My $60 dollar colt -May walk away from this opinions PLS!!

[welsummerchicks]

epiphysitis in one knee? that looks like an injury?

 

[onthespot]

I agree, and since he's intact, my guess he got kicked while being "colty"

 

[al6517]

Seems like it has an uphill battle with all the things wrong with it, my guess is the previous owner knew this already. Looks like a $50.00 horse to me, and why would you want to keep him around if he can't be of any use

Good luck whatever you decide.

AL

 

[welsummerchicks]

Well anyway, it is nice the horse is in a good home.

The only way to be sure there is nothing wrong with a horse(or that what is wrong is correctable, manageable or won't interfere with the intended use), is to have a prepurchase exam done by a really good vet, have the xrays gone over carefully and discuss the results. That said, most people don't get vet exams for cheap horses. They figure the vet exam costs more than the horse.

For some folks with a little land a pet horse is not a big deal, and can keep their other horses calm by providing companionship....too...very few people really are going to work a horse - most just go for a ride on pretty even ground at a walk occasionally.

But saying he can't be ridden with the information at hand, is jumping to conclusions. A lot of very bad looking knees don't bother horses at all, especially for light use.

An injury can cause enlargement outside the joint that doesn't interfere with using the horse, but looks unsightly. It can indeed feel very hard, and be fibrous scar tissue, or even a lump of bone, and as long as it is not 'articular' (interferes with movement of joint) it may cause no pain or problem at all.

No one can tell for sure what's in there or how it will affect the animal, by looking at the external appearance of the leg. I would not have bought the horse, but if it wound up with me, I would find out what's wrong with the knee, how much it is actually affecting the joint, put together an appropriate rehab and exercise plan for the animal, and go from there. I would also have the vet look at the back and discuss what's appropriate there.

Some comments were made that Saddlebreds often have quite swayed backs. And that 'compared to a saddlebred', he didn't look that bad.

One has to look at the situation. That much drop in the back in an unridden 2 year old of any breed is, indeed, significant. The key is that the youngster has not been ridden (at least that's what the OP was told).

That makes the drop in the back MORE significant. He is what is called, 'long coupled' - a long weak loin, which tends to go along with this look.

I really do not think that a program of riding 'round' or 'stretching' will 'build up' this back or 'make it stronger'. It would still be necessary to build up the muscles on the back and condition the animal very carefully, though. This horse's back, I think, has a 'built in' weakness. Light riders starting only at an older age (4+), not ever putting heavier riders on him, and maybe driving more than riding, sounds like a very good idea.

Saddlebred horses, especially as they age after years of being ridden saddleseat, tend to show a lot of drop in the back. Some of this is because some Saddlebreds have long, weak backs, some is due to riding the horse at 1 1/2, 2 and 3, and some of it is because of the position of the saddle in saddle seat riding. The saddle is placed further back, by its design it puts the rider further back on the saddle, and saddle seat riders often push themselves even further back than that.

It isn't any more 'normal' for a saddlebred to have a swayed back, though, than it is an Arabian. It is just as abnormal in a saddlebred.

In fact, since Arabians often (are at least supposed to have) slightly shorter stronger backs/loins than Saddlebreds, the back dropping in them, is actually more significant. Arabians do have some of the same risk factors - some do have weak backs, some are ridden at a very young age, and some are ridden in the saddle seat type position.

Interestingly, I boarded for a while at an Arabian barn, and the owner told me that he never rides any halter prospects, because 'it makes their back drop'. So at least some Arabian owner/trainers, recognize that there is a problem.

 

[michickenwrangler]

A lot of "halter bred" horses are bred for longer backs and a narrower build.

A few years ago, the Arabian Horse Association tried to make it mandatory for halter horses to have performance qualifications so they wouldn't be "just halter horses." Led to more faking of performance qualifications than anything else.

 

[zazouse]

Have you checked his teeth?
Looks like he's got a pretty good overbite in the update photos.

 

[patandchickens]

Xray vision???

Sorry, but you cannot possibly tell a horse's bite alignment from looking at three photos of his lips.


Pat

 

[welsummerchicks]

Pat is right. The photos do not and cannot show an overbite, and wouldn't unless it was extremely extreme.

You may be getting misled by the small lower jaw, but Arabians often have a lower jaw shaped like that.

Further, the horse's lips can cover up a really surprising degree of jaw deformity. The best thing to do is to 'look your gift horse in the mouth'.

All that said, horses cope very well with a mild degree of parrot mouth, and usually can graze. They do most of their chewing with their back teeth.

 

[patandchickens]

And pokin' out the upper lip like in that photo is not at all an uncommon facial expression for some horses.

Really, given that how much riding the horse is meant to do is negotiable, the only thing I see that makes me go 'hmm' is the left knee, and it *may* be harmless or relatively harmless, who knows, really should have a vet out. People get all "I read some conformation analysis websites and did horse judging in 4H" about these things but a lot of things that fill out the common "lists of faults to look for in a horse" are really no big deal for many recreational horses (as long as the horse is empirically sound on his legs).

Pat

 

[WIChookchick]

Well yesterday we worked on being caught in the pasture with the other colts around... didn't go well. I did get him seperated from the herd, and taking grain or horse treats out of my hand.
I finally got him to go towards the gate area at the back of the shed row his stall is in. I had to move gates around as they keep his sire and another older stud colt together but away from them.
Once in his stall, I had to remind him that he needed to turn and face me, and that ropes are NOT evil. He stood for haltering very well, and led very well, as he remembered our previous lesson.
AND his breeder has worked with him a little, once she found out I taught him how to lead.
Her words when I called her ,"WOW, he LEADS!!!, what did you do??!! he is a different horse.." Uh.. worked with him and established trust....
Any way, we then went back out into the back area, where all gates were closed, and there was a 6 inch round post in the ground, near the sliding door...
I decided to see whether or not he tied... I didn't want to do it in a stall, as there were buckets, eye bolts and other things he could hurt himself on, even if I had removed the bucket.
I wrapped the rope around the post, enough for him to feel it tighten, but in a way if I let out some slack, it would loosen if he freaked out.
Well much to my surprise, he apparently HAD been tied as a foal, she didn't remember if she had OR not...he remembered that lesson very well and was a good boy.
I lunged him to the right and to the left a little just to see if he would go... HE DID.. yah!
Back inside I gave him a handful of grain, and went to find a piece of plywood. And lucky me, I did. So it went into the narrow aisleway, and we started to walk across it, and then back again..
No real issue with walking on a noisy surface. Then backing across it. He did acknowledge it a few times
So then I put him in his stall, brought him out into the front of the barn. And he decided he didn't want to walk across it.. LOL but again did acknowledge it.
So I moved it to the entrance of the barn, slid the door to narrow it a little and he had to walk across it then, and then out again. DID well!!
ANd then I backed him across it. GREAT job, so I called it a day!!
Got some new pics of him, and of his sire.

Here is his sire The Elixer- 18 yrs old.. arabian.. LOOOOONNGGG back. And does have an underbite, from what I could see, when I gave him a treat or two.