Planning a dignified end-of-life pathway

Yard managers — for many, the most important course in the catalogue.

• ◆Use a validated quality-of-life scoring tool
• ◆Hold the conversation with owners well
• ◆Choose between injection and shooting by humane criteria
• ◆Coordinate vet, knackerman and aftercare

1. 01.

   Quality of life

   The HHHHHMM scale adapted for horses; reviewing weekly.

   • ·Adapting the HHHHHMM framework for equines
   • ·Weekly review meetings: structure, attendees, written notes
   • ·Trigger thresholds and what they mean for the conversation with owners
   • ·Documenting decline over months — the audit trail that matters
2. 02.

   The owner conversation

   Language, pacing, written records of consent.

   • ·Opening the conversation — language that opens rather than closes
   • ·Pacing across multiple calls or visits
   • ·Consent forms — what to include and how to hold them
   • ·When the owner cannot or will not decide — escalation pathways
3. 03.

   The day itself

   Site selection, companion presence, handler script, body removal.

   • ·Choosing site, time and personnel
   • ·Companion presence — when it helps, when it doesn't
   • ·Handler script and choreography for vet/firearm options
   • ·Body removal logistics — knackerman, hunt, cremation

Reflect on the last euthanasia your yard handled and write a half-page anonymised case note bringing what went well and what didn't.

Submit an end-of-life policy for your own yard within 30 days; reviewed by the tutor and signed off as a Green Ribbon evidence document.

• §BEVA 'Recognising end of life in horses' practitioner guide
• §World Horse Welfare 'Just in Case' campaign resources
• §AAEP Euthanasia Guidelines (current edition)