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 Elite Veteran
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Location: Wide open spaces, Canada. | I know this post will stir up differences in opinions but I need to hear others thoughts on the matter. When a relatively young horse cripples up, what do you do with them? Keep them forever as a pasture ornament, put them down.....?
Long story short, we have a 11 year old mare that we paid a good amount of money for. We purchased her 3 years ago for my husband to calf rope on, she was also a nice heel horse and within merely weeks on barrels she was top of the 1 d . We only got 6 months on her and then she came up very sore. I've taken her to multiple equine lameness vets and spend thousands trying to diagnose her but none can pin point her lameness. She is supposedly papered but I have been unable to track down her papers , so although she is proven, I do not feel comfortable breeding a " grade " mare. So now after giving her 3 years off she has shown no improvements, if anything she is more sore....not even trail rideable. The discussion has come up between my husband and I , what do we do with her....???? He is old school cattle boy and he says if we can't do anything with her we should put her down. I'm not happy about feeding her for the next 20 years but I don't feel right about putting her down.........but I also find myself thinking about horse ppl who are in it as a business.....they can't keep crippled horses around, it just doesn't work that way in business.
Please feel free to post what you would do, or have done in similar situations to help me gain some clarity on the situation.
Here is a short video of her moving .....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vKNAXTaGtCQ
Edited by porky 2014-07-26 2:58 PM
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | if she can carry a foal comfortably, sell her or give her away as a recip mare. Most live cushy lives being baby mamas. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | wyoming barrel racer - 2014-07-25 11:16 PM if she can carry a foal comfortably, sell her or give her away as a recip mare. Most live cushy lives being baby mamas.
Thats a really good ideal, my friend and neighbor down the road raise's some of the best Running QH's out there and his recip mares are just beautiful. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | First, I'm sorry you have to go through this!
Second, I'm not in this for the business, but because I love them and it's my hobby.
I bought my gelding as a 6 year old that had 60 days on the pattern and just needed finished out. Over the next year I worked with a trainer and got him going really nice and started hauling him quite a bit. Then he started going lame. Over the next 5 years he was sound off and on with different treatments, injections. Just about every vet we went to had a different theory on what was going on and it would work for a few months(give or take) and then he would be hurting again. 2 years ago we finally got an answer, he has navicular! At that point he was dead lame almost every day. Sometimes had days where he didn't want to do anything because he hurt. We tried lots of meds, injections, powders, and finally getting his feet shod a certain way made him comfortable but not sound enough to ride or compete on but enough to keep him comfortable and happy. Before we got him comfortable we really considered putting him down. He is 14 now and will live out his life here with me as long as I can financially provide for him(and all my others). I don't like the uncertainty there is when giving him away as a pasture pet or something like that because he really is "worthless". But to me, I feel that I purchased him and promised to give him a home and love him. It's not his fault he is hurt. Not his fault he can't be ridden anymore. That's how I see it, if from a "business" type position I am sure it's way different. And I can see their side of it as well.
I think you need to decide if your willing to pay to feed a pasture pet of of putting her down is better especially if she isn't comfortable, then putting her down would be the best for her. |
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Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | wyoming barrel racer - 2014-07-26 12:16 AM
if she can carry a foal comfortably, sell her or give her away as a recip mare. Most live cushy lives being baby mamas.
This is great too!! I never even thought about that!! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2258
| Now first off I have several who were never sound to ride due to injury as babies but they were nicely papered and have given me wonderfull foals. I did have a mare we raised who had a very bad knee due to a nutritional problem with the mare after she foaled. I raised one foal out of her and then gave her to a lady as a recip mare. She was living the good life. |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | I'm so sorry. Tough road. If I wasn't good with just keeping her as a pasture ornament, then I would put her down. I wouldn't take the chance of sending her down the road. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 503
| Kudos to you for asking such a difficult question, a lot of people only think what is best for them and not for the horse. Is she comfortable as a pasture puff or is she still in pain? I had an awesome barrel mare that developed navicular. We had it manageable for a couple years, and then she went downhill. This was a mare that loved to work and it wasn't fair to her to limp around in the pasture all the time, so we put her down last year. It was hard and I miss her a lot, but it was time to go. In my case, that was the best choice. She's running free of pain somewhere up there now. :) |
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| Very similar situation happened to me twice. One was with a mare and about 2 months out she was very lame. Navicular. Too lame to be a trail horse even. Luckily she had foaled a 1D horse and was papered so she went on to be a broodmare. I loved her and it broke my heart to let her go. Bought a gelding who was a head horse and got him going on barrels. Loved him, but about 6 months out he would turn up lame after working patterns, then be sound a couple days later. Any time you worked patterns he was lame the next day. He was diagnosed with navicular. He was 9. He was pretty sound if you just rode lightly and he was very broke, so luckily we found him a home with a little girl and her family loves him. It was hard to let him go as well, I loved him. I just can't afford to keep one around that can't be competed on. I was lucky to find good homes for both. Maybe someone needs a recip mare or just needs a companion horse. Best of luck. I know it's difficult |
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 Peecans
| I think its a case by case situation.
Is the mare stable? Meaning is her condition getting worse? If shes slowly worsening personaly I would not breed her. Depending on the issue I wouldent breed a lame horse at all, preagincy is hard on a body, and at the end its alot of weight to cary around 24/7 and a spunky colt to keep up to.
Does she have a quality of life? Is she happy and thriving?
I have lots of room and pasture so I can keep an "unproductive" animal if I want to. I would keep her if she was comftrotable and happy, if not I would end her pain. |
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Expert
Posts: 2685
| Personally, I am in a position where I may be facing the same thing. Mine is 5 and registered. In this horses case I will keep her til the day she dies. She was my first horse that I did all by myself and my baby. Now that being said if any of my others were to do this and they weren't breeding worthy I would try to find a companion home with an agreement that if they ever want rid of the horse to contact me first and that I would come get it. I don't want a horse I took under my care to go to a kill buyer but if I can avoid having them put down by finding a good home with an easy life I would. That being said if the horse could not easily be kept comfortable (meaning if it took a butt load of $ to keep the horse comfortable) I would have it put down because I won't out that $ into a pasture ornament and I know no one else truly would either.
As for the recip suggestion I would make sure she goes to a great home. I mean really check it out. Recip lives aren't as cushy as some might think. I work at a vet that is 85% repro and I deal with recips everyday. 9 out of 10 don't get anything but fed. Meaning they don't get their feet done, they don't get handled well, they don't get treated if they are injured and not Prego or have a baby on them. The recips I deal with are 99% race recips. Could be different with other disciplines.
Prayers for your decision. I'm very sorry. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1196
Location: Wide open spaces, Canada. | della - 2014-07-26 5:10 AM
I think its a case by case situation.
Is the mare stable? Meaning is her condition getting worse? If shes slowly worsening personaly I would not breed her. Depending on the issue I wouldent breed a lame horse at all, preagincy is hard on a body, and at the end its alot of weight to cary around 24/7 and a spunky colt to keep up to.
Does she have a quality of life? Is she happy and thriving?
I have lots of room and pasture so I can keep an "unproductive" animal if I want to. I would keep her if she was comftrotable and happy, if not I would end her pain.
Her condition does appear to be worsening . She moves sore all the time and points her front right foot. She is out on 80 acres with 6 others and keeps up fine with them , I even see her sprinting around with them sometimes , even though she moves funny. She seems quite happy. |
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 Texas Lone Star
Posts: 5318
Location: where ever my L/Q trl is parked | I took a super nice grade 1d mare ( she was 7)up to Royal Vista Ranch in Purcell, Oklahoma several years ago to be used as a receiptant mare. She came up with what they call benched knees... I knew it would come a day she wouldn't be able to run and I didn't want to put her down. They will take healthy mares just for that and they do take care of them. Considering some are carrying or will be carrying high $$$$ babies. |
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| The recip mare is a great idea! But I would caution you about "giving" any horse away, unless you make a specific contract stating that the mare would be returned to you when she is no longer fit as a recipient. And unfortunately, even a contract doesn't guarantee anything these days.
Otherwise, when her days as a recip mare are done, she could find herself on a ONEWAY, OVERCROWDED semi trailer to a MEXICAN or CANADIAN slaughter house.
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 Keep those crap slapping tails away!
Posts: 8871
Location: Around here somewhere... | wyoming barrel racer - 2014-07-25 10:16 PM
if she can carry a foal comfortably, sell her or give her away as a recip mare. Most live cushy lives being baby mamas.
This is what I would do... But I'd use her myself lol I'm actually in a very similar situation myself. |
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 Lived to tell about it and will never do it again
Posts: 5409
| There is a lot worse thing then being put down humanly. If she is getting worse and lame all the time then I would say that her quality of life isn't all that great. Carrying a foal would only make her more miserable. Think about how bad you hurt when you have a sore foot or something, would you want to carry extra weight around. Think about what is in the horses best interest not your feelings. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| MS2011 - 2014-07-25 11:55 PM
I'm so sorry. Tough road. If I wasn't good with just keeping her as a pasture ornament, then I would put her down. I wouldn't take the chance of sending her down the road.
I have to agree. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| HorseMommyFiveO - 2014-07-26 12:32 PM
MS2011 - 2014-07-25 11:55 PM
I'm so sorry. Tough road. If I wasn't good with just keeping her as a pasture ornament, then I would put her down. I wouldn't take the chance of sending her down the road.
I have to agree.
This. So sorry. |
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Veteran
Posts: 152
| I guess I have a case by case opinion... but I had a gelding I gave away to a "rescue/pasture home." Worst thing I could have done for him, long story short he was starved there, then handed to someone else who is now riding him. He's NOT sound to ride... Lots more to the story, but I would have rather put him down then see him go through what he has since I decided to give him away. Have tried getting him back several times, but I had no contract beyond his first home and was impossible. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | classicpotatochip - 2014-07-26 1:34 PM
HorseMommyFiveO - 2014-07-26 12:32 PM
MS2011 - 2014-07-25 11:55 PM
I'm so sorry. Tough road. If I wasn't good with just keeping her as a pasture ornament, then I would put her down. I wouldn't take the chance of sending her down the road.
I have to agree.
This. So sorry.
I agree I'm sorry you have this decision to make. Its so hard. Prayers |
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