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What would you do if this was your horse? -photo-

3K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  Missy May 
#1 ·
Hi, guys. Long, depressing story short, this was a horse I worked with that was eventually auctioned off.

So, if this was your horse what would you have done? I'm asking for curiosity sake because I am not very well versed in anything past basic hoof care and I was young at the time.
Would he be an instant euthanasia or was there any chance for rehab?

I don't know what other info I need to provide, but he was obviously very lame.

Thanks.
 

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#4 ·
Wow, i never seen nothin like that in my life. what caused this?
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#5 ·
You can see where the new growth is growing in at the correct angle. It would not have been difficult to monitor the growth and correct the issue. I've seen much worse hooves make a great recovery. You would definitely need an experienced farrier to work with those hooves, but there would be no reason for him to not be sound in the future.
 
#6 · (Edited)
To my knowledge, he cut his neck and was stall bound at the vet for awhile, where he foundered.

Owner didn't want to let the vet do anything so he brought him home like this with no treatment. Oh, I forgot. He got a pair of steel shoes. -sigh-

Owner had the, "If it ain't bleeding it's fine," mentality.
 
#7 ·
Yikes, if only you could see the internal damage there. Poor guy must have been in a lot of pain.
 
#10 ·
Unfortunately I'm familiar with this sort of thing :-( One very good reason why it's good to learn more than 'the basics' about hoof care. Traditionally, yes, if you ask a vet, more than likely a horse with that degree of founder, they would say it's 'incurable' but these days, horses such as this are being returned to health & soundness regularly.

This horse suffered a big laminitic 'attack' a month or few(probably few) back and has what looks like severe 'rotation' of P3. While it's hard to tell from these pics, it appears the hairline at the toe is quite low, which indicates there is unlikely to be much in the way of sole covering the tip of P3 - could even have penetrated. If this went on for long, the tip of P3 will be lost and if too much of it is worn away, the horse may not be able to be rehabilitated, but if it wasn't too bad, with good management(likely intensive for a while at least) it could grow nice feet again.
 
#12 ·
Good x-rays to see what the coffin bone is doing would be the first step and an experienced trimmer/farrier would be the other. It could be fixable and it could not. Not enough info just from those pics to know for sure either way.

I never would have sent to auction though. I would have either rehabbed if there was a chance of recovery or put down if there wasn't. No need to pass an issue like that on to someone else.
 
#13 ·
I never would have sent to auction though. I would have either rehabbed if there was a chance of recovery or put down if there wasn't. No need to pass an issue like that on to someone else.
This horse needed to be PTS, there was no passing it off to someone else.
If it went to auction, it went to slaughter.

Op, I am sorry about the horse, it sounds like you really liked him, I would suggest working with someone else's horses in the future, someone with a sense of responsibility. I suspect if they treated their horse like this, they didn't treat you much better.
 
#14 ·
It's a really long story, but he was kept at my Aunt's property, along with another horse. When he was healthy, he was AMAZING. He was my heart horse, so it was a very, very sad time in my life.

The owner was a POS. I worked with his horses for their benefit. I bought their halters. I bought tack for them. I could never get permission to deworm them or anything like that. The only time they ever had hoof care was when he had shoes put on after he foundered.

I had never even seen the owner. Ever. (But I did have his expressed permission to work with them.) After they were auctioned (yes, likely sent to slaughter) I have never been back.

And I offered to buy this horse SO many times through the years. He always thought he was worth more than we were offering, even after he was dead lame.
-sigh- He was a wonderful, wonderful horse and I miss him every day. I learned everything from him.
 
#15 ·
Trip down memory lane, anyone?
BTW, I was 14-15 during this time.
First picture is of the other horse, rest are Gunner (from OP).
Second photo is right around the time he foundered (obvious from stance). The rest are from happier times.
 

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