What Would You Do? (Elderly pony)

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I have a 33 year old (though vet says im being generous... at the very least she is 5 years older in his opinion) 11.1hh exmoor x bay mare, Trixie. I have had her for nearly 9 years and she was my first pony.
She was retired from full work at 30 due to having absolutely no rider, and since then occasionally gets hacked out as she does love to get out and about.

My problem lies with her in the winter.

She has always been great to do, but obviously as she's aged she has begun to struggle. She is fine in summer, however this winter has been/is being a real struggle for her.

She has never been rugged before this year as she grows such a thick coat, but we rugged her to help her along abit.

Unfortunately Trixie has severe COPD and due to this cannot cope with being stabled for any length of time, and even becomes choked up and wheezy if put in a shed/stable block for as little as 5 minutes.
She is offered soaked hay, but doesen't tend to try to eat it and so is given adlib haylage but finds it difficult to eat due to her poor teeth, EDT has tried to help her as much as he can however her teeth are so loose that he fears too much work on them would just make them fall out one by one.

She has also always suffered from choke when fed hard feed, which limits what she can be fed to help keep the weight on her. I have tried as much as I can but the only thing she can eat without choking is Sugar beet soup (lots and lots of water added!).

Vet has also said that due to her age her kidneys are no longer functioning as well as they should be, but that for now she is ok in that respect.

She is looking very, very thin, but I know she will pick up as soon as the spring grass comes along.
Aside from her weight she is a very happy pony, she is relatively sound (obviously abit stiff) and canters down, game as can be for her breakfast, lunch and dinner. She also still flirts with the geldings when she can and she bounces alongside me when brought in to be groomed.

This was her in February 2007
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This was her in April 2007
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June 07
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October 07 (after having tail washed)
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And February 08.
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Rugless thanks to the sunshine.

She's still happy... and come spring i'm sure her weight will pick up.

I just really want your opinions... on what i'm doing wrong. On whether i'm being fair.
 
She is doing really well for her age. I do think that you should consider giving her the summer then putting her to sleep in autumn before she starts going downhill again. I'm sorry as this is probably not the answer you want.
 
I think she is looking great for her age and as you say, she seems happy in herself too. It's hard to know what to do for the best when they get to her age. She doesn't seem to have suffered any bad weight loss over this winter, and from all accounts it has been a pretty bad one over there. I think you just have to keep doing what you are doing until she tells you enough is enough. I know you love that pony enough to know when she is no longer happy or coping with her age and living out 24/7.

Big hugs for you and Trixie.x
 
IMO I think she is looking fabulous for her age and from what you say she is still enjoying live. You are doing everything that you can for her and as you must be seeing her at least 3 times a day she could not have any better care and attention.

As long as you can cope with the additional time you have to put in to keep her as well as she is looking then I would say continue doing it and keep on monitoring her. The fact you have the photos through the season clearly show how much you care for her well being and I can honestly say you have done very well with her.
 
TBH, for such an oldie, I think she looks really good. Hopefully we are well on our way to spring now, so I would give her this summer and then maybe have a serious think come September time. As you have said, she is still happy in herself and has a spring in her step. Am sure she will let you know when she has had enough.
 
The oldies at our yard are fed soaked fibre nuts, basically fibre nut soap a bit like porridge, keeps the weight on a 36 year old at our yard. Definetly worth a try, they all stay out 24/7. I think you will know if she is ready to go, and to me she doesnt look ready. We had a pony at our yard that only had to be PTS at 41, was fluffy, rugged lived out 24/7 and had basically no teeth the fibre cubes helped anyway pm me and I can send you some pics and more info
 
your horse is absolutly beautiful!x in the pic of her in June she looks as old as my 19year old gelding!
my mums pony is very old and her teeth are simular apart from our vet tells us that the exercise helps her keep goin.. shes 36 years old and very special to us and my mum and dad. she cannot digest hay, so we have to feed her chaffs that are equivelent to hay such as:
hi-fi senior, ready grass. we give he a whole water bucket full.. ready grass is just chopped grass and is great so is hi-fi senior visit your local feed shop and they will tell you more about it.. and also have you thought about changing dentist because the fact that they are telling you that your horses teeth will fall out is outstanding. he/she may be right but call another vet or dentist to see trixie and ask for their opinions about her teeth. our vet is great and they give us great advice about our old horse. visit www.dengie.co.uk to find out about other feeds to feed your horse.x hope i've helped x
 
Bless her. I think she looks fine.
If she is doing what any normal healthy horse does and she certainly seems to enjoy life then I think you are doing a marvellous job. If her health had deteriorated or she was like a hat rack then you may have to make a decision but from where I'm sat she looks fine. Your vet has seen her too and said she is fine for now too.
I dont think you are doing anything wrong at all. Have you tried soaking some High Fibre cubes, they go into a mush which looks like baby food!
There are plenty of horses this time of year that look lean not just yours and ones alot younger than yours too!
She is lucky to have you as you so obviously love her to bits and thats why you will know yourself when her time has come but with spring round the corner I dont think it will be just yet.
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she does look great for her age. we have a 29 year old who a couple of years ago look very dogy and we wondered wether it would be fair to put him through another winter so we gave him the summer, cahnged his food made sure he always had plenty of hay etc and he put plently of weight on. this was about 2 years ago now and we have never looked back. he has barely dropped any weight atall through the winter and he is as happy as larry!
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if u can put the effort in to make the difference then it is certanily worth doing!
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There are some really good new feeds on the market now. I seem to remember talking to a company at an exhibition that specialised in freeze drying grass. Perhaps this might be a food that suits her? Sorry I can't remember their name....
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I think her fluff does help make her look abit better. I can feel her ribs clearly, and her hip bones, and her neck feels very, very scrawny.
But maybe I am just worrying too much about her, she was my first pony and so has an extra special place in my heart.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The idea of soaked fibre nuts is interesting, and may well be worth a try with her. The choke thing just worries me so much. But I could try a little and see how she copes with it.

Thanks for all your kind words everyone. It was just when i was watching her in the field rugless I got a new perspective on her. She just seems like a frail old lady these past few years, a side to her that never used to come out. She always used to be so robust. She still is in spirit but her body just makes me want to cry. When grooming her I never seem to see that side of her, it's only when I take a step back she seems somehow vulnerable.

Every month or so I stop and think "Am I being fair". And at the moment I think I am, because she still has that spark... but i'm worried that i'm going to be blinded because of how special she is to me when the time comes.

The two horses ive lost before, 1 passed away from heart failure at 36 and took the decision from us and the other, we had no choice but to PTS due to the severity of his navicular and laminitis.

This decision seems somehow down to me alot more and it's quite scary, given this decision at 17.
*mild panic*

Thanks again to everyone.
 
She is a lovely pony. You are not being unfair at all - the very fact that you are thinking about her 'feelings' above your own is the important factor.
I would see how she is this summer then look at her situation again in autumn.
I think you'll just know when the time is right for her to be put to rest. She'll let you know.
Make sure you enjoy this year with her, giving her lots of special love (I'm sure you'll do this anyway) then if the time is right in the autumn, you'll know you did the right thing.
 
Awww, I think she looks great and amazing last summer for her age.
A lady at my old yard had a Section A who couldnt eat haylage due to lack of teeth and choke. She used to feed him very sloppy soaked Alfalfa Nuts and he did great on them. He was late 30's when she had him pts but I'd left by then and dont know exactly why.
 
Personally i think she looks in great nick bless her i would give her a nice summer and see how she is ticking come autumn.
One of the elderly ponies was fed soaked cubes [cant remember if it was fibre or pony cubes] as had bad teeth and also had alot missing and she loves it bless her she was 35 an still in the school.

Im really do beleive they let you know when they are ready to go and as owners i feel you will know i really would just give her the summer and maybe get the vets opinion again come later in the year.
 
Thanks again everyone.

Will keep you all up to date on her. I'm going to go in to the tack shop and have a look at what I can get feed wise for her, as soon as possible.

Thanks again.
 
please do and dont stress you obviously love her very much you care enough to put her personal needs beyond your own she is lucky to have a mummy like you and dont ever forget that x x x x
 
Have a look at 'Le Brick' -
it crumbles easliy and it is very tasty and tempting source of fibre
ANd perhaps soak some balancer/supplent pellets into her sugar beet- you could pummell a mug full to crumb then add them
 
Hi what about Bailey No1 mixed with sugar beet and loads of water? I use No1 for my 28yo and it really works well, i think she looks good for her age and from what you say she still is happy in her self. I am a great believer in they will let you know when they are ready and have had enough and you just read the signals.
 
Another possibility may be soaked grass nuts.

I think she looks good for her age & I believe you'll know when she's had enough. She's a very lucky lady to have someone who cares for her so much.
 
I have heard of "Le brick" I think LCobby, will see if i can find out much about it.
Thanks for the advice.

I've tried Cereals for her keltic2 but found that she simply couldn't consume them without suffering mild choke, which obviously wasn't good for her. Thaanks for the idea though.

Thanks yorkmummy.
 
no thanks needed babe your doing the best by her by actually taking a step back and asking what she needs i wish there was more horse owners out there like you.
 
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Every month or so I stop and think "Am I being fair". And at the moment I think I am, because she still has that spark... but i'm worried that i'm going to be blinded because of how special she is to me when the time comes.


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I think every owner of a very old horse does this every month or so. I think it is good that we do; it means we are reassessing the situation constantly. I KNOW you will know when the time is right - that time is not yet here though. She is beautiful; she may have dropped some weight but by god she looks fantastic for her age!

I'm pretty sure you'll do the same as many of us on here; keep her living a wonderful life, for as long as she can enjoy life.
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Thanks Tia. I hope you're right. Was actually hoping to take her inhand to the beach one day this summer.
She went about 5 years ago when i could still ride her and absolutely loved it. Transport is an issue but I think itd be worthwhile for both of us if I could though.
Sounds soppy, but i'd love to do it.
 
Lots of choice these days to put protein back when muscle is lost
Mine have had small quantities of soaked grass pellets, Speedibeet and Hi Fibre cubes with Alfa A or Hi Fi this winter, they also get some Top spec balancer.
The new Fast Fibre sounds a useful feed as are soaked alfalfa nuts and alfa-beet
As long as pony is happy--def sounds like it, dont give up yet
Very often they tell you when they have had enough
 
As usual, you are showing a caring and maturity well beyond your years. I'm not sure how it applies to older ponies, but winter is a time for our natives to naturally experience a weight loss and then, come spring, their metabolism changes and they cope well with new, spring grass.

As long as the spark is there, her appetite is good and she seems to be happy then there is NO NEED to mangle yourself! They do change shape radically when they have no muscle. And winter up where you are isn't a walk in the park!

I can see the logic in the autumn re-think, but I'd have to have a damn good reason to PTS long before she is showing signs of having had enough. I should really be putting Polly to sleep based on her sudden downturn just before Christmas. This was her on Monday.....
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I forgave her rider's hands as Polly was flat out at this point
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She did it nicely before temptation overcame her
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I think you'll know when the time comes and you have had plenty of experience of the bad times with Boo. Keep the pics coming and I wish Trixie a long and sunny summer
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I would agree with Donkymad. Let her have this summer and then call it a day for her in the autumn, rather than her having to cope with another winter. We had to make this decision last autumn for our 33 year old Appy. It would have been unfair of us to make her struggle through a wet winter.
 
Ive got 2 very elderly ponies, whilst they are not as old as your lass (mine are 26, one does have nearly no front teeth.
with pride my 14hh we had a very rough year and he did look like a toast rack at one point. however the cause was found (bad teeth fixed by the dentist) and now he is in amazing shape.
harvey my 12.2 first pony, currently looks like a toast rack, he just suddenly went downhill. he has no front teeth (had a few kicked out when he was young and has lost all but one of the rest to old age). we have just found a feed to help put weight on him, but he is being fed 5 times a day. we have decided that we are going to see how he copes with this summer, take him to the beach like you are going to do, give him a realy good summer and then we think that come autumn he will be PTS. he is still happy in himself and tootles round bossing round my 16hher however i realy do not want to put him through anouther winter like this, he will go out on a high haveing had a good summer and with his head in a feed bucket at home in his stable. I'd rather he went like that then in the middle of a cold wet field at some ungodly hour of the morning in winter. a friend of mine kept her arab going and he looked fairly well, but they went out one morning in winter and he was down in the field and he never got back up again, i couldnt do that to harvey.

so as your lass is happy at the moment i'd be inclined to get some redi grass into her and some sumo (brilliant for ponies who need weight and isnt a hard feed as such so could be added to her sugar beet or liquid grass nuts). give her a brilliant summer and then come autumn make the desicion as to whether you think it fair for her to take her through anouther winter. It could be that like pridey she suddenly gets much better, within a month or 2 pride was fat and healthy again and we decided to continue with him rather then have him PTS but it did cross our minds several times and we did ask ourselves quite often was it fair for him.
 
There is a little welsh pony on our yard who is well into her 40's, like yours she can't cope with hay or haylage, but with good soaked feed every day she is still thriving and being a cheeky madam.
One you find a feeding regime that works (sugar beet and alfa beet are good) the condition will go back on, and grass will help. Global Herbs do a good product to help with the COPD too and you have time before next winter to look into rubber mats and a well ventilated indoor environment.

That pony could go on for ages yet
 
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