How long would you pour money into your ailing horse?

That's a very difficult question. Horses become my friends, and I care for them like they're members of my family. That said, it's all well and good for people to say that if you "can't afford medical care you shouldn't have a horse. I think that you have to have a balanced approach - - to expect some reasonable medical costs, and have an emergency saving account for that, or even insurance for major medical emergencies. There are many very conscientious horse owners who couldn't afford a colic surgery, for instance, or treatment of a broken or shatterred bones in the leg, such as occurred with Barbaro. Can you imagine what his medical bills were? But the owners were well-heeled and willing to spend the money. I wouldn't have had a choice, would have had to have had him put down immediately because I just didn't have that much money available.

So the answer would be, I guess, I would put as much money in as I could without going into such debt that I couldn't pay it off in a reasonble amount of time. I did have a horse who had a serious colic, and it cost quite a bit of money by the time we were done, and I made payment arrangements with the university where he was treated. As for an off again, on again lameness. . . . at some point, if your finances are limited, you have to decide when to just let your horse be a pasture pet, and just keep doing research and checking him to see if it's improved, and of course, doing whatever is necessary to allow the horse to be comfortable and happy as a grazer. (would need to have access to 24/pasture, of course. Which makes for another question altogether if you're paying board to keep him in a stall w/limited turnout).

tbh the abcess scenario isn't that helpful - I've known lots of people manage horses prone to abcesses without paying a fortune in vets bills.... they just get very good at poultices and dressings and don't ride so much, and the horses are generally pretty happy with life.

A terminal or chrionic illness would be a different matter - I would keep going for as long as I could afford to and my horse was still enjoying a decent quality of life. If I was struggling to pay for the vet care she needed then I would consider finding a new home for her, and if she was frequently in pain I would be thinking about euthanasia, same as with a cat or dog..

I would weigh the factors to decide.

Can the condition be treated and result in providing the horse with good quality of life?

Can I physically, financially, and emotionally accommodate caring for the horse if retiring him becomes necessary?

What happens to the horse's quality of life during the process of treatment, and is it worth the end result? In other words, is the treatment painful and debilitating and overly long term?

What are the odds that treatment will bring about successful resolution of the condition?

What modifications might I have to make in my own lifestyle in order to afford the treatment?

How old is the horse? What issues of age are considerations to factor in?

How well can I afford to provide the accommodations the horse will need both during treatment and after recovery?

What obligations do I have to my family members etc. that are also priorities in making a decision? How will my decision impact my family?

There are probably other considerations I can't think of offhand, but for me it would be a matter of weighing all of the information and choosing what's best based on the answers to all of these kinds of questions. I don't think there is one good answer to your question. I think each situation is unique, and has to be evaluated as such.

I know what you mean. I doubt all those people have thousands of dollars put aside for an emergency.

I can't answer exactly how long or much I would put in. I try to always have $500 aside for Midnight & my other horses in case of anything.

However, I would try not only the vets but any & all natural healing, as I put allot of stock into it & have seen it work.

I would also work on my own, try to figure out what might be causing this.

I don't think at this point I would be able to deal with losing my horse, I would totally kill me. So I would put all the money I had + my sisters money they might lend me in to my horse.

My sisters horse was ill, the vets ran every test in the book & they could find no answers. My sister was 14 at the time & had to pay for everything herself. The barn owner had an an idea on something to do & it helped, but not before the vet bill amounted to over $600.

She has been sick a few times again but we are trying to figure out what is causing her to be ill.

So, I would pay everything & try everything I could to save my horse. But my limit would probably be around $1000 because combining the money I have plus putting some on tab would be that much at most.

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If you have a lot of lamesness on one foot, generally the other foot will blow out. He could get ringbone on the other pastern from the excess wieight. If you know that there is something that will not heal, I would think it would be better to let him go rather than keep putting good money into bad.

I hate to see any animal suffer, and would rather see them put down than hurt!. You can put an awful lot of money into vet bills, medecine, and feed and board and have to put him down anyway.

I would start looking at the horse's environment. Is the food and bedding always fresh? Where are you getting it from? Maybe you need to change where you get it from. Clean EVERYTHING and start fresh. I don't know a lot about horses but I has a similar situation with my dog. She kept getting a rash, we paid for multiple tests and visits, prescriptions and shampoos. It kept coming back. It turned out even tho we hadn't switched foods, the food we were using had changed their formula. We changed to an all natural food and washed her with only baby shampoo and it's finally clearing up. But truthfully, if you're not willing to continue to pay for the horses care you should find someone who will. You can't just give up on them, they NEED you.