Without getting into detail too much, I have an 11 yr old QH that I am looking to take over from the barn owner because she is lame. She was diagnosed with a bone cyst/spur in the right front cannon bone by radiographs by the barn’s vet (two very high-end, reputable equine groups). To the extent of my knowledge, they blocked her to find the source of pain, have done x-rays, and did joint injections, with stall rest intermittent, and that did not help at all. Since she has been lame, they have only been using her for light work (maybe one lesson/day) and she has been out in a large pasture with other mares. The biggest source of lameness is in the trot/canter, but she has her good/bad days. I have been recommended to do so many things, but I am a f/t college student and can only afford so much! This “to do” list includes; Adequin/Legend injections, corrective shoeing, extensive trimming her hooves to recompensate for her pain (lateral/longitudinal?!?!?!), draining of the cyst if it is fluid-filled, Acupuncture, Denerving, & surgery w/stem cells and/or bone matrix.
As of right now, this whole project with her is just an inquiry to see if I could afford to possibly get her sound again. I have also heard from a vet that denerving (the somewhat affordable solution) may not touch her lameness. I don’t even have $1000 saved up yet, let alone $10,000 for surgery! Recovery time is not a big issue for me, since I am recovering from a severe ankle injury myself. Her level of activity that i’m hoping to gain back is for low level dressage, since my doctor is prohibiting any jumping for the next 2+ years for myself. Does anyone have any experience with any of these procedures or this issue in general?!?!?! I’m broke and desperate 
What do the vets say as to her prognosis, realistically? I have a hard time believing one vet would recommend all of those various treatments willy-nilly–what do they suggest be done first?
Too many specialists/experts can be a mess. 
But my biggest question is why you would want such a horse?
Why would you take this horse? It’s horrible enough going through it with mine whom I have owned for 5 years and who has been in my family for longer. Never would I knowingly put myself through the heartbreak, frustration and finincial strain of a chronically lame horse!
I can’t imagine why you would do this either.
$1,000 is a drop in the bucket when it comes to lameness issues. In 3 months or 6 or a year you may well have spent all your savings and still have a lame horse.
Then what? Will you be able to say no, this is enough, I have done everything I can? Or will you go into debt trying “one more thing”?
If you think it’s hard to walk away from her now, it’ll only be worse when you’ve invested everything you have emotionally/financially into getting her better. And you will NOT be doing her a favor when you hit a financial breaking point – and you WILL hit one, if you are broke going in to this. Not maybe. You WILL.
What is it you really want to do? Have more time riding? Be more involved in the care of a horse? Help a horse with some problems? There are ways to do any of these things that are far more likely to have a happy ending. If you post a thread with what it is you’re looking for (horse to ride, way to help horses in need in your area, etc), people will be able to give you much better suggestions than taking on an undiagnosed chronically lame horse.
Don’t do it. Realistically, do you want to spend lots of money that you don’t have and bankrupt yourself on something that may be a lost cause, and then you can’t afford to get a horse that you could ride?
There are many FREE sound horses on the market right now-why invest in something that you know is not sound and will have a future of expensive treatments for the rest of it’s life?
You could spend 1000 bucks on shoeing alone in a couple of months.
I would only take this horse on if you were prepared to own her as a pasture ornament and not have any $ left over for your own riding goals. That might be a kindness to her (“only” one lesson a day is not exactly in her best interests :eek:), and it might be a learning experience for you, but honestly this is a terrible idea as a means to get a horse you can ride going forward.
There is no such thing as a free horse.
And thus endeth the lesson.
G.
I bought my TB mare when she was 17. She’s 24 now. I knew she had arthritis at the time. I did not vet her b/c purchasing her was sort of an emotional/rescue type decision. What she actually had was arthritis and two old bone chips and navicular cysts. She has never been really sound for more than a couple months at a time and she’s really only ever been capable of light trail riding. She’s been injected and nerved. Our last vet visit a few weeks ago was $700. We have another one coming up in a few weeks. I haven’t really ridden her but a handful of times over the past year and a half, and at this point I’m probably going to go broke just trying to keep her comfortable.
This is fine, I love her dearly, happy to have her as a pasture puff, I’m able to give her a good home and I’m not a competitive rider.
The horse you’re dealing with will more than likely never ever be sound, it will get worse as the horse ages and you will never be able to sell it. It sounds like you may not be able to afford the care she needs, and the horse will suffer for that.
the reason that I am interested in trying to gain her soundness is both for me and for her. I need a horse that is dead broke/won’t spook at anything because I have too many severe injuries to myself from the past 16 years of riding OTTB’s and pesky ponies. And selling her is the problem; who is going to take a lame horse? That is why she was offered to me, because the owner does not want to put any more money into her as a lesson program horse. She won’t sell to anyone, so she will be sold to the auctions, and it would kill me to see her go to the meat man because she is lame and no one feels like “wasting” money on a super fantastic horse. I won’t be able to get back into a saddle with stirrups alone for the next year, and finding free horses does not mean they are anywhere close to dead quiet/broke that I need.
This is not a free horse. This is a potentially someday maybe sound money pit.
Take what money you have and invest in lessons with someone who has well trained schoolies. You’ll come out ahead both with your finances and your riding.
As for surgery–a) nerving shouldn’t cost $10K, and
b) nerving to obliterate pain as high as the cannon bone would not be something I’d consider in a horse I was going to sit on, especially if you have multiple old injuries already.
Quiet, sound horses are out there. And they cost much, much less than quiet, lame ones.
If the mare cannot be kept comfortably by the owner, it is not your problem. She can be euthanized humanely. This is not your burden to bear.
Listen up.
I really hate it when a BO passes off a chronically lame horse to a financially strapped “buyer” who wants to save the horse from the meat man. OP is a F/T college student and should spend her time/money on her education. The BO should be ashamed of herself.
Don’t do it, as hard as it may be to watch her get sent to auction. You can’t save every horse. There are no guarantees she will ever be sound again no matter how much money you throw at her, and then you’re stuck paying board for a lawn ornament for the next 15-20 years.
If you can’t even ride yourself at the moment, put the money you’d be paying in vet bills and board on this “free” horse into a savings account, and put that towards a sound, sane horse when you can ride again.
That is why she was offered to me, because the owner does not want to put any more money into her
Nice owner. It’s HER job to do the right thing by the mare, not to dump her on someone else.
Please listen to Ghazzu and deltawave. They’re telling you what the reality of the situation is.
Look at my situation. I’ve had my horse for 13 years. During that time, I’ve had three major back surgeries, removal of a tumor from my jaw, plus my horse had an annular ligament desmotomy, a colic surgery and another colic that was managed medically with a week in the clinic.
In the 13 years I’ve had him, due to his health issues and mine, I’ve had ONE stretch of riding that lasted 8 months. That’s IT. All other riding has been sporadic. Thankfully I can afford to board my mostly pasture pet - even though he’s sound - and he does my BO a favor by being babysitter extraordinaire for her racing layups.
So… What happens if, during this time you’re trying to get the mare sound, she colics? What if it’s a severe colic that requires surgery (my guy slipped 20 feet of intestine through a congenital hole in the mesentery - wasn’t going to be “fixed” without surgery)? Or a medical colic, like my guy’s nephrosplenic entrapment. I can tell you I’ve spent over $10k on two colics alone.
Where will you get the money for emergent medical care? Because it’s not a question of if the horse will have an unexpected medical emergency, it’s when.
If you cannot bear the thought of the mare going to auction, can you talk to the BO about euthanizing her?
As you say in your first post, you’re broke & desperate. Broke & horse ownership don’t go well together - and IronwoodFarm is right - your BO should be ashamed of herself, “offering” the horse to you, assuming your BO knows your financial situation.
Sorry to sound harsh - but unless you have a crystal ball and KNOW this horse will be able to return to soundness (preferably with minimal medical intervention - like a year of Dr. Green), don’t do it. You’ll end up in debt up over your eyeballs.
If it’s appropriate perhaps you could work on finding the mare a position as a companion animal to prevent her going the auction route? That way you do what you can to help her without putting yourself in financial peril.
Another vote for run, don’t walk away from this horse.
And has it occurred to you, OP, that the reason the mare is so quiet is because it hurts to move more? I hope that’s not true. But if you discover that it is after riding her and not fixing her, I think you will find yourself in a very deep and regrettable ethical hole. Don’t choose to go in there.
If you want to “help” this mare, find her a home as a companion horse. Find someone that needs a babysitter to sit out in the field and give her away. Do not take on this mare. You are not in a financial position to knowingly take on a lame horse and hope that you can find a way to make her sound. I promise you that you can adopt a sound and quiet confidence builder with no health problems.
We can’t save them all and I know how hard it is to watch one leave, not knowing their fate, but this is not your problem, and you really shouldn’t make it your problem. You would knowingly be taking on a heartache.
Help the BO find a companion home or suggest she euth the mare. It’s really unfair to put the poor horse through a half-funded effort to obtain soundness.
