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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1053
 
Location: Arizona | I haven't been on here in forever but I figured ya'll would have some good insight into a situation I'm struggling with. My 10 year old gelding that I love dearly has ring bone and has dramatically gotten worse in the last 6 months. My hubby is a race track shoer so we've taken him to all the best vets at the track and he's tried every possible shoeing option. We've injected the joint with no relief at all. Our only other options at this point are very costly with no guarantee of helping. At this point, he's no longer rideable and I've come to terms with that. But now my husband is telling me it's time to put him down. He is significantly lame just walking around his pen. We live in Arizona where there aren't any pastures to just turn him out in. He is eating fine and seems happy but I'm not sure he has the best life. Is it time to put him down? How do you know when is the right time????? |
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Veteran
Posts: 150
| Just a thought before you do something....my 30 yo retired barrel horse w severe ringbone became dramatically worse and I thought it was time. So I took a look, cleaned out his foot with hoofpic and suddenly blood and gunk was gushing out....popped an abscess! He immediately went sound (well, for a 30 yo). You've probably already checked on this, but just in case.... :) |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| For me to put one down, I have to see it in their eyes. It's a very hard decision that we made about a month ago. We were in a similar situation with the choice of huge medical bills with little to no chance of improvement and chose to put our daughter's mare down. It's awful and I hate doing it, but when I saw the pain in her eyes, I knew it was time. Many prayers for you to make the right decision. |
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Veteran
Posts: 189
| My vet had me put one on low dose bute every AM, 1 gram. Worked pretty well for a long time. I hated it when people tell you "You'll know when it's time." BUT it is the truth....you can just tell |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 448
Location: lone star state | Have you tried previcox?
If you are at the last resort, I think if you know your horse they will tell you. Their eyes say a lot. Also when they stop eating and refuse treats is another sign. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| I think when an owner starts to question "when it's time" it's probably time. A lame horse won't always lose the spark, especially one that young but there comes the time when you have to question the quality of life that is being provided. We always want to do the right thing for our horses and for me, quality of life out weighs the spark.
ETA: We have a 31 year old gelding that we are going to have to have but down soon. He still has the spark, put he is terribly lame and doesn't bare weight on one hind foot.
Edited by cyount2009 2014-01-07 12:35 PM
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2930
Location: North Dakota | For me, when the horse is in pain and I cannot do anything for them, it's time.
I had to make that decision in Sept of 2012. It was a very hard decision and I still miss him terribly, but I know it was the right decision. He was becoming grumpy and that wasn't his personality. Even with daily bute. I knew he was irritated by the pain and so I put him down.
Only YOU can make that decision. But the fact that you are asking about it, may mean you are close to ready.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1053
Location: Arizona | I'm just so mixed about it. On one hand, he hurts and I hate seeing him like that. But on the other hand, I wouldn't want to be put down just because I hurt...just turn me out in a pasture and let me live until I can't stand it anymore. Know what I mean? He's still young and he seems happy. My husband's opinion is that he's not productive and we can't just keep feeding him forever. He'd let me do that if that's what I wanted but he doesn't agree with it. I don't want to make the decision because we're feeding a "worthless" horse. I want to because it's right for him. Ugh...such a difficult decision :-( |
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 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | It is such a tough decision... I'm at that point with my navicular 5 year old, he is maxed out on previcox, barely comfortable, and can only be ridden at a walk once or twice a week for a very short period of time or he gets worse. I feel like I should put him down because he's bored and lonely when I take my other guy and go ride and he's in constant discomfort and there's nothing I can do, I can't ask him where it hurts and how bad on a scale of 1-10. But..... He looks somewhat happy for the most part and it's even harder when they are young and still look healthy when they hold still, you get to thinking just look at him out there, he looks happy and comfortable... Then he moves and you're like  all over again.
I think they do tell you when they are ready, but I think we get so clogged up in the what-if's. I know I start thinking it's my selfishness that wants to put him down because I can barely afford to keep him comfortable and then on the other side of the coin is I feel selfish for keeping him around when he obviously isn't comfortable.
No real advice here just a story share and a shoulder via PM if you need it  |
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 Star Padded Honey
Posts: 8890
Location: NW MT | Has your hubby looked into the shoeing technique that Gene Ovnicek developed? I had a gelding that developed ringbone & we did this - & he went sound! With your hub being a shoer, he could easily do it all himself. |
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| I have to disagree to some point about knowing when it is time... It is not always cut and dry....It sure would be nice if it were but in most cases, you always have just one more thing that you can try (just in case) but when it comes down to it, you need to look at when and if their bad days out number the good. And even after you have come to grips with the decision you have to make, you will sometimes always have it in the back of your head (what if I just tried this or that ....). I was told that a good rule of thumb to go by is it is better to do it too early than too late...... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1053
Location: Arizona | Rockyroad - 2014-01-07 10:14 AM
Has your hubby looked into the shoeing technique that Gene Ovnicek developed? I had a gelding that developed ringbone & we did this - & he went sound! With your hub being a shoer, he could easily do it all himself.
Nope, haven't heard of it. I just googled his name and found his site. Which technique are you talking about?
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Star Padded Honey
Posts: 8890
Location: NW MT | azleigh - 2014-01-07 11:32 AM Rockyroad - 2014-01-07 10:14 AM Has your hubby looked into the shoeing technique that Gene Ovnicek developed? I had a gelding that developed ringbone & we did this - & he went sound! With your hub being a shoer, he could easily do it all himself. Nope, haven't heard of it. I just googled his name and found his site. Which technique are you talking about?
darn, not seeing it listed but I might be missing it. I am sure that Farrierlady is familiar w/it too & would be a good reference. I can't explain so that it would make sense. Let me know if you can't find anything & I will try to find more to explain better than I can. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | I'm in the same boat --- I have one with low rinbone that I have done everything short of experimental surgery to get sound and had no luck. We did injections, special shoes, low doses of Bute and then Previcox, and I even tried IRAP/magnetic therapy/AcuLife. I wasn't looking for riding sound but was hoping I could get him pasture/comfortable sound. The IRAP was a last ditch effort and sadly it produced no results (it's not commonly used for ringbone).
I made the decision today that after all the pokes, the meds, the everything that I put him through to try that he's tired of being a pin cushion and he's ready. He's tired of gimping around and it's time to send him to greener pastures.
I think in your situation that when you've had enough and he's had enough you'll know it's time.
Best of luck! |
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 Veteran
Posts: 149
Location: where the snow is flying | We had a horse given to us with ringbone. The deal was either we fixed her disclosing all we did to help her and she was ours or we returned her to the owner to be put down. She also had been to all the vets and had connections to the racetrack. Let's just say she went back to running sound ---and was ran painfree for several years after. We did corrective shoeing based on her xrays---had her angles such that it took pressure off of the ringbone (hers was in the coffin bone)...which meant keeping her toes short, resetting her every 4-5 weeks--whenever she would start stubbing her toes it was time to reset. The other key piece was iontophoresis. It seriously worked. It wasn't expensive and we did it ourselves. The most expensive part of it was our time. You have to be devoted to doing the treatment. For more details feel free to pm me. She actually was one of the published case studies in Deborah Powell's book--2nd edition. Because of her sore feet, she came to us with a lot of neck, poll, and brachiocephalicus muscle soreness which we treated with regular accupressure using a laser light, chiropractic, and ting/meridian balancing. However, the more we did the iontophoresis and got her feet in order, the less we had to do the rest of the stuff. A youth rider then took over on her after we ran her for probably 4 years---at full disclosure of her issue and what was done to maintain her---and they ran her for a couple years--competitively in NBHA events--...maintaining only with laser therapy and corrective shoeing. The youth has outgrown her, but the horse is still alive and well today.
Edited to add--we tried injecting her feet too....and it did not help...if anything, it made her worse. She had low ringbone. I also don't think this completely cured her. This helped maintain/make her comfortable. We knew and told her next family, this was just buying her time....and one day it could be her demise.
Edited by sugargal 2014-01-07 10:01 PM
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How do you know when it's time to put one down?