Questions from Yahoo Answers

Some good replies to the question below were posted; however, the only reply that gave up-to-date information received a thumbs down vote. I registered with Yahoo to vote it up but am not allowed to vote until I accumulate points. Here's the link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080905122153AAN8Hze

Coon footed horse/DSLD put down?

I have a coon footed pony thats hind legs have dropped so far, he has completely straight legs now(not even an angle at the hock). He is 4 yrs old and is on stall rest. The vet gave him 5 months before he will be in so much pain he will have to be euthanized.

I Dont see the point in keeping him around for five months just to be in pain. Maybe if there was a good outcome but sense theres not is there really a point?

I think it would be best to put him to sleep now and not have him suffer at all...but a certain someone is saying it would be extremely selfish to do that.
Is it selfish to put him down before he is in pain or goes crazy from being stuck in a stall? I thought it would be doing him a favor.

Additional Details

My vet gave him 5 months before his pasterns would be hitting the ground and he would be in a lot of pain. Right now his hocks are hurting him doe to the straightness in his legs.

History is the present.

Another day, another story. Another person looking for answers -- and finding them. Only the names and faces change. Here are some selected quotes from a Gaits of Gold Forum post. I've included the links for each quote, but please read the entire thread for all the details.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-1.html

Tue Mar 25th, 2008 08:38 pm
I recently bought a 14.3 Paso mare 12 years old from a woman who would tell me nothing about her. I suspected right away there were problems she wasn't telling me about.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-2.html

Tue Apr 29th, 2008 09:43 pm
...today when I finally took her out on trail, she started trying to rear again when we got to a place where she wanted to turn around and go home. I kept her from rearing but she was very balky and suddenly started scrambling backwards really fast. I've had horses go backwards before and they usually just stop when they see they are going nowhere, but not this one! She scrambled back and got her rump under herself and then reared and flipped over.

http://www.gaitsofgold.info/wowbb/forum43/7288-3.html

Fri May 2nd, 2008 07:11 pm
...what bothers me is she was a good horse for a couple of different riders for nearly 10 years...

and

Sat Jun 14th, 2008 01:59 pm
Yesterday I had my lovely white mare euthanized. It should have been done years ago because she has been in pain for such a long time. When she reared over backwards with me, it was not because of orneriness, it was because her hind legs could not hold her up. She was objecting to being ridden and wanted to go back home but it was because she had an advanced case of DSLD (degenerative suspensory ligament disease) also know as ESPA (equine systemic proteoglandin accumulation).