Making the Tough Decisions: The Story of Snowy, Bailey and Serena

Dr. Colleen Brady and Dr. Krishona Martinson share their experiences with making the difficult decision to euthanize their horses, how they knew it was time, how they handled the grief process and the realistic logistics that come with the death of a 1100 pound animal.

View: End of Life: How to Handle Equine Mortality - Oklahoma State University

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Transcript

Speaker 2 0:05

This is Tack Box Talk and this is horse stories with a purpose. Who are we? We are Equine educators. But we are owners. We are judges. We are competitors. We are coaches. We are volunteers. We are Moms.

Speaker 3 0:22

We are horse owners just like you. And we want to share our horse stories with a purpose. Welcome to Extension Horse's Tac Box Talk Series, Horse Stories with a Purpose. I'm Dr. Kris Hiney with Oklahoma State University. And today we're going to be talking about end-of-life decisions, when we need to make them, and some special considerations that horse owners need to know about them. And so joining me today from Minnesota is Dr. Christona Martinson. Hello. So she's going to be sharing stories about snowy and Bailey. And we also have from Purdue University Dr. Colleen Brady.

Speaker 1 1:05

Hello.

Speaker 3 1:06

And Colleen is going to be talking to us about Serena, which Colleen, Serena was your horse when you were a teenager. Is that correct?

Speaker 1:16

That's correct. I actually got her when I was in high school. So I was 17 years older or so. And she was my first young horse. She was a two-year-old when we got her. And she was also my first registered horse.

Speaker 3 1:30

So there was some investment that you made into purchasing that horse as a young girl.

Speaker 1:35

Absolutely, especially relative previous to that, you know, we had just had pretty inexpensive horses. So, but yeah, she was a big, big decision to get a mayor and a registered mayor.

Speaker 3 1:46

If you're comfortable, can you tell us a little bit about what happened to Serena?

Speaker 1:50

Sure. Um, actually, I grew up in a very rural part of Wisconsin. It was um out in the middle of the country, and a lot of people had their farm dogs running just ram loose all day. It's very common. Everybody does it. Um, but sometimes what would happen is the dogs would gather up in packs and um chase animals. And it just so happened that one day a group of those dogs had gathered up and they decided to chase animals on our place, and they chased um our sheep. And uh Serena was in a pasture um and she ended up getting chased um through a fence and she fractured one of her hind legs.

Speaker 3 2:30

Oh, that's terrible.

Speaker 2:31

Yeah, it was pretty traumatic. She was only two. Uh, we had the vet come out and he took a look at her, and um, it was not displaced. And and just to note, this was a long time ago. I'm I'm well well past my teenage years at uh this point. It wasn't really uh gonna make sense to try to take her to a vet hospital. But because the fracture didn't displace, um, the vet thought we could try to stabilize it. And if we limited her activity, um, we could see if maybe we could pull her, pull her through the injury. So uh how long then were you treating her before you decided that the we were we were only treating her for a couple of weeks um because part of it was she had to be uh restricted in terms of her activity, and she was just doing really, really poorly uh with being restricted as a as a young horse. Um she started to get um she couldn't even be hand walked, bouncing around the stall, kicking that sort of thing. And and we made the decision that um there probably wasn't going to be a positive outcome to this. And so ended up uh making the decision to have her use an ice simply because um she couldn't support uh the treatment that needed to happen, the behaviors to have a good treatment outcome. And even if we had been able to manage that um with such a young horse, it was fairly low expectations of her being able to continue uh to be um a riding horse or anything after that injury.

unknown 4:07

Gotcha.

Speaker 3 4:07

So at 17, um, was that your decision? Did your parents guide you? Or I mean that's a lot for a teenage girl with her very first special horse.

Speaker 4:18

Um, it was definitely a family decision, um especially with my mom. We spent a lot of time uh talking about it and consulting with the veterinarian. Um, took his advice a lot into what we thought we should do. And one thing we really thought about a lot and discussed a lot was even if we could get her through these few weeks um to heal the injury, then what happens next? You know, she's a two-year-old. What kind of life is she gonna leave? Lead? What can happen with her? How much restriction is she gonna be have to be for the rest of her life? What are the possibilities of something like this, you know, of it being fragile and refracturing or something like that? So um, but our veterinarian was extremely helpful in making the decision.

Speaker 3 5:04

Okay, so you worked with um and family discussion to kind of come come to terms.

Speaker 5:09

Yep.

Speaker 3 5:09

Well, Krishona, would you like to tell us the the story that you had to go through with Snowy and Bailey?

Speaker 1 5:16

Sure. So um Snowy was a uh POA pony that my daughter um showed in speed events. Um, she was older in her probably mid-20s. She wasn't registered as most ponies aren't, so it's kind of hard to know exactly. But she was in her mid-20s. And looking back, there were a few things that probably pointed towards some issues, but essentially she was seemingly healthy one day and then in a full-blown colic that would not resolve itself the next day. Um, and that you know led to some very challenging decisions because you also have a little girl. I think my daughter was six, seven, eight at the time. Um, so you not only have parents, but a young child that doesn't understand, you know, what colic is and the options for a very senior pony at that point. Um, so that was snowy. On the flip side, I look back and I was incredibly fortunate that the very first horse my parents bought for me, they did the um classic non-horsey parent mistakes of buying their seven-year-old daughter an unbroken two-year-old quarter horse mare, because we could learn and grow together, which um our story turned out very well, and then we did, and I had um old Bailey for 32 years. Um, so I was very fortunate to own that mare for a very long time.

Speaker 3 6:40

32 years, so that's longer than you've been married, correct?

Speaker 1 6:44

Yes, she was the longest part of my life, other than my parents and my brother.

Speaker 3 6:48

Wow.

Speaker 1 6:48

Yes, that mayor went everywhere with me, and she was an excellent horse. I think we maybe had to call the veterinarian one time. Um, so you know, incredibly lucky for just a very easy keeping, healthy horse, um, and a horse that I kept. And actually, the horse I compete on now is her granddaughter. Um, but you know, once Bailey hit her upper 20s, so probably 27, 28, she became a very hard keeper. But up until that point in her life, she was a very healthy and easy keeper. And once she hit her 30s, no matter how much food I fed her, and you know, we are kind of educated on horse nutrition and what horses need, um, I just couldn't get her body condition score above a three. Um, and it and it and it was challenging to manage her. And we live in Minnesota, and the winters can be very harsh and very cold and very slippery, and she had become arthritic. And we knew we had to make the decision, and we probably delayed it longer than we should for her health. But of course, we always think of our feelings. Um, but when Snowy died, we made the difficult decision um to also euthanize Bailey at the same time because there are some just logistical things you have to do once you do once you euthanize a large animal that makes having it done um together on the same day. Emotionally, that was kind of a train wreck. Um, but uh it you know it made sense. It it happened in November, so in Minnesota, we're still teetering on the horrible winter weather. Um, but it was a decision we knew we had to make just because of how frail and thin and um just kind of arthritic Bailey had become. And looking back, I think people would love to have 32 years with the horse. So we're very fortunate that she was so healthy and um you know vibrant up until the end.

Speaker 3 8:42

So I think that's important, that really, really hard decision on how do you know when? Um, and you had said that maybe that decision should have been earlier with Bailey. You know, how thin is too thin, how arthritic is too arthritic. How do you make that judgment essentially when it ultimately is about taking something's life? How do you how do you do you have any advice or tips about when when it's correct?

Speaker 1 9:12

Yeah, you know, I think that that is a highly personal and individualized decision. But Bailey could no longer lay down and stand back up because she was so arthritic. And we all know that it's part of horses being healthy and comfort comfortable, they do need to lay down at times. Um, and with the ice and the snow, we knew. Um, also, I was literally spending hundreds of dollars trying to feed her, and no matter what I fed her, and I even had her on an old horse trial that was supported by industry. So they were even giving grain products, right? She was like the before and after pitcher that just didn't go real well. Um, she she gained a little bit of weight, but you know, she was she was so skinny and so arthritic that you really have to think, you know, this isn't the life for her. Um, I also thought, you know, this horse has given me 32 wonderful years, and the least thing I can do is make sure that she's not have to suffer through a horrible Minnesota winter. Um, it's probably different for Colleen and you and the listeners out there, but that is what helped me make that decision, was just how thin she was, no matter what science and feed we threw at her. Um, and then also the inability to lay down, because I know that that is what horses need to do to stay comfortable.

Speaker 10:34

And I think one thing that's really important, because you're right, Krishona, this is the ultimate personal decision we make when we talk about not just horses, but any, you know, our dogs, any animals that we get um emotionally attached to. But the thing I always think about too, and when I'm talking to people, is to remember that horses live in the moment. They live in today. Um, you know, if a horse knows they're miserable and uncomfortable, um, that's their life that day. And if it's gonna be the next day and the next day and the next day, you know, they can't look forward necessarily to saying, well, in six months I might feel better. In five months, I might feel better. Um, they just know that they're that that they're uncomfortable, that they're sore, that they hurt, that they can't do what they want to do, that they're frustrated, um, all those, all those sorts of things. So I know one of one of our vets here at Purdue, what she always tells people is, you know, watch out when for when they start to have more bad days than good days. You know, and once they start having more bad days than good days, it's probably time to really start thinking about a plan for what you're what you're gonna do.

Speaker 3 11:42

Gotcha. And uh and I know we don't like to maybe think about it, but um, I think both both Christona and Colleen, there's some real financial implications to care of some pre-chronic conditions. So I mean, I think that's fair to say we do have to, I mean, realistically, can you provide that level of care for them and still have a good outcome?

Speaker 12:10

And a good outcome, I think, is really important is can you provide a good outcome? And and this is my again, this is so personal. My personal belief is there are actually worse things than a humane euthanasia or a humane uh a humane death for a horse. And I think chronic pain is is one of them. Um we talk about the five freedoms and horses being able to express normal behaviors. Well, if their health is such that they can't express normal behaviors, you know, who are we really helping out by keeping them going? Is it us or is it really what's in the best interest of the horse?

Speaker 1 12:48

You know, Clean, you're absolutely right. And also, Chris, there is a financial a true financial piece to this. So, like I said, I was spending hundreds of dollars a month feeding old Bailey with no change. And I think Clean, that's the critical point. There was not going to be an improvement because we had spent probably years trying to, well, a short two years trying to improve it. And when you have an elderly horse that colics, you know, surgery, I mean, and our veterinary was very clear this pony is not a really good patient for colic surgery because the outcome isn't going to be good. The pain, the longevity compared to the expense. Um, and it's and it's it's you have to have that plan going in because in the moment it's so emotional. You have a child bawling her eyes out, but you know you cannot spend tens of thousands of dollars on a pony that most likely will not make it even through the recovery phase of the surgery. Um, so you gotta have a plan as hard as it is, and you need to communicate that plan to your veterinarian because they are used to dealing with this, unfortunately. So they tend to be more pragmatic in that situation, and even some good horse friends that you can that can kind of help slap you back into reality and say, I know that in the heat of the moment you want to max out every credit card and pay for colic surgery for this pony, but we had decided years ago that that wasn't the course of action if this pony coliced. But again, it's incredibly difficult in the heat of the moment to stick to that plan. But you, for the sake of the animal, I think it's the best thing.

Speaker 14:31

Well, and I think too, and and I think this is really unfortunate, is that somehow we've gotten to a place that it's like people aren't comfortable saying, well, I decided to spend this much money, and once I get past that much money, then this is what I need to do. And and we really need to get rid of that stigma because it's not fair to people. Somebody shouldn't have to feel like they have to put their entire financial well-being at risk to do the colic surgery, to do the more exotic test or that sort of thing, just because just because we can. And that's where I think it comes back to thinking about the horse and the horse's perspective and the fact that they live in, the fact that they live in the moment, you know, a four-month recovery from colic surgery, that's really hard on a horse too. And there are horses that will not do well in a situation where they have to have restricted exercise and restricted feed and you know, all of all of that sort of thing. And and that all fits in, that all fits into making the decision. And and like you said, making a plan ahead of time, because you know your horse. You know if your horse is one that could cope with the con the confinement of recovering from a lot of these serious um things that can happen that that may be a treatment or euthanized um situation that a lot of times recovery um includes a lot of restrictions um for that recovery period.

Speaker 3 15:58

And I think it's important for everybody again to realize, yeah, it's an individual decision, and it may be on an individual animal. I mean, I don't actually have a horse story to share. I've been fortunate or maybe just how I've had horses. I've always sold them um and gotten new younger horses, so I haven't followed them to that end stage. But I know in my household, um, a lot of people would think I'm crazy. I have a dog that just went through six months of chemo, and I was willing to spend that money on her, but I wouldn't for her cat. I mean, and that doesn't make me a terrible person. Like they're just some different personal connections, I think, that uh that you have with your animal that that is okay to have. So I'm gonna ask you guys uh maybe some other personal questions. So, how did you handle the the grief? I I think you know, different perspectives, Krishona, having an animal that was with you for 32 years, again, longer than your regular adult relationships, longer than you've had your children, like so how did you deal with that? Or and while you were grieving, how did you handle uh your six-year-old at the same time? Do you have any tips for people on that?

Speaker 1 17:12

So I I think that because uh Bailey had been with me for so long, I just felt very fortunate to have had her for 32 years. So I had been preparing. You know, I think anytime a horse, you know, gets into their upper 20s, mentally you kind of start preparing for that. So I I mean, it was very sad, and I had a few couple rough days. I did have to go back to work um, you know, the following day. And I think that's good and bad, right? I mean, it's bad that you randomly break down crying and people think that you're strange, but we're fortunate to work around people that also have animals, whether it's a horse, a dog, or a cat. And I think most of society understands the connection you have to animals, and even whether it's a show cow, right? I mean, people have those connections. Um, with my daughter, it was a little harder. We had to spend a lot of time talking about snowy, and it still kind of chokes me up a little bit. And, you know, we made her a picture book and she wrote down her memories, and it took her several, several months before she could talk about snowy without crying. Um, we did, you know, cut the tail hair and we had a bracelet and necklace made, and that made it a little bit easier. But, you know, the grief from an animal is really something that people, it's true, right? I mean, it really can be a struggle. And there are support groups for individuals. I've had friends that have found great comfort and value in support groups. Um, you know, the sad thing is that life goes on, right? Like Madeline had to go to school to first grade the next day. And I emailed her teacher and I said, here's the deal. And they talked about Snowy, and she was hard to cry, and everybody knew, but you know, life has to move on. And so you just, you know, keep thinking about the horse and remembering the horse, um, talking about it. Um, but there really is no easy way, or there's no timeline. Um, but I think you just gotta talk about it, do things that are special and remember that horse. And hopefully, you know, over time I can tell you it does get better. I mean, we it I can now talk about it without you know breaking down. So it does get better over time.

Speaker 3 19:25

So, Krishna, this sounds, you know, when you describe that process and and talking about it, I mean, it doesn't sound that much different from what you would advise somebody who lost a human loved one and the and the grief process.

Speaker 1 19:39

Yeah, I mean, I think you know, you you know, losing a person in your life is um, you know, a devastation. Um, but I don't think you should underestimate the devastation from losing an animal. Are they on the same plane? No. Um, but for some people they're very equivalent sorrows and griefs that you feel, and rightfully so. I mean, I definitely can can feel that.

Speaker 20:03

I think especially when you think of somebody like Madeline, too, because that may have been the first close loss she had in her life, you know, as you know, assuming I think she still has all her grandparents or she's known and that sort of thing. So especially for a child, that can be the first devastating experience with grief in their entire life. So to help them learn how to handle grief and that it's normal and it's it's okay to cry. Okay. Um, can actually be really valuable in helping them learn how to deal with grief throughout their life.

Speaker 1 20:39

You're absolutely correct, Clean. Yep.

Speaker 3 20:42

So, Colleen, do you're a call back to your 17-year-old self, how you handled it?

Speaker 20:48

Well, it was such a different situation than Krishona's. I hadn't had Serena anywhere near as long. So didn't have the same type of bond that um that you do with a horse that you've had, you know, for two years. Um, but um I would I had come to the because of the time um as we had tried to treat, um, and and part of it's because of my fairly pragmatic personality. Um, by the time we came to the decision, I knew I was confident even at that age that we it really was the right decision to make. Um so I was sad, but I was I was sad more about what could have been. Um, this was a young horse, she had such a life in front, you know, potentially a life in front of her. Um and for such a freak thing to have happened um that ended but ended that, but I I I still am really comfortable that in that situation we made the absolute uh right decision, and that to try to um keep her going any longer would not have been um in her best. interesting probably not have had um a desirable desirable outcome but um when i had my dog that i'd had for 12 years put down on the other hand that was a different situation that was a 40 something year old woman sitting on the floor of the vet school of the vet clinic crying like a crying like madeline was when um when you had snowy snowy put down so it always is a really and again a situation actually similar to Krishona's with her old horse as I'd had this dog forever you know but she just we couldn't keep weight on her she had a stroke um she started having kidney failure and liver failure you know we had treated her with Alzheimer's medicine when she couldn't find the house anymore you know couldn't find the back door to come in um but eventually yeah again probably should have done it earlier earlier than we did but I just couldn't quite let go.

Speaker 3 23:00

So I'm I'm gonna get us off the unhappy topics as we're all reminiscing too much and shift to uh some real nuts and bolts practicality when it comes to horses because it is a whole different scenario essentially dealing with the remains of a horse versus you know we can dig a little cemetery plot for a cat that's pretty easy but this is not uncomplicated. So do you guys have some tips on what to expect or how you handled the the remains once once they were euthanized?

Speaker 1 23:38

Yeah Chris that is a really important topic and it's become more important as different states um you know have different guidelines or different regulations for disposing of a of a large animal carcass um and even as more rendering restrictions have become available I'm very fortunate that um I live in an area where burial is a legal option um so one of the you know so after we knew that snowy wasn't going to make it through colic and we had a euthanizer um one of the one of the you know we knew old Bailey needed needed to end her life um graciously as well but practically speaking it's a lot easier to hire the guy with the backhoe to come and dig two holes than it is just one and going into winter in Minnesota we have a real issue that once the ground freezes burial is one of our most affordable and legal options and in the winter months we don't have that option because the frost is just too deep it's just too cold. So the practical aspect of it is a lot of horses in northern climates are euthanized going into winter because number one you can physically bury them because the ground is still unfrozen um and two if you're going to pay somebody um you know to dig a hole it's a whole lot cheaper once you get them there to have them dig two holes. So we were fortunate to bury them on site um and and it worked very well for us.

Speaker 3 25:06

Yeah I uh well I haven't have a euthanasia story when I was a kid my my mother's Welsh pony that she'd had forever um died in the winter from colic but he died in the stall and they didn't have the ability to get the heavy equipment to to move him because you can't right even though he was a Welsh pony he's still substantial. So they ended up having to like tear apart the barn to be able to get him out of the barn. And it was winter in Illinois so there was no barrel so he had to spend all the way until spring thaw behind the barn where at least nobody looked at him but he he was with us that entire time so these are things that are yeah really you got to think ahead on these and in the what if if something like that does happen.

Speaker 25:57

Well and I think about the example you just shared too about the stall is I used to work at a barn that we had a lot of um it was a breeding facility so we had some old mares and stuff that were retired. But it was a really conscious thought when we started to be concerned about um whether it was getting close to time and whether we'd have to make a decision or if Mother Nature would make the decision about well where are we keeping this horse so that if she would as we all kind of hope would happen lay down and go to sleep and simply not wake up the next morning, are we going to be able to get her where she needs to be whether it's you know to have sometimes I know some vet schools you can have your horses incinerated or basically cremated like you would um at a at a funeral parlor and and you can even uh have the option to have the ashes um if you want or or burial I know it used to be really common here in the Midwest to have renderers pick them up but less and less is that possible um there's fewer renderers out there and because of the use of chemical euthanasia um the renderers have limited ability to actually use the animal for uh products and and stuff stuff like that. So I I know in Indiana I think we might have two renderers right now to cover um an entire state that has something in the neighborhood of 1600 horses so it's it gets back to what Kreshona was saying about this is really a big issue unfortunately have people doing research on looking at what are other ways that we can dispose of these large animals.

Speaker 3 27:37

So yeah I have a you know thinking about that with with the scenario the that I gave that the pony died of natural causes but if he had been euthanized and we couldn't bury them until spring there's some dangers of that of those remains actually being pretty poisonous to any animal that might decide to eat them. So what do you what do you do are there options that take care of all of that?

Speaker 1 28:04

Yeah so Chris that's a that's a really good um point we just recently started this past uh or just recently started an equine carcass composting research project so um swine and poultry have been composted for years and years and if you think about swine and poultry you have large numbers of animals on a site but of course they're a much smaller carcass compared to a thousand pound adult horse. So we've had some success um composting primarily the entire horse carcass with the exception of larger bones um the teeth and the hooves in a seven week time period and we'll be releasing that information as we learn more and as we kind of get through the colder winter months in Minnesota. But you are right you know a veterinarian if they chemically euthanize a horse which is an approved euthanasia way a method if that carcass is somehow exposed like for example the owner does it dispose of it properly and maybe just drags it out to the back woods but you hear stories of that and for example a bald eagle eats on that carcass and dies from the chemical euthanasia they actually the veterinarian and the horse owner are both liable so there are some real reasons why you need to properly dispose of of any livestock carcass and your local board of animal health will have rules and regulations that are pretty individualized to each state on how that is best done and what is recommended at the state level.

Speaker 29:40

Because even with burial because again just like in Minnesota burial is legal in Indiana but it has to be a certain distance from water that has to be a certain depth and a lot of it is because of these concerns about um about contamination of the groundwater with this basically it's a poison. I mean that's why it's an effective way of euthanasia um and so some people are actually there are several other than chemical euthanasia there are other ADMA American Medical Association approved methods of euthanasia that include gunshot and captive bulk but a lot of horse owners aren't comfortable with those um because of yeah well because of the blood and and and that sort of thing so the uh it's really a challenge right now probably I would say one of the biggest challenges facing the horse industry is as we have horse populations that are getting older and older how do we handle disposal of of um horses that have had to be chemically euthanized.

Speaker 1 30:48

And I I also think Colleen one thing that horse owners aren't really exposed to but other livestock species are so I think the reason composting is and other options are more popular with poultry and swine is that they've had large hurricanes come through and if you have a 2000 poultry flock poultry unit be affected you have to euthanize large large number of animals at the same time and even with African swine fever the the uh pork industry is really keen on what do you do if you have to have large math euthanasia because of a disease outbreak. And I think because a lot of horse owners tend to have smaller herds of five or less it maybe isn't on our radar screen but it needs to be there are large disease issues that could wipe out an entire region which could be a lot of five and ten you know head horse farms or with our changing climate there tends to be more severe weather outbreaks consistently that could impact areas that are more densely populated with horses.

Speaker 31:55

So you guys are right this hasn't really been on our radar screen but it really needs to be well and the first thing I thought about too when you were talking about that was in terms of a larger animal and I remember um on the news when uh foot and mouth broke out in um in great britain last time and that affects cattle so you're looking at needing to needing to um euthanize large numbers of a large body mass of animals and it was disposal is a big issue. It's very hard.

Speaker 3 32:30

So all of our owners should probably uh think ahead and come up with a plan way before that date even of uh you know euthanasia we always think about it as planned but it may not be it may be something sudden happens and then you have uh the remains to deal with or that you have time to think about it but knowing whether or not it's legal to do it, do you have the tractors and the equipment? Do you know somebody that has it? I mean those just aren't factors for like I said our dogs and cats. So really want people to look into the the the what ifs as well as the when well and I think like you said having a plan that goes from what what am I going to do in certain situations?

Speaker 33:16

Is it financial that I'll spend up to this amount of money you know and then make a decision and all the way through um all the way through disposal because I think sometimes too we think of having a plan up to the point of making the decision about euthanasia and don't necessarily think about okay so now what do we do um now that we have this large carcass. And you know in my opinion too that plan should be revisited because um I now own a four year old um I would make some different decisions probably for my four year old than my previous horse uh was 17 years old. Especially when you look at things like colic surgery and some of those things I would I would uh do things differently with a four year old and a 17 year old and a 32 year old uh like Krishna's experience. So it's not make one plan and that's the plan forever. As things change it might change your plan.

Speaker 3 34:16

Well thanks guys I really appreciate you sharing these maybe not happy memories but it's good to I think have professionals share their real experiences with grief and making decisions and these are things that affect us. So I'm hoping that we can have a conversation coming up in the future on some happy topics. So think of your uh your happy horse stories that we can share and uh provide a little bit of education. So any final thoughts?

Speaker 34:46

I want to thank you Chris for having us to this this is a really important topic and I think one a lot of times people shy away from because it's because it's not a happy topic. But it's really really important. So so thank you for organizing uh this podcast and and approaching this difficult topic.

Speaker 1 35:05

Yeah and and I would just like to echo that and honestly I look at it as it was I mean it's not the most happy thing I've done but I have a lot of pride in knowing that I gave my horses a very pain free and dignified end. So to me that makes me happy knowing that they didn't have to sit in some back 40 and starve to death because they weren't able to maintain weight or just continue to colic until they had a burst stomach. There's a lot of there's a lot of harder ways to go than chemical euthanasia that is you know proven safe effective and relatively or actually pain free. So it's not happy topic it's critical but it does leave me with positive memories because I know in the end I did the right thing for my horse.

Speaker 35:51

That's so important and it's part of our responsibility as horse owners we're not only responsible for them on the good days we're responsible for them until the end.

Speaker 3 36:00

Well thanks for joining Extension Horses horse stories with a purpose and for more information on this topic uh as well as composting end of life decisions or any other horse uh questions that you may have visit our website extensionhorses.org