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New Member:
jagd

Posted on Saturday, Dec 10, 2011 - 5:11 pm:

Recently I was contacted by a friend of mine who has a 10yr. old registered Paint Horse with Quarter Horse breeding. She is looking for a home for this horse and wants to give it to me based on the following lameness issue:

"The lameness is coming from a tendon or ligament around the coffin joint. Right now he is sound at the walk but lame at the trot. It would be up to you whether you rode him at the walk at this time, but I would suggest that it only be for short times and very infrequent. I think that if he is left pretty much alone until spring then he will heal just fine. In order for me to keep him jumping 3ft it would require injections and adequine, but it would not be necessary for trail riding. This is why we are getting rid of him. I simply can't keep him for showing any more and am looking for a good home."

Additionally, when requested, she provided the following additional information:

"Alright, now more specific stuff. When the vet came out the do the lameness exam she did x-rays and found a possibility for arthritis. Instead of doing the ultrasound as well we injected the coffin joint because she expected that the be the issue since he was not very lame. She said that if the injection did not work then the prognosis would be a tendon around the coffin joint. The largest one there is the DDF, so that is what I suspect, but without the actual ultrasound I am not 100% that it is that one. At that time we discussed what treatment would be if the prognosis was the tendon and there were three options: stem cell, shock wave, and rest. We would choose rest and she agreed that would be fine.

As for turn out, when the vet left she told us to turn him out as long as he was quiet. While she thought that it was an arthritis issue, she would not have even suggested turn out if she thought that it would compromise the tendon in the event that this was the issue. I would say that turn out would be fine as long as he is quiet. The quieter he is the faster that he will heal. He is typically very quiet in the field and is turned out right now with with about 8 other geldings, but he also does fine by himself so separating him would not be an issue. He did have a tear on the suspensory tendon on the back left leg three years ago. This healed extremely well and we have had no other lameness issues from it. All we did for this injury was rest so this is the reason that I believe that he will do well with only rest this time. He does have shoes on all the way around. Right now he has on pour in pads because the vet thought that these would help the arthritis, but as this is not the problem our farrier has said that he would take them out next time."
____________________________________________

Now my question is this, I'd like to give this horse a home, but I don't want to get bogged down with expenses for a horse that has a fairly good potential for some problems down the road. I know the information is limited, but I was wondering if anyone out there had any advice for me...either pro or con concerning this animal. My space here is limited and if I have another horse here, I need him to be able to go out on trail rides, which is pretty much all we do here. No jumping and the like....

Sorry for the long post....

Jeff
New Member:
louanna

Posted on Sunday, Dec 11, 2011 - 10:50 am:

Is this horse on any supplements like glucosamine chonDrOitins? Perhaps this would help him down the line and/or other supplements,or herbal formulations. Probably with rest and then with limited use on trail rides (at the walk) he could be a nice horse for you. I think as horse owners we have to recognize that there is always the potential for health issues, and we accept that responsibility when we take over the care of any animal.
Member:
canter

Posted on Sunday, Dec 11, 2011 - 12:54 pm:

Without a real diagnosis, I wouldn't consider taking the horse- unless you have unlimited time and resources- because without the diagnosis you have no idea what problems you may be accepting. If it is arthritis, then yes, turnout would be beneficial, but there is question as to whether or not the suspensory is involved. If that is the case, turnout with other horses could possibly be disasterous. Seems to me there is too much conflicting info in what your friend is telling you. If you really like the horse, then perhaps a second opinion is wise.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Dec 11, 2011 - 6:48 pm:

Sounds like a gamble.

There are so many good, sound horses out there right now who are available for free or almost free, if it were me I wouldn't go for something iffy.

It sounds like it may be a long haul to recovery and I can't help wonder if your friend would be so willing to give this horse away if she truly felt confident the horse would return to soundness.
New Member:
jagd

Posted on Sunday, Dec 11, 2011 - 8:03 pm:

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am going to turn down the offer. I like the word "iffy". It would work out great if the best case scenario materialized, but the chances of that happening without the investment of a lot of time and money are not good. The more I research in this area the easier the decision becomes. Once again, thanks everyone. This was my first post here.

Have a great Christmas all.

Jeff
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011 - 3:42 pm:

Welcome Virginian,
I just wanted to echo the above sentiments. Unless pasture sound is good enough this does not look like a bargain.
DrO
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