At 08:43:18 on 14.05.11, Flicka wrote:
I just can't begin to imagine how awful it would be to have your horses caught in a fire. This woman's horse suffered 70 per cent burns but she was determined to save her. But how far do we go to save a horses life-was this a step too far? Would it actually have been far kinder to put her to sleep? It's a difficult one isn't it. Have you ever been faced with a choice like this, maybe your horse needed a big operation. Good to see in this case that the mare is helping children who've suffered terrible burns.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385489/Horses-amazing-recovery-killed-her.html

At 21:48:03 on 14.05.11, dizney princess wrote:
i no graham and i would make the best decision for the horse, its great that the horse has done so well but as we were discussing the other day about Miri whos foal was ment to be due in april if there was huge complications i.e she'd lost the foal inside then we would be finding out the risk factors to her and how stressful things would be for her, (but all is ok with the foal just wrong dates) before we made any decisions.

At 00:59:26 on 15.05.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
I would try and try to keep grenville alive, i would go to hell and back for him, when grenville had his op when he came round from the anesthetic he fell and hurt his leg they thought he wouldn't be able to get up but i said leave him and see and he did get up eventually. I wouldn't put my horse down unless i was told there is 100% no chance of him recovering but even if the chance was tiny i would go for it no matter how much it cost or how long it would take. MY friends horse has just recently been put down (just after new year) and she had owned him for 25 years, he was 32, she was 6 years old when she got him and she tried everything, she spent £200 for each set of plastic glue on shoes, extra money for a starvation paddock (he had lami 24/7 pretty much even in winter) she had him on heart medicine everything then after a year she had no choice but to put him down because his lami was so bad he couldn't leave his stable, that hurt everyone on the yard, the yard owner and his family all said goodbye to rocky before the cremation service came, it was a horrible day but sometimes there is only so much you can do but when your horse has been in your life longer than it was absent from it... It is a really really hard coice... Easy me saying now after 3 years of having grenville to say it would kill me to lose him, 25 years of him being there? That would be heart wrenching. RIP rocky

At 09:17:02 on 15.05.11, Em28 wrote:
It's an amazing story, the horse was literally 'on fire' suffering unimaginable pain. Im not sure what I would do in that situation. I would like to think I would do everything possible to save my horse. It's pretty amazing the mares owner is now hoping her horse will help burns victims, that's a great idea. Also, I have heard of a few fires in American Barn Stabling, although they have many benefits maybe the fire precautions should also be stepped up. Although, I have no idea of the details in this instance with regards to the fire.

At 19:35:16 on 15.05.11, ToriSilverson wrote:
wow its amazing that she actually did survive...id like to think id do everything possible for either charlie or romany but its not possible sometimes =/ like money... pepsi broke her hip when she was an event horse before my cousin bought her and they wer able to pay for her treatment, if she had broken it with my cousin she would have had to be put down just because she couldnt have paid for the treatment. pepsi is 29 and still going strong :)

At 08:43:07 on 18.05.11, LibertyHooves wrote:
I care about my horse more than probably I care about myself. Without her I am not a whole person so I would do everything I can to make sure she is safe and well, as I like being a whole person. I would do anything for her, walk however many miles, pay any price just to make sure that we have as long a life together as possible.

At 09:04:11 on 18.05.11, Flicka wrote:
But isn't some treatment a step too far? I've heard of horses being operated on for what my horse has, but I don't think I'd want to put him through it to be honest :( I remember when I was a kid, with the vets help, we tried to save my Rabbits life-he had mixi-and both my mum and I wished we hadn't but just let him go with dignity earlier on.

At 10:34:52 on 18.05.11, YasandCrystal wrote:
I agree Flicka and think you can go too far. We should remember that we have to be the horse's voice to carry on with treatments and I think the selfless person will put the horse's pain and quality of life first before their own emotion. People afterall do not always want to live with the illnesses they are diagnosed with and they can turn down treatment. We need to remember we are but the horse's guardian. I have read many an article about horses surviving colic surgery and never being right again. Is that fair? My husband has witnessed many insured horses being given treatment after treatment to finally be pts in the end, when actually if commonsense had ruled would have been done earlier; ending everyone's pain.

At 21:10:34 on 18.05.11, zoewest wrote:
I think some times the decision not to put don't a suffering horse is a selfish one... We love our horse so much and could not even begin to understand life without them but is it worth putting them through a struggle when putting them down would be the best option for them even if it hurts us. Don't get me wrong i would hate for anything to happen to my little girl but some times we need to remember they are horses not humans and putting them down may be the most loving thing to do. They dont have the emotions we do i would rather see them at rest then continue a painfull life because i chose not to let go.

At 02:14:31 on 19.05.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
well i can't say that i would because i had a rabbit (two they were sisters) and one got a parasite in its ear when it was pretty young and it destroyed some of its brain, they said she wouldn't live but she did, however her head was constantly on its side and she found it difficult to turn right but her sister looked after her and they both had very long happy lives i don't think any treatment is too far grenville could have been retired but i chose to pay the £2000 and go through the 3 month box rest and rehab, my friend had a horse with a extremely twisted pelvis that she didn't have the time to correct so for a whole year i lunged her every night, rain, sleet or snow on a hill to twist it back into place, she is now an eventer but it was very hard work to get there my old dog was both deaf and blind but he was still happy, my friend has a dog that can't use its back legs but it is on doggy wheels, they even moved house into a bungalow for him. No i would definately do anything to save my pets life but i do believe the animal will let you know when it is ready, they give up fighting and you can see they aren't happy wiggles (the rabbit) fought right through and climbed about in the 2 story hutch easily and was very athletic despite her trouble, we had to hand feed her when it was cold though as her neck seemed to stiffen up and we would bring them inside to warm her up, once she died though her sister bugsey soon lost weight and we had her put down because she had lost her will to live.