Because beauty comes from the soul, not the skin you're in

[maggies_lens]

Really outstanding article under the cut. Basic outline: foal born with a severe wry nose. People have said ergh he's ugly, shoot him. 6 yr old kid says so what if he's ugly, I love him? Mum says: why put him down if he's not suffering? He's happy! Will try to fix him, if he's comfortable and happy, he stays. I love, love people like this. Talk

Comments

[xianghua]

The tricky thing about "Am of that seemingly old-fashioned out-dated mind frame that you are responsible for the animals you bring into the world, good or bad" is that in the past, doing 'anything for quality of life, good or bad' was liable to be a lot more limited in terms of cost. When 'everything possible to save a horse' can go VERY quickly into the tens of thousands of dollars- especially when there is almost no chance that the horse will ever be sound enough to ever be anything other than a pasture pet at very best? I can definitely see why someone would make the decision to keep the horse as comfortable as possible with minimally invasive stuff and humanely euthanize them when that was no longer enough. A lot depends on what your definition of a successful outcome is, too. A horse that can be competitive in whatever venue? A horse that can be ridden at least lightly? A horse that can stay sound with normal care for a pasture pet? A horse that is pain free as long as they're maintained with a very intensive degree of care? A

[madeyemads]

I really like this comment.

If my mare had a foal like this? I think I'd be pretty upset for a while. But so long as he's in no pain and is leading a relatively normal life ... I can't see putting him to sleep either.
This is a lovely article, sounds like they are doing exactly the right thing under the circumstances, and would be reasonable if it was better for the horse to be PTS.

Remember a while back that three legged horse on FHOTD? THAT is over the line for me. This isn't. This is nice.

[perfectfigure]

I don't know anything about this defect, but it sounds like he is going to require a costly surgery in order to live a "relatively normal" life.

I could not afford it. I love my dog to death, but if she had a medical emergency that would cost thousands of dollars, there's just no way for me to do it, even if I sold everything I owned, including my car. If -- like with this little horse, at least based on what I got from the article -- it was possible for her to have a pain-free/happy/etc existence after the medical procedure, I would do everything I could to try to fund that, even if it meant giving her up (to a breed group that has more resources or even a private home that could afford to help her

[blitzen_]

and *even* with all the funds available - a long, costly, time and energy consuming recovery can still result in tragedy & the inevitable decision must be made. e.g. barbaro.

[ukeuberbunny]

If we have learned anything from animals its that you should love someone for who they are and not what they look like so why should we be any different to them.

If hes not in pain then why end his life? :/

[young_modern]

actually, a foal like that would probably be abandoned or outright killed by the adult horses in the herd if he'd been born in the wild. any obviously disabled animals are easy targets for predators, making them a threat to the herd's safety.

but, we're not wild animals, and there are no predators in a stable. so if it's reasonable to provide a healthy and happy life, there's no reason to euthanize him.

[maggies_lens]

*loves you* damn straight!

[coanteen]

It sounds like he's sound and everything, just with the facial deformations. If they can afford the surgery, odds are they'll have a normal happy horse. It won't win beauty pageants, but sounds like it'll be fine otherwise.

But tbh I'd have absolutely nothing against that family if they couldn't afford the surgery and chose to have it euthed. That's almost $6k, and I don't think there's such a thing as prenatal insurance so it probably doesn't have medical insurance to help with costs.

[fidgetknickers]

Over here in the UK, many of the horse insurance companies will cover the foal from birth to thirty days on the mares policy, which will sometimes cover birth defects. When I put my mare in foal, I upped her insurance cover, and paid a bit extra for twelve months or so, so that in the event of the foal being born with a major problem, I'd at least have the option of having it taken care of.

[athystle]

It said they HOPED to raise the money, for the procedure. So it now becomes the problem of other ppl who did not breed the foal

[coneycat]

It said they HOPED to raise the money, for the procedure. So it now becomes the problem of other ppl who did not breed the foal.

Depending on how they do it, I don't have a problem with this. It makes me cranky when people are really aggressive about it or try to lay a guilt trip on contributors, but it doesn't bother me when people ask, or hold a benefit or something.

I sure hope the owners smarten up and stop letting the foal chase the child around the field.

Yes, that jumped out at me as well. I sure hope we don't get an update in six months saying Maddison got trampled to death by her "best friend."

[songofsixxpence]

It said they HOPED to raise the money, for the procedure. So it now becomes the problem of other ppl who did not breed the foal. This 10000x

There are so many horses that are useful and ridable that could use these funds, and instead we're wasting money on a hope and a dream. It's selfish of someone to want to save one FOAL, a dime a dozen piece of crap foal at that just because some mother doesn't know how to parent her child.
To me, this is just as bad as making a stupid prosthetic leg for a grade POS horse.

[athystle]

For me, the worth of the foal doesn't matter, nor does how he looks. I do not see anything cute there btw however. If it is their OWN money they are spending on the foal, it shouldn't matter how much he is worth. But that doesn't seem to be the case here, they want to ask others for money

[fall___awake]

I didn't read it, but lol he looks like a llama.