What age was your horse when its time came?

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canteron

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I have a 19yo horse who has been retired 6 years and now with cushings, laminitus, sweet itch and his old tendon injury is becoming increasingly time consuming and costly. However, he is still happy, beautifully natured and giving me pleasure and I am currently happy to look after him and can afford the bills.

I worry that this Winter he will become frost laminitic and if he does I don't know that i want him on box rest that much if we have a Winter like last year. It doesn't seem fair to an old gentleman.

But that would also seem like giving up on someone who essentially is still enjoying life.

So what age was your horse and why did you make the decision?
 
My old boy, like yours, was 19 at the time. But the decision was never mine to make because he had a very bad bout of colic and, after battling for 30+ hours, there was no other choice but to let go. He was otherwise very healthy and looked like he had many years left in him. But such is life, isn't it?
 
My old mare was 25, she had some kind of allergy problems in her last 2 winters, very itchy, weeping scabs. Nothing seemed to help and it was a mystery. In the end she had grumbling colic for 3 days which wasn't responding to treatment and was gradually getting worse so she was put down before it became raging colic. I knew she didn't want to go on so was glad I could help her. I had her 21 years.
 
I lost my pony when he was 33, he went down with laminitis on boxing day he had never had it before and never been on box rest ( i had owned him since a foal) after 2 more bouts he had colic and made the descision for me.
 
Hi

I asked a similar questions on here about 2 months ago as I was worried about taking my 28 year old mare into winter. The general consenses was for 16 hh a lot made it happily to 30.

In my mind she was either going to be PTS the end of this summer or next. As it happens the decision was taken out of my hands last week when she got colic and had to be put down.

My other mare also died of colic aged 19 (died before vet could get there). This was very unexpected as she was not "old".

I had planned a "day too soon" approach but in the end they both went unexpectedly and there was no decision to be made. If you are having thoughts it probably suggests it wont be too long before it is time - I wish mine had both had the peaceful end of a planned pts - traumatic for you but not for the horse.
 
My boy was 25, his back legs went on him and I had to hold his feed and walk around in a circle while he was eating, it was the only way he could stay upright, but I knew that if he went down he wouldn't be able to get back up and being 17.2hh he would probably do himself injury if he did fall, so I had him PTS before it came to that and he got too stressed. My current boy is 19 but doesn't look or act his age, but I do worry as you never know whats around the corner.
 
Hi,

I've been very lucky so far and not had to say goodbye to any of mine, but my oldest is 33 now, and the vet has told me to 'keep and eye'. No real health problems, but he's slowing down a bit now.

Lots of people have told me that you'll just know when its time, and thats the advice i'm taking. You'll know your horse better than anybody else x
 
i lost my mare (nearly 6yrs ago) at the ripe old age of 31yrs, until 2 weeks before i lost her i thought (along with professionals) she was only just touching 20yrs. the people who moved her knew her well so were able to tell me her correct age which was a shock, she never lost weight or anything and certainly never appeared an old girl.

sadly one day she went down in the field and couldn't get up, vet came out at 9am and gave her injections after exam but didn't have any idea what was wrong with her. hoped the injections would kick in and work but by 12pm she was still no better, another vet came out and said that it would be best to pts. i had hoped to have made plans for her but wasn't given the chance as it was so sudden.
 
My little Welsh A was only 15yrs. She had lost an eye to a tumour, had copd & was very prone to laminitus. The lami was managed with plenty of work (cooed fine with the 1 eye) & restricted grazing but her chest got so bad that she couldn't work anymore. It got to the point that even with regular steroid injections she was struggling to breathe so I made the decision to pts. the daughter was only 8 at the time so didn't really understand although she knew she was ill. It was a horrible time but I felt a great relief when I finally made the choice as I knew it was for the best.
Wish you all the best xx
 
one of mine was 22 and was retired as he had a back problem and just before the winter he had problems getting up in the field(he was in at night and out in day)and as i worked in london all day i decided to call it a day before the winter hit in case he went down and couldnt get up, he was pts on the sat and it started snowing on the monday so i felt i had done the right thing by him as he hated rain/snow anyway.

one was 24 and had arthritis in her knee and had also been retired for a while but she injured her stifle in the field and was in a lot of pain , my vet gave strong painkillers and said he would come back to assess, she was no better after a couple of days and i decided that if she stayed in to rest the stifle her knee would be getting worse so made the decision on "quality of life". i had owned her for 23 years so it was a very difficult but i know it was the right one.

one was 35 and had been retired for 4 years and it was just before the winter and she had sidebone and ringbone and was beginning to find life difficult and seemed to be saying she was worn out , i discussed with my vet who said as she is struggling a bit now with the ground nice and level once it gets muddy or frosty she will be very uncomfortable so before the bad weather came she was pts.

although i miss them all, i wouldnt change what i did as i know if i had kept them going it would have been for me and not in their best interests.

my current horse is 20 and has cushings and some other issues and i am hoping that the treatment is going to let me keep her for at least a fewmore years, fingers crossed....
 
My first horse was 27, I'd only owned him 18months and rescued him from a farm where he'd just been forgotten about. He loved going out for little potters and once he'd improved vet said take him out. He had a heart attack whilst I was riding him, we where only walking and although it was absolutely horrendous at the time for me, for him it was very quick.

I lost my mare three years ago at the age of 24, she developed laminitis in the June and I had her put down in the September. Vet advised me that she'd never be able to go out on grass and for me this was no life for her. She'd never had it before.

My best friend lost her mare this year at the grand age of 37!! She looked amazing up to november last year when she developed a skin infection and she never really got over it. She was bright enough but she went down a few times and although we got her up we all felt the time was coming for her and also we worried about the flies in the summer. She picked up alot in march but then collapsed in field in april and my friend made the decision. She was put to sleep with all her friends round her as she was very very much loved xx
 
My girl was only at a sad age of 7! She had irreversible internal problems, caused by a previous owner, which sadly meant that she no longer had the quality of life which she should have had. Poor girl, never once did she complain.

Just hope to not have to make that decision again anytime soon :(
 
My old girl was 35 she had cushing!! My moms old lad was 45 he had a heart attack!! We have a 38 yo now and this day is coming!! But we owe her a nice send off as she has given everyone in are family something!! Its heartbreaking x
 
Those who have 'died of old age' (although in reality all have been pts) have been at least in their 20s. Our current oldie is 30 and has been retired for 5 yrs, following a grumbling colic which lasted 3 days. The vet said if she didn't respond to treatment on the 3rd day, there was nothing else that could be done. She has happily been a field ornament and companion since then but a couple of years ago a new vet diagnosed a heart problem which caused her to have fluid on the lungs. So before taking her through last winter we had her vet checked again (by an experienced vet) and there was no problem found. In fact she is maintaining her weight and is very supple, we are very pleased and are expecting to get her successfully through this winter.
The oldest horse we've ever had was a Clydesdale mare who the vet reckoned was about 40 when she was pts because of heart problems.

I firmly believe that quality of life has to be the deciding factor and am definitely an exponent of the 'day too soon' school of thought.
 
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Oh wow, thank you everyone for your thoughts. I am finding it very heartwarming how many people really do there best for their horses, it is such a tricky road to walk having to make such fine decisions.

My horse was bought from some travellers by a friend as a thin flea ridden foal (on her way back from the supermarket?!) at 6 months - he was eventually sold to a girl who then sold him to me, aged 6. I didn't really want a horse .... but also didn't want to see him have to go out into the big wide world again ... so we have had 13 great years together.

Its so difficult when you are making decisions for a friend, so thanks again for your contributions.
 
My oldie had to be PTS last week due to sever colic, she was 24 had owned her 9.5 years as my first pony. Up until then she had been fit and happy, she had come back from doing a check ligament last year and got to hunt her one more time. I always thought it would be her leg or heart that would go, and we had said that if anything happened then we would PTS as don't think she would of retired well, in the end the decsion was taken out off my hands, it was a massive shock to lose her this way, she'd never had a days colic with us but thankfully our vet came fairly quickly and I hope she wasn't in pain to long, as happened over night and I found her like it first thing in the am :(
 
early 20's - pts, broken leg
early 20's - died
mid forties - pts, had enough, wanted to go
2 weeks - pts, ill, no prospect of any quality of life
 
I lost my boy at 15 back in July.
He had djd in both his front pasterns, the right one was quite severe. He had to be retired but I struggled to keep him field sound. So on the 22nd of July I said goodbye and ended his pain.
 
Four and a half - chronic damage to both rear suspensory ligaments.

Currently have an old chap. Thought we were going to lose him earlier this year, but he seems to have developed a new lease of life :D. D1 plays with him and he follows me round the field, resting his head on my back :D. Mild cushings, laminitis prone anyway (some rotation, but three months box rest luckily got him right that time), arthritis in front legs and mild in hinds, and generally a cheeky little so and so :D. Hoping that this winter is not going to be hard (I keep reading totally differing forecasts!); if it's mild enough then he'll keep going with magnetic boots, ad lib hay, daily feed, Bowen Therapy. If the forecasts all say a harsh winter and/or he lets me know he's had enough, then will be time to say goodbye.
 
12 year old - colic - went for surgery, but when they opened him up and saw the chances of him making a full recovery were fairly bleak, so I decided to have him pts on the operating table.
33 year old - died on the yard - I found her lying flat out in front of the stables at home with one of her friends standing nearby - she lifted her head and nickered to me, then quietly passed away - really nice way for me to lose her - she was my first pony.
26 year old - colic - came home at lunch time to find him thrashing around in the field. I wasn't going to even contemplate surgery on a horse of his age, and he was never going to grow old gracefully!
28 year old - lay down in her stable and couldn't get up. She also had cushings
 
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