Quality of Life

there marks on the paddock where they have struggled to get up overnight? Or scuffed hocks from the stable floor?
Working with your vet farrier and other professionals who know you and your horse can also be invaluable. Not only can they offer fresh eyes and objectivity but research shows that their support often helps alleviate distress and guilt when a difficult decision needs to be made for the sake of your horses welfare.
Behaviour matters
Behavioural factors can be revealing. Changes in behaviour may be linked to physical pain or discomfort psychological factors such as stress or boredom or both. One study found that owners are more likely to take physical factors into account than behavioural indicators when making end of life decisions. Behaviour provides essential insights into both physical and mental wellbeing often being the earliest or only observable sign of issue. Remember that the earlier we begin monitoring our horses the better idea we have of what is normal for an individual and what is not.
Assessing quality of life involves many perspectives and all factors need to be taken into account. Good appetite can be a useful quality of life indicator and is certainly an important and positive sign. However it should not be viewed in isolation as this could detract from a horses poor quality of life in other respects. A horse that is eating well may still be in unmanageable discomfort meaning euthanasia has become necessary to prevent suffering.
Behavioural factors can also affect our decisions around treatment for clinical conditions. How do we care for a horse who shows signs of stress when stabled but has a diagnosed lameness issue requiring several weeks of box rest? Optimising the environment to reduce stress can significantly improve the horses quality of life while on box rest as well as potentially supporting a faster and fuller recovery. However if the same horse has a recurrent issue that regularly leads to repeated episodes of box rest concerns over their prolonged stress may become as much of a factor as the underlying physical issue when judging whether euthanasia is a kinder option.
Difficult decisions
Making the decision to put a muchloved equine to sleep is never one we want to have to face but it is an essential responsibility for the owner of any animal not only ethically but legally. Euthanasia may become necessary at any point sadly even young horses have to be put