When pairbond PTS in older horses..........

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TequilaMist

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My old lad 26 yr old welsh cob( has been retired for last 10yrs )has a pairbond a 21 yr old 17 hh sporthorse type who hasn't been 100% lately .They are like the waldorf and statler(muppets) of the field,never that far from each other if not joined at hip.Owner was discussing if he would see another winter which brought me to my thought
Do I put my boy to sleep at same time,nothing too wrong healthwise stiffness getting worse and he has really aged in last couple of yrs.Even now he is not holding his weight as he used to with summer grass, still looks a bit ribby for him.He just looks like an old man.He's not normally a 'herd' type he is there usually on outskirts of herd but never totally mixes with them if you know what I mean and is bottom of pecking order.
Or do I wait and see if he stresses for pairbond then PTS if unable to cope
Hopefully won't come to this but..
Any thoughts?
 
An awkward situation! It is really about quality of life isn't it? If your horse is left on his own and as a result, he becomes very stressed (give it a week or so though - he is certainly going to be stressed to begin with) then he will lose more weight and will probably struggle to enjoy his existence. Then you will have to make that tricky decision - but always remember, what would your horse want? I would hate to see a healthy horse pts - could you loan him as a companion or take in another loan horse to be his new companion?
I think you'll have to see how he reacts when the situation arises but be prepared to consider as many options as the good people on HHO will no doubt answer on this thread!
 
I have 4 horses and 2 are in their 20's a mare and a gelding .We call them 'darby and Joan' as they are a lovely pair mostly hanging about together while the 2 young horses run about and play .The mare is the mother to the one younger horse.
I do wonder what to do if anything happens to one of them .
I think the mare would cope as she does have her son in the herd and she is fond of him but the gelding really does adore the mare and loves to be near her (she is less clingy)
I think if anything happened to the mare I would definitely give the old gelding a chance to see if he could cope .I am toying this year with getting another mare (all the rest of mine are geldings) so he may pal up with her .
I think its only fair to give them a chance they are bound to grieve a bit if they have been together a long time .Only you will know what is right to do.
 
We had two TBs both in their late 20s early 30s - they were both successful HOYS winners in their younger days, but in their dotage had become very dependent on each other (to the point that they were called "The Glolivers" rather than their separate names of Glen and Oliver. They even used to share a stable when they came in for the farrier When Oliver had a couple of fits in 2008, the vet said that the time had come - and we made the decision to have GLen put down at the same time. They were already distressed about being separated into two stables whilst Oliver was being treated so it was the best thing for both of them.

Easier for us, as we owned both of them, therefore could decide more easily than two separate owners trying to decide what to do. Best of luck in making your decson. I am sure you will do whatever is best for your horse.
 
We had two elderly shetlands at the yard. Both of them were glued to the hip. One was PTS this winter, (imo she should have been pts before winter, it was awful seeing her try to endure the cold :(), owner's excuse was they didn't want to have her pts as she was still following her buddy round the field, despite holding her winter coat all year, being a bag of bones and not being able to bend her back legs due to advanced arthritis. It was absoloutly awful to watch (and infuriated me when the mare collapsed and all of a sudden the owners cared :mad:) but they figured that when one mare went, the other would too. 6 months on and the other shetland is thriving fine, but still keeps herself to herself rather than being part of the herd.
 
I agree, quality of life is to me the most important factor when deciding what to do.

If your horse sees the other being PTS & then has 30mins or so with him, animals understand and then can mentally adjust to the new situation.

I would never want my own horse to stress itself into an early grave (ie worry itself so badly, it does damage by barging the fence or doing a tendon).

I think you need a crystal ball to really work out what to do for the best. The only thing, is that this decision (whichever way) needs to be made by only you , as you have to live with it for the rest of your life.
 
That was a very careing and loving thing to do for the two old fellas FMM.

After all, if it had been just the one chosen to stay, neither old horse would of known what was going on and the one left behind would only of known fear and lonliness after:(

So sad.
 
Hi, my friend brought her two horses up to livery with mine about 3 months ago. The mare was 24, se hd had her for 231/2 years and the gelding is 15, she has had him 141/2 years. The horses have always been together. Unfortunately the mare was showing signs of being in pain so friend had her pts last week. We were worried that her gelding would be stressed. I did say if he became stressed then we would could put our horses together but would rather not as this might cause more problems. Anyway her gelding has been fabulous. He is totally settled, I can take my horse out of next field with no problems and vice versa so all has worked out well.I would say give a healthy horse a chance
 
A difficult one...I've heard it suggested that when one of a pairbond is PTS, to allow the other to see the body, so that it understands what has happened, rather than the distressing situation of the one calling out for the other.

Personally, I've always been able to have horses socialise and be turned out in threes to prevent one becoming too dependant upon the other, and allow you to introduce another horse, if one has to be PTS.

I realise this isn't possible in every circumstance.
 
I lost my 21yr old TB mare at the begining of spring - her field mate (only the 2 of them) is my 23yr old IDx - they had been together for 8/9 years.

Sadly my mare broke her leg in the stable (probably age related) so my other horse whilst in the stable next door did not get to see her dead which would have been my preference if she had not been PTS as an emergency.

I turned him out with my other mare and to be honest apart from a couple of half hearted shouts during the first couple of days there was no drama.

Now 2 months on its as if she never existed for him - he has a new friend and that is all that matters to him.

I would try to maybe introduce anther friend before hand if possible, if not maybe put him in with another nice quiet horse on their own for a few weeks to allow them to bond before putting back in with a group.

I know exactly where you are coming from with the worry - it was always something that prayed on my mind - but in reality they are much more adaptable than we think.
 
I used to have 2 oldies, 1 died about 3 years ago, they had a very close bond, the remaining horse took a few months to adjust but did eventually bond with another oldie (who had been an ememy previously)
The other old mare died 3 weeks ago, her companion was very upset & fretted a lot of weight off in just a few days, she has now got a new friend & is looking happier already & was stopped loosing weight.
I think animals do grieve for their lost friends but not in the same way that we do & get over it a lot quicker than us.
But I totally understand letting 2 old friends go together,I friend of mine did that & I understand why she did it.
 
Thanks for replies.
He is actually in a herd its just that he doesn't appear to 'in' the herd by choice.He bonded with this guy probably cos 2 oldies together.Won't put him out as companion as he stays with me for his last years.
Because he's always been there and can't imagine him not being there even tho he's not been ridden for years -he was retired cos he really didn't like it - every step was grudged and nobody enjoyed riding him lol!!Wouldn't sell him in past as when we got him had a 'stuff the human race' attitude but he has mellowed with age.
Will probably see how he goes over summer as last couple of winters he hasn't come through great despite extra feeding
 
If he hasn't wintered very well, and the other one is struggling a bit too, why don't you think about giving them a nice summer together and then rather than putting them through another winter, just let them go together. I think it would be a nice ending for them both.
Sorry you are having to think about this. Tough decision to make.
 
Two of my boys (one 29, the other 35) lived as field mates for 10 years. The younger fell ill and was pts within 2 days, but spent his last morning with his mate. He was pts within sight of the other old boy, who was amazingly calm throughout (he's normally a stressy type of guy). 3 months on and he's living happily in his own field within sight of other horses, but has resisted one attempt to introduce another horse, he's totally calm and holding weight well. It really is a suck-it-and-see situation.
 
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