very skinny pony

The field officer from whw has phoned me and is coming next week. He thought the photos were clear enough to see that this pony needs help. Unfortunatly we are forcast more real sh*t weather this weekend and the poor pony has no shelter at all not even a bit of hedge. I am inclined to think that the best thing for her may be pts to end her misery ( and she does look very miserable) as she is also lame
 
I personally wouldnt report this unless you have asked about the pony 1st! if its on livery then there are people that are obviously aware that this pony has a weight issue. And there is no way this is a young pony. I would ask and find out about it first as it may (more than likely) have an illness causing this weight loss. By just reporting something like that you dont realise the upset you cause the horses owners. have been in that situation where i got reported for my ponies weight when he has an ilness which makes it very hard to keep weight on! and hes not the youngest pony in the world! I would have much prefered them people to ask me about him 1st before jumping to the conclusion i neglected him!
 
Am I going mad? Or have I just got my sensible head on?? However,a pony doesn't get to 42 years old after serious neglect and the harsh winter!

I honestly think that the owner could do with help,not harrassment. Ponio is 42 for heavens sake,not 4! It's going to look poor after the winter we've had. Has anyone seen the dartmoor ponies recently? They're looking none too great either.

Basically,pony hates being confined due to accident,is virtually feral,and probably is lucky to have any teeth by now. Elderly owner struggling,so put in livery.

A couple of weeks on spring grass and this pony will improve no end.

Whw should rightly be involved,and perhaps could prevent pony from dropping this poor again. But how on earth you could stable a 42 yr old pony after not being for so long is possibly impossible.

Shoot me down in flames peeps,but the oldest i've ever had is 31. I'd feel blessed if any of mine got to 42!!
 
WHW will offer advice and not necessarily harrass. However that poor old soul does look as if she is coming to the end of her days. Just becaue a pony is old or has Cushings there is no reason for them to resemble a hatrack. I have a pony with cushings, yes she is woolly and a little ribby but if I was unable to prevent her looking like the pony in the picture she would be pts I'm afraid.
 
Hi cazza sorry just have to point out the ponys owner isnt elderly, the yard owner is and the actuall owner is about 40ish really should notice but i noticed in the past that if she visited yard to drop of feed etc she hardly ever went down to see the pony, its more like out of sight out of mind the yard owner is 80 odd and just does what she paid to do (apparently).
 
Oh and something else i was told is that the owner absoloutly adores the pony and so does the family they even have a painting of her above the fireplace at their pub !!!!! so youre guess is as good as mine, i think what i could understand is that noone expected the pony to live this long but again thats no excuse at all.
 
I find this shocking and tbh I don't care whether the owners think they "love" the horse or not they are really only thinking about their own feelings.

No animal should be left to slowly starve to death regardless of its age. Its only alive because as a domestic animal it has no predators. In the wild it would have have been picked off by predators and had a relatively quick and painless death - and that is what its "loving" owners should give it if it really can't for whatever reason get enough nourishment from food anymore.
 
Thats the point im trying to make is it the right thing to do to try and bring this pony back from this state ( which at her age is probably not possible now )or is it too late and she should be pts and regardless of how the owner personally feels she isnt looking after her own pony properly.
 
I personally find that once they are that old and to be honest she is ancient, it is very hard to keep weight on them. Having had one at the yard, rescued and the owner tried everything no matter what the cost, to get them to improve, no matter what she would not put weight on, however, she was a happy pony, loved going out and rolling, laying in the winter sun, being played with, brushed thin yes, but never did her eyes say that she had had enough, each day was met with vigour and attitude that she loved life still. However, she was painfully thin, the mind was willing but the body was not able, and all her organs were slowly shuting down. The vet saw her every week as always down on the yard, or popped by to check up, and agreeded she was happy and as healthy as could be at the grand old age she was. The day she looked sad, was the day she went.

Maybe this is the case with this old timer, and the owner is keeping a distant as the pain from owning one for so long, and knowing what is round the corner must be unbearable, and sometimes easier to make a decision from a distance who knows. The owner must have done right for a long time to get her to the grand old age she know is.

I agree, it would be totally cruel to now stable this mare, and last summer she didnt look that bad, old but not too bad, it has been a very very long hard winter how many of us could forsee how bad it actually has been and still is, for the healthiest of horses, so lets give a little benefit of the doubt, the mare is painfully thin, obviously could benefit from a rug, but then you end up with rub marks (same as bed sores in thin old people) you really are damned if you do and damned if you dont, and extra hay if not getting it.

I am sure the WHW will be able to advise and help with day to day care. I think this post is just to say dont judge every picture from what is straight in front of you, walk a mile in someone elses shoes then judge, owning older horses can be so painful.
 
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scally said:
I personally find that once they are that old and to be honest she is ancient, it is very hard to keep weight on them. Having had one at the yard, rescued and the owner tried everything no matter what the cost, to get them to improve, no matter what she would not put weight on, however, she was a happy pony, loved going out and rolling, laying in the winter sun, being played with, brushed thin yes, but never did her eyes say that she had had enough, each day was met with vigour and attitude that she loved life still. However, she was painfully thin, the mind was willing but the body was not able, and all her organs were slowly shuting down. The vet saw her every week as always down on the yard, or popped by to check up, and agreeded she was happy and as healthy as could be at the grand old age she was. The day she looked sad, was the day she went.
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Scally you made me cry, you just described my old girl, she was PTS at the grand age of 44, after I had the pleasure of her teaching me to never to take anything for granted and to always expect the unexpected for 25 of those years.

I was taught as a child that to love and respect your horse was to do the right thing for them, having to make the hardest decision of putting your pony to sleep is the most important thing you can do for your horse and if this ponies owners loved it as much as they profess, it wouldnt have gotten into this state.

Please please keep us updated on what happens to the poor mite.
 
Yes it might be difficult to keep weight on an old pony but a decent rug taken off for a while on a regular basis so the pony can be groomed so it is less itchy would help as would having some hayledge in the field.

Just because a pony is old and lives out is not a good enough excuse for being that thin.
 
Totally agree with the last 2 posts. Old age does not mean a pony has to be a bag of bones. I had our old WHW pony pts at 34 as she was beginning to struggle with her arthritis. I am sure she could have kept going for longer but to let that happen would have been selfish on my part and would have given her a poorer quality of life. The WHW field officer who visited her regularly totally approved of my decision, and even offered to come and hold her if I felt unable to.
 
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