Update on old horse from last night's thread

B

BankEndRescue

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www.bankendequinerescue.com
Just got back from checking the old lad and other than severe old age and advanced cushings, there is very little wrong. He clearly shouldn't be expected to go through another winter but atm he is a happy lad...showing absolutely NO signs of not being able to get up and down or distress. All in all he's a very happy old boy.

The pics of last night made him appear much worse than he actually is. The owner even has a sign up on her stables with her phone number asking people not to feed him as he is laminitic. He's got to the age of 45 so she is obviously doing something right.

Why the OP on Horse Gossip did what she did is still beyond me but as far as the old lad is concerned there is no great cause for immediate concern. I will be in touch with BHS Welfare to ask them to monitor the situation but no immediate action is needed as far as I'm concerned.

I'll post pics when I get back onto my own pc
 
Thanks for the update and giving up the time to go check him out in person. As long as the horse is as o.k. as he can be for now, that's the main thing and he will be monitored going forwards.
 
I was so glad to read that you had been able to check up on this horse. What you saw versus what had been posted including the pictures serves to remind us all that we should not be so quick to pass judgements without knowing all the facts. People were very quick to condem the owners, I hope their apologies will be as quick.
 
BER - thanks for the update. Maybe the notice etc was the reason for the original poster going 'shy' when asked for details.
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I'm sorry but why get in touch with the BHS welfare if as you say...

a.Just got back from checking the old lad and other than severe old age and advanced cushings, there is very little wrong.

b.atm he is a happy lad...showing absolutely NO signs of not being able to get up and down or distress. All in all he's a very happy old boy.

c. The owner even has a sign up on her stables with her phone number asking people not to feed him as he is laminitic.

d.He's got to the age of 45 so she is obviously doing something right.

e.Why the OP on Horse Gossip did what she did is still beyond me.

f.as far as the old lad is concerned there is no great cause for immediate concern.

As you say yourself the owner has got him to the age of 45 so must be doing something right, so it may well be safe to say she has some knowledge. I would be mighty offended if some did this to me especially as of late when we have been hearing stories of 'innocent' people being treated like criminals by some *charities*.
 
Why would you report this to the BHS?
She is obviously a very experienced caring owner to have kept a horse happy to age 45, maybe he shouldnt go through another winter but im sure the owner will make the right decision when she has to, personally i would be very offended and upset to be reported to the bhs, having done my best for the horse upto now,
Also no way would i put pictures up of another persons horse!
unless of course u have their permission, in which case go ahead but i dont see the point if hes a happy well cared for just old horse.
 
I do wonder though why the WHW advised pts nearly 12 months ago. I had an old mare on loan from them, and together we made the decision to put her down a the end of her 34th summer. The field officer was fully supportive of me having her for that last summer but we both felt it would be cruel for her to face another winter, she was not in as poor condition as this lad seemed to be, although very arthritic. Wht I am trying to say is that ime the decision wasn't made too early for my mare, so perhaps the owners should have taken the advice last year
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Point taken, the only reason I thought about speaking to BHS was the claim that the owner wanted the horse to "die naturally" and the fact that it was advised he be PTS last year before winter and we have another winter looming.

I'm happy to NOT report it if the concensus of opinion is that we should leave alone.
 
BER I would think that someone needs to know that this horse is still alive if there were previous concerns and if WHW advised poss pts last year and poss haven't checked it since assuming it had been?

does that make sense, there were a lot of ifs!
 
I got the impression from the other thread though that the OP-not Bank End-the other forum was a bit of a gossip. I hope I am wrong but she or he came across as sniping about the owner as if to cause a bit of trouble hence why they wouldn't give too much up and asked for post to be deleted.
 
[ QUOTE ]
BER I would think that someone needs to know that this horse is still alive if there were previous concerns and if WHW advised poss pts last year and poss haven't checked it since assuming it had been?

does that make sense, there were a lot of ifs!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, that's what I thought
 
I agree, as I posted above WHW wouldn't have advised it was pts lightly. If it is true the owner wants the horse to die naturally even if it isn't suffering now it is more than likely to do so before it dies
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I'm confused, so were the pics not of this lad?? In my experience horses normally look better in pics than in the flesh and I really fail to see how you can make a horse look thin in a pic if it isn't thin...........

Also what did the horse have available to eat??? If it has little/no teeth then mix would seem a suitable feed to me, I'd have though a sloppy/soup of soaked alfa & fibre pellets would be more suitable.

Oh well I'll wait to see the new pics to see if he has suddenly put weight on.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Point taken, the only reason I thought about speaking to BHS was the claim that the owner wanted the horse to "die naturally" and the fact that it was advised he be PTS last year before winter and we have another winter looming.

I'm happy to NOT report it if the concensus of opinion is that we should leave alone.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think if the WHW are seeing it next week, and you are happy it's in no immediate distress, then I'd leave it to them.

I would also resist the urge to post any pictures of the horse.
 
PS....I don't KNOW why the pics made him look worse than he is but they did. There was plenty of grass and fresh water, he DID have teeth unlike the claim made by the OP last night on HG, albeit typical "old horse"teeth but he wasn't quidding his food. He is thin, yes and imo because of the factors already explained. If you don't trust my judgement why don't you go and see for yourself.
 
BER stop being so defensive this is not about trusting anyones judgement..................but if we are going down that line, perhaps we also shouldn't trust the WHW judgement that the pony should have been PTS last winter (if indeed that was the advice that was given).

TBH plenty of grass is going to make naff all difference if he has old worn teeth that can't grind it (as you well know). Obviously it is good he has fresh water (didn't see anything mentioning he had no water last night though).

Obviously as I'm am not privy to the ponies address, I only have what has been posted to go on.

I wait to be surprised and delighted by new pics, showing and old but contented pony.
 
I can only go on what I have seen too, personally I wouldn't be happy to expect a horse of his age and condition to go through another winter however well looked after he may be. I have a cushings horse in and we are struggling to keep his weight up and after having spoken to his old owner have decided that the best thing is to have him PTS before winter arrives...he is a mere baby in comparison at 32.

As SallySmart points out, maybe not prudent to post pics but if you want them let me have your email address and I'll send them
 
Thankyou for the update, and for going and checking it out.

Does anyone remember the scottish lass who came on here (havent seen her in ages) who had the aged mare, infact a whole collection of ponies
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. The mare looked her age, but was well cared for and very much loved, and although not as thin as this lad, you could see the similarities. It's very easy to jump to conclusions. Although I agree it is better to have things checked out than to just leave them, I think involving the welfare charities is a bit OTT if the pony is happy.
 
I did not keep a record of what OP on HG said at the start of the thread but was sure she posted that the horse could not rise unaided yesterday hence the panic to get help to it quickly.
A retired farmer up here kept a pony going longer than most members on here would have and he used to use a sling attached to his tractor to lift it when it could not rise.
It was much loved and cherished but suspect did not have much quality of life.
 
yup cuffey I think she said that it looked like it had been struggling to get up and if she hadn't helped it up it would probably not been able to get up at all.

Though not sure how she helped it on her own.
 
Thanks for the email/pic, though I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one as to me he looks no better/worst than the pic posted last night.
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I think the OP said it was struggling to got up - I'm guessing you didn't see it down to see if it get up O.K. or not. I suspect it probably does struggle to get up as its limbs look very upright and are probably quite arthritic give its age (I know my friends mare started to struggle to get up, thus was PTS @ 34.....she was bright and chipper till she lay down.......then she was buggered, unless someone on hand to roll her over to her 'good' side).
 
taken from hg ......

this is a different horse


there are NO stables at the original horses location and certainly no note !, it is owned by a man , and only access is via a private field .
the person who posted that they had been to see the horse yesterday must have had a very long journey from yorkshire!
i am in cheshire so i hope that will put an end to speculation about any other old horses in the country.

also i donot know the owner in any way .

the original pictures i posted made the horse look better to be honest but thats not the issue .

chinese whispers are dangerous , i am no gossip and have no motive here other than seeing a horse that i thought needed help and needed looking at , i alerted the authorities after much deliberation in the correct manner .

the welfare authority went to see the horse that afternoon and informed me of his findings - that he insisted a vet visit the horse and then a decision would be made based on the outcome of that visit .

i think i did the thing and i stick with my decision based on what i have seen with my own eyes and what the welfare officer told me personally.

i have no comprehension whatsoever why people would want to bombard me with abuse on here like they did last night -mostly because i would not give out the horses location , despite assurances that it was being dealt with !! what did you people think you could acheive that i wasnt already doing ?

. the only thing i did which i regret was posting the pictures of the animal on an open forum , i was shaken up at what i had saw and i basically needed some reassurance that i had done the right thing by reporting it .
i asked for the thread to be deleted to protect myself in more ways than one, i didnt expect to have to be protected from members on here for 'doing the right thing' .


the welfare officer is ringing me when he has had the meeting with the owner and the vet on tuesday . i can update anyone on the outcome of that meeting if you are genuinely concerned to know , pm me .

would also like to say thanks to the people who have supported my decisions and the way i handled it .

all this nonsense just reflects from the most important thing which was the concern for the horse . whatever the professionals decide on tuesday i hope its the best for him .
 
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