What are our options? Multiple health issues

[Pleasedontdothat]

I’d appreciate some thoughts as I’m in a bit of a dilemma with my daughter’s semi-retired horse.

Brief background - dhorse is 12, a chunky ISH - we’ve owned him for the last 3.5 years. Up until last April he’d always been a picture of health, however last spring he had a freak accident in the field which meant he had his leg in plaster and was on box test for several weeks. Dd rehabbed him slowly and by mid-July he was getting back to normal when he suddenly developed quite severe asthma. We managed to get on top of that eventually with weeks of nebulising him twice a day. Dd rehabbed him again but just after they’d started competing again he became unhappy in work and was eventually diagnosed with hock arthritis. He had steroid injections and cartrophen and seemed to be doing well but after a few weeks was obviously unhappy again. After scanning him he was diagnosed with an old ligament injury which had caused a lot of scar tissue. He was supposed to be in daily work for the arthritis and asthma but couldn’t because of the ligament problem, so our vet suggested turning him away for several months to see if time out 24/7 would help.

He’s been living at a lovely grass/retirement field since January and has been very happy there. The new yard is about 45 minutes away from home (can be longer depending on traffic) but I didn’t need to go up every day as the yard owner does twice daily checks, changes rugs, gives hay etc. We’d just been discussing how to bring him back into work when he managed to give himself a very deep puncture wound in his frog which needed me to go up every day for nearly three weeks to poultice etc. He also developed sweet itch for the first time in his life and rubbed his mane raw so was needing treatment for that too. We seemed to have got on top of his latest problems but in the last few days his asthma has come back. We obviously can’t leave it untreated as it will just get worse but I can’t manage twice daily visits to nebulise him - it’s too far away and I work full time. DD’s now left home as she’s doing an apprenticeship and is the other side of the country so can only help when she’s come home for a visit. The yard owner can’t do it as she doesn’t have time on top of everything else and there’s no one there I can pay to help out. He can’t have oral steroids as he’s a laminitis risk.

I could potentially move him back to his old yard which is a little bit closer and has freelance grooms who I could pay to help, however they have to be in from 8-4 during the winter which our vet said would make his arthritis worse.

Any ideas? He’s the nicest horse I’ve ever met - he’s got such a lovely temperament. If we could get him sound again, there would be a queue of people wanting to loan him. He’s beautifully schooled, is very responsive but safe. When we made the decision to turn him away for a while I said I was happy for him to live happily in a field for the rest of his life if he didn’t come sound but I’m starting to wonder when the issues get too much to let him live happily in a field …

Sorry that was so long

Have you advertised/asked round (on Facebook) to see if there’s anyone who would go to the yard to look after him?
Is there another yard he could go to?
Do you know anyone on the grapevine who would loan him as he is and nurture him back to health? Potentially an older woman whose children have left home and wants a steady horse as more for the companionship than the riding.
There are specialists retirement livery yards as well but many have waiting lists

I think I'd try to find somewhere closer to home, is renting land a possibility? If not and his issues worsen, then I think you may need to make a difficult decision.

Oh I'm sorry to hear this, I remember your initial struggles with the asthma. So at the moment he is field-sound and all the other problems are largely under control but the asthma is back, is that right? I fully feel your difficulties, my horses are my life but I couldn't manage a 90 minute plus round trip twice a day either, I don't think many people could so don't feel guilty for that.

I assume you've already investigated and ruled out any grass, 24/7 or close to turnout or retirement livery options closer to home than his current and there's nothing suitable? Always worth a final ask around on Facebook groups and similar, in case anyone has an unadvertised space on a small or private yard or even a field with shelter going spare in the area just in case...

I guess if that's off the table your options at this point are (a) bring him 'home' to old livery yard closer to home and try and get him back in work in time to go off to a loan home before winter really sets in (b) try and find a freelance person to do the nebulizing where he is now (c) find an 'enhanced' retirement livery potentially even further away that will do more active management of his health presumably in exchange for £££ or (d) PTS.

Perhaps (a) would be the best if it can be managed but is a big risk, it would have to be a really really trustworthy and experienced loan home to stay fully on top of all his various health issues, these do exist and like you say he's a lovely horse so people will be interested, but the risk is there that he won't stand up to regular work anyway. And if it was my horse I probably would be quite paranoid he wasn't being properly looked after even in a fully checked out and referenced loan home, presumably the loaner would have to move him away from 'your' yard to ensure 24/7 turnout so you wouldn't have him under your eye regularly?

(b) or (c) could work but again I guess you are putting a lot of trust and money into someone and you wouldn't be as actively supervising to ensure he's actually being properly cared for. (d) sounds awful but really isn't the worst end for a horse at all, in a familiar place after a nice summer with sun on his back and always cared for and loved rather than being moved around with increasing health problems, but I know if it was me I'd struggle with that decision too so I fully sympathise .

I suppose if you can manage it financially and time-wise, could you bring him back and give him 6-8 weeks intensive input until the end of the Autumn say (don't know how your grazing is but ours are normally in overnight by mid November unless it's unusually dry), invest time into trying to sort the asthma out and see how he stands up to gentle work so that he can go to a hacking/light ridden loan home in reasonable shape (plus start to identify if there's anyone you really trust willing to have him) - he won't be fully fit by the end of that time but at least you will know he isn't going to break the minute he's ridden again (or if he is I guess that makes your decision re (d) a bit easier?)...

As ever very eloquent response from maxelly which I totally agree with. The thing that struck me is as soon as he is sound you want to loan him out which is fraught with difficulty. He may not come sound or he might but then not stay sound on loan so he is potentially going to be bounced around a lot and not really be happy which is why PTS is really not a bad option for him. If you were getting him sound to keep for yourself or daughter it might be different as you would then be in control more.

Also my experience with asthma is that it never really goes so he would never have a fully happy retirement as treatment for this, even if not all the time would regularly be required.

I'd echo others re: getting him sound to loan him out. I'd also say that putting a horse to sleep is the hardest, but often kindest, thing we can do for them in situations like this. I'd far rather see a horse put to sleep than sold or loaned to an uncertain future, potentially passed from pillar to post and with no guarantee of being treated well. Loaning is hard, even with a good loaner and a healthy horse. It's a constant balance between checking up on them constantly and not being a nag, knowing your horse is ok without being such a nightmare that the loaner hands them back, and it's a rare loaner who'll keep a horse once health issues start rearing their heads again, so then you end up back at square one but with nowhere to keep them. I think vets who suggest happy hacking and companion homes (like genuine ones come up every day, rather than being like hen's teeth) are extremely irresponsible. Better to give a horse a certain end in pleasant circumstances than an uncertain, and potentially unpleasant, future.

Ultimately, though, it is your decision. Having made it last year for my own horse, I understand how very difficult it is. I still miss him every day, but I know it was the right decision and I remember him as the sparky, bright, cheeky horse who strode out like he owned the world and went with a carrot in his mouth and someone who loved him stroking his neck. I'd still rather that than watch him slowly decline, although I still grieve for him.

So, at the moment he is thought to be rideable but not fit? On top of this he has a breathing issue and sweet itch.
Sweet itch isn't an insurmountable problem and neither is the asthma, but they do need management. I have a mare with SI and v mild COPD, she lives out a lot with suitable rugs. The asthma may well settle again with treatment, but obv. can recur if triggered. I wonder what set it off, is it something in the field at this time of year?
If he's as nice a sort as you say and genuinely ridable again then I think someone would take him and be able to manage the other issues.
So, if it was me I'd be looking for a loan home nearby with references. You might have to do a bit of digging to find the best person but they do exist. Decent, well behaved horses are not cheap and you may have a choice of homes.
Fall back, if he's not sound enough would be to PTS.

He’s definitely not fit at the moment - we don’t know if he’s going to stand up to being in work yet as our rehab plans were scuppered by his recent foot injury. The only reason we were thinking of loaning him out is that he loves working and learning stuff and going out to parties and realistically I’d only be able to take him out for a hack a couple of times a week. The physio who was treating him before the ligament became a problem was adamant that he needed to be in really regular work to keep him healthy. We had a couple of friends of people from pony club who were very keen to loan him last autumn but we had to say no when he was still struggling.

My dilemma is where he is now is the best place for his joints if he’s not in work but it will be almost impossible to get his asthma under control while he’s there - there are no facilities, no lights, we’re about to go into darker evenings and it’s too far for daily (let alone twice daily) visits around a full time job.

We live in the suburbs so the closest livery yards are 30 minutes away and the majority of yards around here are on clay soil so all bring in overnight during winter. I feel that whatever I decide I’m going to be compromising at least one aspect of his health…

We don’t know what’s triggered his asthma again - I’d been hoping we were in the clear as last year he got ill in July so all through July and August I’d been watching his breathing obsessively and it was all fine … until now. I’d also been hoping that the trigger was localised to his previous field but he’s now several miles away and it’s still happened

Really difficult unless you literally want to camp in his field. Try finding full livery somewhere with TO 24/7 who will do all the asthma treatment. This will be expensive, and it may be miles away, but that’s ok, as you won’t need to see him.
When asthma under control & he is sound, find a loaner.
If the above not feasible, consider PTS

Whereabouts are you, ive got a suggestion for somewhere that may do 24/7 turnout with all the rehab but it’s in the South West.

@lastqueenofscotland I’ve pm’d you

Update - after discussion with our vet we’re going to try nebulising him once a day, 5-6 days a week. The lovely yard owner has said she’ll do two treatments a week which means that I’ll have a couple of days off which makes it more sustainable longer term. Our vet says he has sometimes had good results with this kind of regime although obviously twice a day every day would be better.

I’m going to try my best to get his asthma under control. He’s got a proper sweet itch hood on which is keeping the midges at bay (normal fly rugs weren’t working) and we’re going to try the ringworm injection next year as that can stop the allergic reaction happening in the first place. It’s so frustrating - he’s never had sweet itch before (he’s 12) and there’s 11 other horses at the yard and none is even the slightest bit itchy so why he’s suddenly started now is baffling .. but then he’d never had asthma before last year either

If we can get his seasonal problems under control, then next spring I’ll send him to a local pro for a few weeks rehab/schooling and see how he gets on. But if anything gets worse then we will need to assess his quality of life - he’s certainly not particularly happy at the moment but I’m hoping that’s a temporary situation