what now .....

[maxapple]

I am about to totally retire my old boy (who is mid 20's) after a winter of just very light work. I finally realised today that he has had enough .. he has navicular in his front feet so can't walk down hills and now even walking on the flat is causing him problems. He also has arthiritis which is made worse by his problems in his feet - when walking he has started to drag one (sometimes both) of his back feet along the floor - almost as if its too much for him tp pick them up properly. Its also becoming difficult for me to pick his back feet up to pick his hooves out as he can't cope with standing on 3 legs even for a short period of time.

he was out of work all summer as the ground was too hard & he couldn't cope with riding - but i managed to get him back into light work again over the winter - which helped for a little while but he is deteriorating again quite quickly now. He's on bute daily & supaflex which doesn't seem to be doing much.

He lives out which is helping his legs slightly. He also needs to live out as he coughs badly when stabled - even when on dust free bedding & hage.

I know his riding days are over now. i'd love him to have a happy retirement just grazing out in the field with his friends. The problem is that he is a 'good do'er' and only needs to look at grass to put on weight! Even now he has a big belly - despite it being the middle of the winter! In the past i used to manage his weight in the summer by riding every day & stabling him at night - neither of which will be an option. I know as soon as the spring grass comes through he will balloon & then a) his legs won't be able to cope with the weight and b) the risk of him getting laminitis is very high.

I don't think i have many options really - at the moment i think all i can do is give him a few weeks of spring and spil him rotten and then say goodbye. i just wanted to know what others thought or if there is a solution i'm not thinking of? He was my 1st horse & i know i have to make sure i do whats right for him rather than just keep him going because i can't bear to part with him.

any thought / advice would be much appreciated

I know he's an old boy - but he was so full of life this time last year I never thought i'd be facing this decision so soon.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

You might be able to keep him going for longer if you had access to a large field shelter and a bald patch, so when the spring/summer comes his grazing was restricted (which could be supplemented with hay) and he could get in out of the heat and flies when he needed to, but still be able to move around enough that he didn't get too stiff. However your circumstances may not permit this, and there is not garentee he will be happy living like this, it is his quality of life you have to balance against your quite normal wish to give him a long and happy retirement. It does get to be a bit of a catch 22 in the end, which was why the old cob I shared for years had to be PTS, she couldn't stay in due to her breathing and artritis, but couldn't go out due to laminitis. If this is the case with your boy, don't beat yourself up that he hasn't had a retirement, many horses, just aren't happy not having a job or have conditions that mean their management becomes impossible and the kindess thing to do is to PTS.

 

[JACQSZOO]

I so know where you are coming from. I had exactly the same problems with Royale last year. Her navicular and arthritus meant she had to retire and I had no hope of keeping the weight off her. I had tried keeping her on a patch but my YO got funny about and in the end I decided the kindest thing I could do was let her enjoy herself for a few short weeks. She looked so well and it broke my heart but I know I did the right thing for her.
Good luck with your desicions x

 

[Baggybreeches]

I can only agree with the other 2 posts. Hard thing to decide but it better than having an unhappy horse.

 

[maxapple]

Thank you for your comments. I've had a chat with the vet today & I already knew what they would say!!

he's had a lovely life so i'm going to look at what we can do over the next few weeks to spoil him rotten & give him all the food he loves without worrying about the diet before saying goodbye.

Thanks again for the comments / advice. It helps to know other people understand.