When a horse gets put to sleep

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toomanyhorses26

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My mare will be put down this week. Its the hardest choice I have ever made but I think its for the best for her. I have only ever been around older horses when they have been put to sleep - so either already down or ill so a lack of fight anyway and they have just drifted off.

My mare is 9 years old looks amazing and its still full of life - how will she react? My worry is she starts to fight it - I just want her to go quietly and peacefully with no fuss. My vets have been fantastic so I know she will be in safe hands. Guess I am just worrying about everything and nothing :(
 
My beautiful youngster was put to sleep after a horrible, horrible field accident this week and it was the hardest thing Ive ever done to put to sleep a horse who should have had a whole life infront of her.

Just make sure your there as you owe it to her and by your presence I believe that you will make her passing a hell of a lot calmer than being in the hands of someone she dosnt know. Also sedation may make it easier on both of you.

I really feel for you as I know how hard it is.
 
I am fully intending to be there - I cant believe its happening - I feel so guilty for what has happened and cant believe she wont be here anymore. Thank you for your reply - I hadn't even considered sedation but think it may makes things better
 
fornema said:
Just make sure your there as you owe it to her and by your presence I believe that you will make her passing a hell of a lot calmer than being in the hands of someone she dosnt know. Also sedation may make it easier on both of you.

I really feel for you as I know how hard it is.
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Unfair. If the owner can be sure they will remain calm then fair enough but if they are going to become highly distressed themselves then its a resounding no. I have held a friends horse who was shot. Horse knew me well as I helped look after her. My vet made me walk away when my own horse was PTS as I was incoherent and incredibly distressed. That manifested itself to my old boy.

To try to make it easier on yourself, just make sure you have done all the "planning" up front as you really do not want to have to deal with that immediately afterwards (thinking specifically of " disposal") and talk to your vets about the options open to you. Some will only inject, some will only use a bullet. Make sure you have discussed the fact that your mare looks well to all intents and purposes so might well fight the injection. If you are claiming on your insurance, check now you are covered. Talk to your vet as well when in discussion with the insurance as well. This will feel horribly premeditated to do this but you really won't want to deal with that afterwards. Ensure you have support around you and expect it will hit you. Above all, know you have done the best thing for your horse who will have no idea of what will happen. All the grief and suffering will come from your side, not your horses.
 
When the time has come to pts, I've opted to give my ponies half a tube of sedalin half an hour before the vet was due just to take any edge off them a little. Some people do this; others don't. I opted for it especially if I thought the pony might be stressed by the injections.

Then when the vet's arrived, he's injected another sedative.

Then we've led the pony out of the stable and onto a soft grassy area (so they fall softly) and away from anything like fences, walls etc as you can't be sure what direction they are going to fall in. But still making sure that there's good access for a vehicle to come and collect the body.

And then the vet has given the final injection.

It's all been very calm and peaceful. The ponies have just become more heavily sedated, and by the time their legs crumpled, they were gone.

I wish you strength on the day. It's a tough decision, but we are so fortunate to have humane methods of this final act.

Sarah
 
Thank you for all your replies - my insurance won't be covering this as they are insisting I put her through the op even though she wont be sutiable to rehab afterwards - far too full of life ,hates being stabled for long periods of time and doesn't knowthe meaning of quiet walk work. Just cant believe that is it at the age of 9
 
Im so sorry to hear this! I have no experience other than losing a horse years ago, but she was already at hospital when she was PTS. A friends pony was PTS at our yard last year and I stayed with her to support. It was handled very kindly by the vet and was peaceful and quick. Dont really know what else to say, but thoughts are with you. Can I ask what op was she offered and what is the condition she is suffering with?
 
She basically came from loan not the horse I sent away . I tried to get her working as she was but was just met with resistance. I took her to my vets and she was bilaterally lame behind - nerve blocked and x rayed and there were moderate changes in both hocks. Rested and prescribed danilon - saw some improvement so vet said to bring her back into very light work literally 10-15 minute walk hacks (yeah right :) ) still having some resistance but thought it could be because she hasn't done anything for 8-10 weeks and this is a horse that thrives on routine and work. She started disaplying some worrying behaviour when being tacked up as well. Been seen by my vets again - who have now agreed that the hocks maybe a red herring as such - there are problem there but think they maybe secondary to other issues. She was x rayed and scanned and they found kissing spines on T1-8 T12 and L1-3 so basically a very very broken mare. They believe there is some suspensory problems as well but haven't actually scanned to confirm.
 
Ah, I wondered. My horse had bilateral suspensory desmitis. I suspected KS too, but we never went down this road as the suspensories were thought to be the root of the problems. My horse had sacro iliac pain as well so had some behavioural issues with back pain.
 
flintfootfilly said:
When the time has come to pts, I've opted to give my ponies half a tube of sedalin half an hour before the vet was due just to take any edge off them a little. Some people do this; others don't. I opted for it especially if I thought the pony might be stressed by the injections.

Then when the vet's arrived, he's injected another sedative.

Then we've led the pony out of the stable and onto a soft grassy area (so they fall softly) and away from anything like fences, walls etc as you can't be sure what direction they are going to fall in. But still making sure that there's good access for a vehicle to come and collect the body.

And then the vet has given the final injection.

It's all been very calm and peaceful. The ponies have just become more heavily sedated, and by the time their legs crumpled, they were gone.

I wish you strength on the day. It's a tough decision, but we are so fortunate to have humane methods of this final act.

Sarah
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This ^^ and also this -

Luci07 said:
Unfair. If the owner can be sure they will remain calm then fair enough but if they are going to become highly distressed themselves then its a resounding no. I have held a friends horse who was shot. Horse knew me well as I helped look after her. My vet made me walk away when my own horse was PTS as I was incoherent and incredibly distressed. That manifested itself to my old boy.

To try to make it easier on yourself, just make sure you have done all the "planning" up front as you really do not want to have to deal with that immediately afterwards (thinking specifically of " disposal") and talk to your vets about the options open to you. Some will only inject, some will only use a bullet. Make sure you have discussed the fact that your mare looks well to all intents and purposes so might well fight the injection. If you are claiming on your insurance, check now you are covered. Talk to your vet as well when in discussion with the insurance as well. This will feel horribly premeditated to do this but you really won't want to deal with that afterwards. Ensure you have support around you and expect it will hit you. Above all, know you have done the best thing for your horse who will have no idea of what will happen. All the grief and suffering will come from your side, not your horses.
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Brilliant advice for both scenarios (gun or injection). For positive and sensible advice on the former method see Here - Andrew Goatman
 
I had my lovely mare put to sleep just over a week ago.

She was an incredibly fit, 8yo in excellent condition. She went by injection and it was incredibly peaceful and dignified.

I am sorry to hear about your horse, stay strong.
 
I have had 4 horses PTS in the years ive had horses they all went peacefully without fuss.
Is your mare well behaved with her vaccinations? if so i doubt you will have a problem
I did stay with all of mine as i felt i owed it to them, try and do this one last thing for her if you feel you can cope. Be prepared for her to go down quickly she may even be dead before she hits the ground, sorry if that upsets you i thought you should be well informed on what to expect
Vets are often worried that distressed horse owners may freeze and the horse might land on them
If you cant cope let someone she knows stand with her so she doesnt become worried by whats happening as she needs to be still enough for a vet to get a catheter into a vein
Having had one of my horses shot i personally will not be using this method ever again
 
Be prepared for air to expel it may sound like them moaning but they are already gone and are feeling nothing. I don't wish to be morbid but thought it may worry you if you haven't heard it before.
 
In the last couple of years, I've had a 10yo and a 29yo PTS. The 10yo actually went more quietly than my old boy, but both times were peaceful. The vet sedated first, then once the horse was sleepy, administered the injection.

For me, it was important to be there and keep myself together for the horse. When my old boy went, I wasn't allowed to be the one holding him as I was in a brace and couldn't move out of the way quickly if I needed to, but I was right there with him.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP - and all the others who've been through it. I had a similar situation with my 10yo, although I had put him through an operation and tried to get him sound, he just was never going to heal; and he was a high-maintenance horse who didn't get on in a field with others, so I couldn't even keep him as a field ornament.
 
So sad to hear your news. The last horse I had put to sleep the Vet mentioned that the injection he used stopped brain and heart which no Vet had every mentioned before , so worth asking your Vet .
 
I am 99% sure I am going to be there as I owe it to my beautiful girl - she was only meant to be a project to sell on but I owe her everything and she owes me absolutely nothing. She is an absolute babe to handle on the ground and the vet that has treated her most often is the erson who will be there to inject her. I can't change what has led to this but I am hoping that I can make this as easy for her as possible
 
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