DEAD Horse!

[Nasty135]

I'm searching for sincere recommendations for my neighbor who has a horse that has to be put-down soon due to illness.

I have no real clue to the nature of the illness other than it has to do with its front legs being in pain. It won't walk...its been on meds for quite awhile without improvement

Now for MY question, The neighbor is thinking of trying to bury this horse on his property. Without saying it I think he is asking me to use my tractor to excavate a hole large enough to accomodate this horse.. Now I'm no dummy and I know that this would take a good while with my 60" wide bucket going down close to whatever I would feel comfortable with (I doubt I would go past 4 1/2-5')..
This may be a money issue for him, but isn't there a place to call and have the animal picked-up and taken care of without all the above mentioned headache?

He was talking about some kind of sled to place the horse on to drag it to the burial site, Rather than just roping the legs and dragging it into the hole! It all sounds rather emotional to me and I can understand this to a point. But I'm not gonna send flowers if ya get my drift...

Thanks in advance for your input!!

 

[Spiffy]

We always used to call the rendering truck [try yellow pages for rendering] for anything to big to deal with, but I know the inlaws always buried horses like you're asking about[of course, the weight on their 1960s? JD1020 4ft dirt bucket probaby exceeds the ground pressure you can exert].

You know your tractor and soil conditions better than anyone. If the soil is pretty loose, I don't think you'd have trouble getting the horse in the ground. If you can get better than 4ft deep you should be fine, but again not knowing the ground conditions or how ambitious the local dogs are about digging, I'm guessing blind. BTW go a little wider than your gut would tell you.

 

[beenthere]

I wouldn't do it, and if nothing else, claim it is too much for the tractor to handle.

At least call the rendering works, and ask what the charge is to pick up a horse. Then you will know the options. Also, give a call to the health department, to learn what the liability ramifications are, if another neighbor happens to not like a dead animal buried in the neighborhood. Such a problem happened near me, and it was over a dead sheep.

Seems the horse could be sold for slaughter if it is just lame, IMO. I believe there is a good horse meat market; for dog food, fox food, and mink food at least.

Not advocating here, just talking. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[MikePA]

You really need a backhoe, not a FEL, to dig a hole deep enough to bury a horse. At a minimum, a BH will be faster than a FEL.

We've only had to put one horse down and our vet handled everything. She scheduled the rendering guy to show up and also gave the horse the shot that put her down. It cost about $100 for everything.

The vet set the time she was going to be there. Let my wife say goodbye to the horse, gave the horse the shot and stayed until the rendering guys showed up. The vet also recommended that my wife not be there when the rendering truck arrived. If your neighbor has any feelings at all for this horse, I recommend he not be present.

My recommendation for you is....Recommend he contact his vet and let the vet handle it. Under no circumstances would I get involved, even if I had a backhoe.

 

[riptides]

The vet should give options on what to do. Since it seems someone has been caring for this animal, or trying too.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have no real clue to the nature of the illness other than it has to do with its front legs being in pain. It won't walk...its been on meds for quite awhile without improvement)</font>

They should also know the regulations or rules for the soon to be departed animal, and how to handle it. I would not bury the animal, or attempt to.
One - legal ramifications and
Two - it is a big job, and can get nasty over time.

This is an animal that someone cared for, let us all remember that.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Marine1]

Nasty,
This very same thing happened to me about two years ago. The horse had some weird condition that the ligaments would not grow and the horse could not bend it's legs and had to stand tip toed. Anyway, the horse died and the neighbor asked me to help. I went ahead and dug the hole with my FEL about 4' deep and covered it up. It was a fairly easy dig except for when it got dark. I made a long sloping entry for the tractor to get that deep. That 4' was all the earth would give me. I would have gone deeper if I could have.

I am not saying you should do the same. In fact, I like the rendering idea. Had I known about this service I would at least have made mention of it. I don't think my neighbor knew about this service or who to call either. My neighbors are the best so this was an easy decision for me.
Just remember who owns the horse and who owns the tractor. Good Luck

 

[KubotaSteve]

I would ignore all hints and if he came right out and asked me to do it, as long as it was legal I probably would at least give it a try. You're not too far away from me so soil type shouldn't be too different. I dug a 6 foot deep hole about 8 ft wide with my B7800. It didn't take as long as I thought. I mostly used the FEL. I got down to 6 foot and probably could have went deeper but I was too lazy to hook the box blade on the back for weight.

 

[slowzuki]

I have seen the results of 1 dead riding horse and 2 dead work horses. Riding horse died in winter, was drug out in the woods and left for the coyotes.

The workhorses also died in winter. They were drug out and covered in snow as they had been lethally injected and the meat would have killed wild animals that got into them. In the spring an escavator was working in the area and burried them.

Getting a 2000 lb work horse from a 6 ft wide straight stall out a 4 ft offset to a 3 ft wide door is a challenge to say the least. Not something for someone emotionally attached to the animal to see. Lot of chains and yanking from the tractor. Plus there was another upset horse in the stall next to it.

 

[fenneran]

We had a horse die on one one morning and we called the rendering company. I could have dug a hole with the FEL, but for the $125 they charged, it wasn't worth the risk of something digging it up later if I didn't get it deep enough.

 

[kensfarm]

For large animals.. you bury them above ground to compost. I've dragged a few cows for my dairy neighbor.. he has a spot in the woods.. then cover w/ a couple feet of dirt.