To question why Valegro has been put to sleep?

[PoopaScoopa1]

He was only 23, and Uthopia only 24... was it just that they weren't making the owner money anymore?

It's making me so angry because every article I've read just says that as they aged their health issues increased but what health issues? Why isn't there any information on what was wrong? And yes I know he has said the two horses were partners and did everything together blah blah, but it just seems such a waste of lives. These two could potentially have had another 10 years to live out their lives enjoying just being horses? But I guess if think you'll have to keep paying money to keep an aging horse healthy when you can't get anything from them anymore may as well just get rid, eh?

Argh.

You have no idea what they were suffering from in their daily lives. Many things no doubt. Arthritis, Cushing's, you name it... , but luckily he didn't let them just go on and on , because he knew what was best for them, and that is a responsible owner.

But OP, why do you think money has anything to do with it? Their owners are wealthy & it would be nothing to them financially to keep the horses going in retirement. It would be far worse for some rich owner to say, oh yes, there’s my Olympic horse out there, hobbling around a field, looking miserable. Get real, & save your outrage for real horse abuse.

A vet once said to me "Euthanasia isn't a welfare issue" and it really stuck with me. A horse doesn't know it's being pts so there is no prior knowledge of what's about to happen.

Horses aren't like people, they can't quietly sit in an armchair when their mobility decreases. If they have mobility issues moving about a field then their quality of life must be pretty miserable. A top class competition horse will have had a lot more wear and tear on their body than your average happy hacker so even with gold standard care problems may well arise in later life.

There was a definite feeling towards the end of Valegro's competition career by those in the know that he had soundness issues so to have been kept going until now is impressive. Carl Hester does seem to have a good reputation for horse welfare and I'm sure this decision was taken for very valid reasons.

Quite.

It was an act of kindness to let two old pair bonded horses go together.

I think this is the case here, both horses were not old by today's standards and could have lived much longer. I know someone who once worked for a well known show jumping family and as soon as the horses no longer served a purpose, they were put to sleep if they couldn't compete any more.
A lot professional riders/competitors are the same, the horse for them is just a means to make money despite what they say, totally wrong! My horse will be with me for the rest of his life, even when he's too old to be ridden

As far away as possible from them 2 , & to the supporters here are you also beating your horses 24 times plus for your own desires!!!
R.I.P these 2 beautiful horses are now at real peace together who deserved better.

But these are working animals, not pets.

It is absolutely none of your business. It’s also not unusual for people to make the decision to pts older horses with health problems before winter as winter can exacerbate existing health problems.

They had already been retired for nearly 10 years which strongly suggests it’s highly unlikely they were pts for financial reasons. I expect owner is heartbroken to lose them and on top of that has to see all of this nonsense from people who have a tiny amount of information and create their own narrative for attention. Because you have known horses to live into their 30s does not mean that’s typical for all horses. Some people live into their 70s some into their 90s both are in old age.

They were both big warmbloods - they’re not as long lived as other horses generally. They were also competition horses which means they would have had a lot more wear and tear to joints etc and I suspect it was arthritis that was plaguing both of them. If I remember rightly Uti was sold under Carl at one point and when the new owners retired him Carl took him back to give him that retirement - so I doubt he casually ‘got shot’ of him once he started costing money.

A lot of competition horses don’t do well being field ornaments and if they were a bonded pair I think it was absolutely the kindest thing to do if they knew they were both coming to their end and I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same having had horses all my life.

FWIW I’ve lost horses at 16, 10 and most recently I’ve just lost my 30 year old. Speaking to a farrier after losing him he said a lot of the old ones have gone downhill this autumn - the summer was hard on them - people also decide on one last summer for their horses too - winters can be hard on them - and no one wants a horse - especially a big one - to go down and not be able to get back up. It’s really distressing for all involved.

Dear god some of these posts are ludicrous.

23 and 24 isn’t a bad age for a big horse that worked at the peak of their sport for many years. Significantly more wear and tear on their bodies than a happy hacker who plods round the lanes 3 times a week.

Both horses had been retired for many years so highly doubtful they were put to sleep now their ‘use’ had gone. They lived side by side for the vast majority of their lives. How is it considered kinder to put an elderly horse, doubtlessly with medical issues, through the grief of losing their lifelong partner for the sake of giving them a few more months?

I’m no Charlotte fan these days, but the love and grief for these horses shines out.

They’d both been retired for nearly 10 years so I think the “put to sleep because they couldn’t compete anymore”. ship had long sailed.

They were both big Dutch warm bloods whose average life span is 20-30 years so 24 is pretty much in the middle of that.

The could have lived longer, but at what cost to them? For whose benefit? Carl Hester has spoken before that they’ve both had health issues.

I had my old lady put to sleep a couple of years ago. She was healthy as you like, probably could have gone on for years, but she had crippling arthritis and once I couldn’t keep her field sound anymore, it was time to let her go. She went on a beautiful sunny day, with her head in a bucket of carrots, calm, quiet and with dignity, with those who loved her by her side.

It’s far kinder to put 2 heavily pair bonded horses to sleep together than separate them just to keep one going for a few more months. That’s not putting the horses welfare first.

I'm utterly hating all the nasty posts on SM from people who don't seem to have a clue. I hate how toxic the horse world has become. Carl's tribute to those horses was beautiful, they had the best of everything, they weren't overworked and had been retired for some years. There are tales from people who kept their horses going for years, in pain, drugged up, virtually handfeeding them mash, but they have the accolade that their horse made it to 30yrs. Valegro and Uthopia were treated better than that, they died with dignity, without having to face the world alone. Their health needs woud have affected their quality of life going forward.

Better a day too early, than a week too late.

Its totally understandable. My horse was pts with his herd mate as recommend by the retirement livery.
Sick and old horses dont do well over winter either

These horses had nearly 10 years of retirement. It's extremely naive to think that they would have been PTS because they're 'no longer useful'.
Not that it's anyone's business but Utopia allegedly had some dental problems that would have presumably impacted his quality of life and Valegro had arthritis.

The people who have known and cared for these horses for the best part of a decade probably know them better than strangers on the internet.

Warmbloods in their mid twenties who have competed at the top level will have a lot of wear and tear. I imagine daily life was becoming difficult for them.
And with closely bonded horses who have been field and stable mates for so long, it would have been cruel to leave one behind. Far kinder for both to go together where no-one is left stressing and depressed.
40 years in the equestrian industry and I’ve had to make this decision a lot of times.

Carl loved those horses, there’s no two ways about it. This would have been terribly hard for him. I can only imagine it became almost impossible to keep Valegro and Uti comfortable.

He (and his entire team) have my sympathies. I’ve never met him but he’s a friend of my mentor Heather Moffet… she would never have given him the time of day if he didn’t truly put his horses first.

Both of these horses had been retired for at least 10 years - so they'd stopped 'making money' years ago, and I can't imagine horses like that have been cheap to keep in the last 10 years, especially with health problems needing to be treated.

My horse of a similar stamp was 20 when I had him PTS, he had arthritis and Cushing's which brought with it increasing bouts of laminitis, he'd been retired since 15 and living out because of the arthritis but that management became counter productive with the management that recurring laminitis needed - plus that management made him utterly miserable (and if you don't know what those conditions are, or how they interact/need managing in horses then you're in no position to comment).
He'd had a very easy life compared to an Olympic dressage horse, and at 15 the vet told me he wouldn't see 20, and was on borrowed time from when the Cushing's advanced and stopped responding to treatment.
And he lost one of his field companions 6 months before, he had other companions but he was bonded with my friends mare - I honestly wish I'd let him go when she went, because he missed her, stood as close as he could get to the spot she was pts on daily and joined her 6 months later anyway, I could have saved him that.

While I agree that with some competitors and horses there is a sense that if the horse stops making money they're no longer useful, but I really don't think at 23 & 24 after the careers they'd had, these horses were in that category. It's incredibly sad but their health deteriorated as they aged, would it have been better to let them suffer and struggle on for a few more months or years just because it was possible? No, absolutely not.

So YABVU about this. You don't need to know what was wrong with them, at their age it wasn't going to get better no matter what it was and for a bonded pair like they were, much kinder to let them go together than make one struggle on missing his companion while also having health issues.

Just because a horse could be kept alive for another 5-10yrs doesn’t mean they should. Why add those years of suffering on to an animal you supposedly love? It’s only for your benefit, not theirs.

The stress on a prey herd animal who has issues with either eating or moving must be immense. They don’t know that they are safe from predators. They just know they would struggle to escape from one. They can just lie down all day if their limbs and joints hurt. They have to stand and move around in constant pain. Why inflict that on an animal you love?

Horses know nothing of tomorrow. Only today. They aren’t thinking “oh I would like to see next Christmas and Bob the foal growing up” - they just know that today they hurt. And yesterday also hurt.

Mid 20s is pretty much a decent age for a horse. They have been trained, competed and allowed to retire at 14. So 10 years of retirement from competition, may have been ridden lightly to keep joints moving since then.

shetlands may live into their 30’s but ponies are just made differently to horses.

OP if you want to get angry at horse welfare check out the videos from world horse welfare to focus your energies.

I work in Equine Welfare, euthanasia is never a welfare issue! Keeping them going old, thin and in pain definitely is. I've definitely kept my own old horse going for too long in the past- I hope I would do better now.

This is incredibly stupid. Horses live to different ages and many don't make it to 30! I've owned and loved many and none of them lived to be older than 25.
Horses are herd animals and can form intense bonds with a particular friend. We are not owed detailed information on what was wrong with these horses, but I've known loving owners let two go together before. A close friend had one with catastrophic colic put to sleep with his companion. The companion had a progressive medical problem causing him increasing discomfort and pain.
These heartbreaking decisions are difficult enough without having an ignorant public cruelly speculating on social media.

Animal welfare but not to those being hunted.

Valegro has had lameness issues pretty much his entire career, I would think those and general arthritis have meant they didn't want him having another winter.

Uti hadn't any teeth left (and I believe dental issues are not uncommon with his breeding particularly from his sire) so keeping them both looking well would have been a pretty full on job - and whilst I certainly have issues with a great deal of the dressage industry, I will say they have done very well to keep them both looking so good for so long...

These horses are worked hard whilst still developing, and they're bred (Uthopia and Valegro being on the less extreme side of the scale here) for movement, not soundness (poor Totilas..) - it is unsurprising that they are knackered relatively young compared to a horse who hasn't started any ridden work til 5 or 6, and hasn't competed at their level for years, has had much more freedom and turn out and so on...

I'd love it if an anatomy specialist like Becks Nairn could evaluate their bones. Doubt that'd ever happen but it'd be an eye opener for a LOT of horse owners!

I would argue that they hadn't stopped making money at all, not as much money of course but they were both big reasons people paid to go on yard visits... and you do have to wonder how much the optics of having two clearly wobbly old horses, one with his tongue hanging out near constantly due to lack of teeth, would affect the business!