I dont envy you at all. On June 10 of this past summer, we had to put down my old 26 yr old Appy mare. She still had the will, but was having a lot of trouble getting up and down due to arthritis. When it suddenly worsened, and there were a couple of times she could not get up unassisted, the decision was made. She still had good clean legs, and her mind had lots of pep, but her body just couldnt keep up anymore. She was fat and in good shape, and except for her arthritis, nobody could guess her age.
However, we are not ones to see anything suffer, and were scared that she would get down and we would never be able to get her up, or that she would colic or something else due to that... and we said good bye. We still miss her. I competed on her state wide in speed events in the mid 80's, my daughter rode her, and the grandkids learned to ride on her. She was an AWESOME, kind and fun lady that will be missed forever.
If your mare's other leg is starting to show wear and tear from trying to keep weight off the other one, or there are other issues, and she is already on bute, I would think twice of the quality of life she is having. It would hurt me to see one in pain daily, though it is beyond heartbreaking to also let them go.
I feel for you...
However, we are not ones to see anything suffer, and were scared that she would get down and we would never be able to get her up, or that she would colic or something else due to that... and we said good bye. We still miss her. I competed on her state wide in speed events in the mid 80's, my daughter rode her, and the grandkids learned to ride on her. She was an AWESOME, kind and fun lady that will be missed forever.
If your mare's other leg is starting to show wear and tear from trying to keep weight off the other one, or there are other issues, and she is already on bute, I would think twice of the quality of life she is having. It would hurt me to see one in pain daily, though it is beyond heartbreaking to also let them go.
I feel for you...
