is little contact with new/previous owners? I can't surely be the only one who has remained in contact with my buyers and the sellers I bought horses from? How are so many horses slipping through the net? Or are they? Is this forum just a scaremongery type place? Oh I know some horses do end up in awful situations and I've read a few times on here that unfortunate things have happened to a small proportion of posters horses that they've sold or loaned but on the whole I read mostly about people who have the same type of experiences as I have had.

OP your answer is with you. If you feel it's acceptable to kill your horse because you can't afford it and can't be bothered with looking after it then that is your choice. It, sure as the day breaks each day, wouldn't be mine.
 
I personally could never PTS a perfectly healthy animal. I would move heaven and earth to either reduce my outgoings to keep, or sell/give away the animal.
 
Clearly personal experience plays a big part in where an individual stands on this. Goldenstar has seen more than his/her fair share of bad endings, Spring Feather has been very fortunate. The fact is, if you pass a horse on, you cannot guarantee anything. I completely agree that there are many people out there capable and willing to look after horses very well, even if they don't always agree on exactly what that means. But whether you make that decision for an older horse, especially, depends a lot on your capacity for risk. It's not fair to judge. I would ask, to all the people who say it's never the right choice to pts, how many older/unsound/unwanted horses do you take in in the average year?;)

In this particular situation, it seems that the horse still has a great deal to give so a loan option would definitely be a first port of call. I think a sale would also be very doable, although even selling costs a bit of money and, of course, it carries risks. As to what happens if the horse comes back, either from loan or if it's an option for a sale, then that obviously would have to be dealt with at the time.

I've had very positive experiences leasing older horses out, albeit under very managed conditions. But I'm another one who, in the course of my work, often comes upon older horses who were clearly well trained and cared for at some point, but have fallen on hard times.

The fact is, there is no right answer.
 
Spring feather, I am still in touch with the people I bought my mare from, and if heaven forbid I ever have to part with her they will get first refusal as promised.

I completely agree that an aged, unsound or unsafe horse should not be sold to an uncertain future, but we are talking about a fit and healthy schoolmaster who is likely to have at least 5 years of decent level work left in him, and could easily still be competing in 10 years.

We always say that novice owners should buy an older safer schoolmaster type, but how can they if people would rather pts than sell a fit healthy horse?

I know that a downward spiral can happen and that there are no guarantees but taking time to sell a good horse to a well researched home isn't the problem.

The OP could take her time to find a good home and sell, or she could loan and keep savings as insurance against him coming back, she could take the decision to pts if he becomes difficult to find a good loan home for or becomes unsound. She could also loan to a college or equestrian centre on the basis that when he can't work anymore she will take the decision to pts if her finances haven't improved. She could look for a sharer, whilst there may be a risk if sharers becoming unreliable it sounds as though OP is financially coping mist of the time so could probably manage if she was let down while she found someone else.

I think it is a shame that a horse who still has a lot to offer could be pts rather than trusting a buyer or loaner to be responsible.

A 17 year old school master sold responsibly does not need to be more at risk than a 12 year old.
 
FestiveG said:
What do the people suggesting loaning or sharing suggest that the OP do when the sharer or loaner decides they don't want/ can't afford to continue the arrangement? The OP is then left in the same postion again, possibly at short notice, with no contingency funds available. While I hope never to have to make the decision the OP is contemplating, I would either sell or euthenase (and we have never sold a horse yet!)
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Surely if a sharer/loaner dropped out then you'd just pts? It seems silly to pts without at least looking at other options for a healthy fit horse, although personally I wouldn't loan or sell as control is then lost and loans can and do go wrong. Pts doesn't have to cost hundreds, and I do think it is irresponsible to not budget for the worst case scenario anyway.
 
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