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 John Deere Green
Posts: 12272
   
Location: ~Kansas~ | We are burying him on the farm... so any advice on how to make these as easy as possible would be great as I'm already a train wreck.
We have a local guy coming Saturday to the dig hole but my main question is it best to make a ramp to walk him down in there or what ?
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | I had to put my daughters 21 year old barrel horse down. I dug the hole first and led him to it and then put him down. That way all I had to do was role him into it. I did it when all the family members were gone. They didn't need to see this. He was really starting to struggle for life.
Edited by BS Hauler 2015-04-09 10:46 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| Have them dig the hole ahead of time. Sometimes the vet can put one down so they fall right in, if not the person who dug the hole can drag them in. I always say my goodbyes & leave before that, not something I can stomach.
Sorry for your loss, hugs & prayers. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| I have had several. Here are some suggestions. No need for a ramp. Lead the horse up to the side of the hole and have the vet put the horse down there. Say your good by's and WALK AWAY. The hole needs to be very large and very deep so it would be traumatic to lead the horse down into the hole. I held my horses right nect to it and as soon as they were gone I walked away. The tractor driver then basically drug or pushed the horse into the hole and covered it up. I DI D NOT want to see that part and neither do you either. If you feel more comfortable, say good by at the barn and have someone else lead the horse to the site where they will be buried. Its not easy but hopefully that helps. I have gone through it several times. |
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  Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | FLITASTIC - 2015-04-09 10:46 AM I have had several. Here are some suggestions. No need for a ramp. Lead the horse up to the side of the hole and have the vet put the horse down there. Say your good by's and WALK AWAY. The hole needs to be very large and very deep so it would be traumatic to lead the horse down into the hole. I held my horses right nect to it and as soon as they were gone I walked away. The tractor driver then basically drug or pushed the horse into the hole and covered it up. I DI D NOT want to see that part and neither do you either. If you feel more comfortable, say good by at the barn and have someone else lead the horse to the site where they will be buried. Its not easy but hopefully that helps. I have gone through it several times.
This is what my husband and vet did....I couldn't BE there either!!! My husband was glad that I wasn't there. He said it was bad enough that he AND the vet were bawling......We had owned him 30 of his 33 years! |
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John Deere Green
Posts: 12272
Location: ~Kansas~ | Thank you ALL a ton..... He will be 27 on the 20th of this Month.... he has been my baby since Day 1, so yes this is very hard and I bawl every time I think about it. He has gradually gotten worse past 2 years and now he is losing weight like crazy and looks like death. Vet did tons of test and said they actually look good and his blood work is good... but has bad stomach ulcers. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| I have no advice but I am so very sorry! |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | I'm so sorry... There's nothing easy about it. I dread the day that I have to make that decision with my girl.  |
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 Scorpions R Us
Posts: 9586
Location: So. Cali. | We generally euthanize ( we also say our good byes and step away) and then have the hole dug after. The person with the back-hoe generally has set the horse down into the hole with chains on his scoop.
For you all. Never easy, even when we know its right by them. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky |
I agree. |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| As you make your decision, another thing to consider is that each horse reacts differently when they are being put down. If your vet asks for sedation first, I would highly suggest it. One of my horses just basically laid down and went to sleep, the other one was not as calm. I will spare the details but his reaction to the drug was far different and you might not want to see it. I HAVE TO BE BY MY HORSES SIDE when they go. I owe that to them, I hold the lead rope, but vets will warn you to be very careful as some react very violently, especially younger healthier horses. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | When I had to have my old bay mare put down it kind of happened suddenly, so I had the vet put her down and then I hung out and groomed her one last time, put her boots on her legs and painted the bottoms of her feet and made imprints on a t-shirt for myself and my mom who loved her almost as much as I did while my fiancé dug the hole just a little ways away. I too suggest not being there while they are put in the hole though I did go back and insist on putting the first layer of dirt over her with the shovel.
Prayers for you, not easy to do but they deserve for us to be there with them for everything they do for us. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
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 Veteran
Posts: 232
Location: Winging It in KY | Sedation first is a good idea. Most just lay down easily then. Also know that some horses, no matter how old or broke will not just walk up to a large open hole. It's like they know what it is there for. I too alway hold mine till it is over. I feel that I at least owe them that much but not everyone can stomach what goes on during euthanization. Sorry for your loss, it is a difficult decision to make. |
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 Famous for Not Complaining
Posts: 8848
Location: Broxton, Ga | FLITASTIC - 2015-04-08 12:44 PM
As you make your decision, another thing to consider is that each horse reacts differently when they are being put down. If your vet asks for sedation first, I would highly suggest it. One of my horses just basically laid down and went to sleep, the other one was not as calm. I will spare the details but his reaction to the drug was far different and you might not want to see it. I HAVE TO BE BY MY HORSES SIDE when they go. I owe that to them, I hold the lead rope, but vets will warn you to be very careful as some react very violently, especially younger healthier horses.
Agree all do not go down like in the movies...........we took ours to the spot.......even husband could not stay but our vet was great about the entire procedure.......... |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | FLITASTIC - 2015-04-09 11:44 AM As you make your decision, another thing to consider is that each horse reacts differently when they are being put down. If your vet asks for sedation first, I would highly suggest it. One of my horses just basically laid down and went to sleep, the other one was not as calm. I will spare the details but his reaction to the drug was far different and you might not want to see it. I HAVE TO BE BY MY HORSES SIDE when they go. I owe that to them, I hold the lead rope, but vets will warn you to be very careful as some react very violently, especially younger healthier horses.
I just put my old guy down 2 weeks ago unexpectedly and this is what I did too. Fortunately his went well. He did get up after the sedation, but I've been through enough geldings that I knew how to get him back down. After the sedation kicked in, he was relaxed and we gave him the 2nd shot and it only took a couple of minutes and he just fell asleep. But I have heard stories of it not going that well though - not sure what the difference is.
We didn't have time to dig the hole ahead of time, but our neighbor came to dig it for me. He was very gentle but I didn't stay for that.
Hugs....I still cry every day. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 618
| I'm so so sorry. This is never an easy decision. When I put my mare of 17 yrs down she was already very weak from rapid weight loss due to extreme pain from a shoulder joint blowout basically. The mobile vet I used just kept telling me it was a puncture wound and after having him out twice I called my lameness vet out. I took the mare out of barn right before he got there and she collapsed. He examined her and was.sure the fluid leaking from the "puncture wound" was joint fluid from her shoulder joint. She never got up again. He sedated her and then gave her the euthasol. She died with her head in my lap. I WASN'T prepared and had to beg my dad (non horse, non animal person) to come help me dig a hole with his tractor. I stayed with her and almost four years have passed and those images of getting her on a flatbed, off the flatbed etc I cannot forget, wished I could. I don't reccommend it. Praying for peace for you in your time of loss. |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| FLITASTIC - 2015-04-09 12:44 PM
As you make your decision, another thing to consider is that each horse reacts differently when they are being put down. If your vet asks for sedation first, I would highly suggest it. One of my horses just basically laid down and went to sleep, the other one was not as calm. I will spare the details but his reaction to the drug was far different and you might not want to see it. I HAVE TO BE BY MY HORSES SIDE when they go. I owe that to them, I hold the lead rope, but vets will warn you to be very careful as some react very violently, especially younger healthier horses.
I second this, sedate as well as what they are using to put done with... |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| Fairweather - 2015-04-09 1:26 PM
FLITASTIC - 2015-04-09 11:44 AM As you make your decision, another thing to consider is that each horse reacts differently when they are being put down. If your vet asks for sedation first, I would highly suggest it. One of my horses just basically laid down and went to sleep, the other one was not as calm. I will spare the details but his reaction to the drug was far different and you might not want to see it. I HAVE TO BE BY MY HORSES SIDE when they go. I owe that to them, I hold the lead rope, but vets will warn you to be very careful as some react very violently, especially younger healthier horses.
I just put my old guy down 2 weeks ago unexpectedly and this is what I did too. Fortunately his went well. He did get up after the sedation, but I've been through enough geldings that I knew how to get him back down. After the sedation kicked in, he was relaxed and we gave him the 2nd shot and it only took a couple of minutes and he just fell asleep. But I have heard stories of it not going that well though - not sure what the difference is.
We didn't have time to dig the hole ahead of time, but our neighbor came to dig it for me. He was very gentle but I didn't stay for that.
Hugs....I still cry every day.
The difference is with older horses or illness requiring horses to be put down is that not everything works as it should...organs fail or improperly work, blood flow, and the mechanisms through which drugs work get interrupted. I've seen 3 times the normal amount of euthasol (by weight) used to put down a foal from illness. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 561
Location: somewhere in the south | I have to say that when I had my old boy, Woody , laid to rest I was lucky enough to have a guy come bury him that had such respect for him and sympathy for me! He worked in the septic field and dug the hole good and deep/wide, then after the vet put Woody down, this guy lifted him with ropes, adjusted them so he would travel well to the hole and then gently laid him in the hole, and then got down in there and adjusted him so he would be "comfortable" as he said it..................how awesome was that! I had cried for two days but that day I was there for Woody and it was peaceful yet sad. I've had to do this a couple times and both times this guy helped me with the burial and had such sorrow for me and the horse but the respect he showed for the horse was unbelievable! I could not have let someone just roll him in............... |
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