I have a well bred 3 year old dressage type filly that I am selling. This filly had check ligament surgery as a yearling to correct a club foot. I think the surgery for the most part was quite successful and it turned what probably would have been a pretty significant club foot into a mildly upright foot. The filly is sound and I’m now teaching her to lunge and will probably start backing her in the next few weeks. I am motivated to sell her before this winter and have therefore priced her at about 1/2 of what I would value her at if she didn’t have the surgery/mild upright foot. I have been very upfront with buyers about her history. Due to her low price I’ve had a FLOOD of inquires (probably about 20 in the space of a week), but every single one of them have balked at the mention of the surgery. Not a single person who’s inquired has even come to see her in person or even look at her feet for themselves. I’m really surprised because I thought these surgeries are fairly common and my own vet said that she wouldn’t advise one of her clients not to buy a horse that had this surgery as long as the horse was sound and the foot was well corrected. I figured some of you breeders have probably done these surgeries on your foals. How much did you feel that it affected their sale price as adults? Should I just cut my losses and reduce this filly’s price to rock bottom in order to get her sold? Or would I be better off putting in the time and work to get really solidly going under saddle to show that she is sound in work?
[QUOTE=Forte;7772491]
Or would I be better off putting in the time and work to get really solidly going under saddle to show that she is sound in work?[/QUOTE]
I have no experience with these surgeries, but I would certainly balk less if you took the above approach. If I was Joe Schmo buyer I would be much less hesitant to buy if the horse had been in proper work for a while and was still be-bopping along at 100%. If the horse has not been in work I would probably pass.
I also have no experience with these surgeries, but since I understand that club feet can run in families, I would scratch this filly as a breeding prospect.
Had you not performed the surgery, I wouldn’t be interested as a buyer at any price. Someone might use this to drive down the price but as I’ve been told, its pretty much a non-issue. Maybe others have other experiences.
Your price may be fine, it’s hard to say. The pool of buyers willing to consider an unproven prospect with a history is far smaller than the one that will not - regardless of price. So lowering her price may not move her along any faster. It’s just a matter of getting her in front of the right buyer who understands that they are getting a deal as a result, and is willing to take the chance.
Are club foots (feet?) genetic? People are probably less balking at the actual surgery and more the fact she had a club foot. So, say five years down the road she does pop up lame, the potential buyer could breed her, but maybe they are hesitant because of the club foot.
In my opinion it’s not the surgery that is the problem but her condition right now. If you want to sell her I would have your vet having a writing opinion on her condition and on her long term use.
I often do that before selling a horse. I have my vet do a vet check as if I was the buyer so I know what I am selling. And I would stand on my vet decision to mention or not any particularity.
Your decision of selling her half price could mean that you consider this mare not worth full value because she will not be able to perform as they could expect.
If the vet report confirm that this will not affect her long term use and that this problem was not genetic I don’t see why you would lower your price except… this is a mare. If she was a gelding it would not matter but someone might want to breed her one day, so you have to make sure she won’t transmit this to her foals.
Sometime it’s how the filly was in the wound, sometime it could be overfeeding. I would consult with your vet and if in his opinion it could be genetic than I would sell her as a performance horse only not suitable as a broodmare. So when potential buyer call, instead of mentioning right from the go that she had a surgery, you could say that the price is lower because she could never be used as a broodmare, only performance horse such as a gelding… gelding are not price lower so it’s a deal for them.
But have the vet report with his opinion, that will help the buyer. And if the vet can’t confirm that it won’t affect her long term…
I believe that buying a horse direct from the breeder is a form of guarantee. Breeders are usualy more concerned about their reputation and will more likely tell you everything on the horse history. Because let’s face it after several sales this mare history will be lost and only her current situation will affect her price, not her past.
Good luck with her.
Thanks for your opinions everyone. I am definitely not trying to sell her as a breeding prospect and the few people who have inquired about her as a potential broodmare I have told outright that I don’t think she is a good breeding candidate. My general feeling is that people are actually balking at the surgery not at the club foot. The foot at this point is pretty close to normal and not unlike many horses with a slightly high/low foot syndrome who sell for decent money.
Check ligament surgery is routinely performed on growthy foals to prevent upright foot development. There is typically a short window of time beginning at birth when the surgery is effective (a few months). In these situations, the surgery is preventative. As such, no effect whatsoever on price.
in your situation though, the surgery sounds corrective. I have not heard of this surgery done on a yearling (but I’m not a vet). In this case, it’s not that the horse had the surgery but that it has a club foot, even though it’s been corrected. I would put the horse undersaddle to demonstrate that it’s not effecting her performance or soundness.
I spoke with a BNT about the topic of check ligament surgery on a foal. He regularly deals in six figure horses. His view was that the procedure done as a foal is of no concern.
Do you have ANY idea how common this surgery is?! 
And most people would not even divulge the fact the youngster HAD the surgery either as the OP is doing - or - the horse is on the 2nd or 3rd owner who don’t know about it so cant divulge details to any prospective buyers as they don’t know about it!
Years ago when I was boarding out, they bred Arabs and had boarders with Arabs. Probably 75-80% of the babies came out with club foot/feet and at 2-3 months old off they all went to have the surgery. No one even blinked - it seemed just as “normal” as halter breaking to them. They then hit the show ring and the breeding shed after that and yes - most of their foals had club foot/feet too
I shipped 2 mares and foals to the vet clinic for the owner and while there, the place was filled with check ligament surgical cases and periostal stripping clients and not all of them were Arabs either … 
Once the surgery is done it is NOT going to adversely affect that horse - ever - in the years to come from a riding and performance perspective. I just think its a shitty thing to do to breed them or to sell them to breeding homes at all, without divulging what “cosmetic enhancement and correction” surgeries were done on them in the past that are absolutely going to be factors in what they produce
And I also agree with what Bent Hickory posted above. As a foal - its of “0” concern but I am curious why you waited until a year old? Was there a medical or progression issue that caused you to wait that long?
[QUOTE=Megaladon;7773031]
Are club foots (feet?) genetic? People are probably less balking at the actual surgery and more the fact she had a club foot. So, say five years down the road she does pop up lame, the potential buyer could breed her, but maybe they are hesitant because of the club foot.[/QUOTE]
While I understand your point, I don’t understand why someone buying a RIDING horse should give this a lot of weight. People buy geldings all the time - no one thinks “if he goes lame, it is too bad he’s a gelding, I could have bred him”. I think most riders are less concerned about breeding potential and more concerned about riding potential. Most riders board a horse and couldn’t afford to breed it even if they WANTED to go through that stress level.
I think the better approach would be, get her going under saddle, AND get some research together on long term effects of the surgery and have it available to email people (or give them when they come see her).
They told me at Hagyard some years back that they had been very busy earlier in the year with TB foals in for check ligament surgery and periostal stripping. I wonder how many of those foals were sold with full disclosure, and how much it affected their marketability or price.
I also suspect there are a lot of buyers who have no idea what check ligament surgery is, and no idea how many horses are out there successfully competing that have had it. They hear the term “clubby foot” and freak out, and if they mention the surgery to their vets, the vets will want to cover their own a**** by steering the client away from the horse.
FWIW, a farrier that worked on very high end sport horses in Wellington once told me that Robert Dover’s Olympic mount Romantico had a very “clubby” foot (actually wore two different size shoes on his front feet).
I think that lately American horse buyers have gone a little overboard with their reaction when it comes to this sort of thing. Foals tend to graze with their front feet spread out so they can reach the ground. Doing so they generally tend to follow the same pattern i. e left foot in front, and that can result in a club foot on occasion. Unless you have a farrier who is on top of the situation, this may require check ligament surgery.
As others have mentioned, this typically has no effect whatsoever on the horse’s soundness later on.
… and don’t even get me started on the difference between OCD and OCD and OCD!! 
:-), when there’s only ONE OCD as far as buyers are concerned.
Club feet are a big deal for some horses, others not so much. Sadly, there is no way to predict which horses will be unsound in consistent hard work.
When I buy a young horse, I will only consider those that have 4 normal feet and no soundness issues.
Not everone is like me, though.
I agree that getting her into work is your best bet for selling her.
Wouldn’t worry about a vet opinion as I have yet to meet a vet w/a crystal ball.
I really admire how you’re handling this, especially not recommending her as a broodmare prospect.
I think that if you take your time, you just might find the right match.
[QUOTE=siegi b.;7773413]
I think that lately American horse buyers have gone a little overboard with their reaction when it comes to this sort of thing. Foals tend to graze with their front feet spread out so they can reach the ground. Doing so they generally tend to follow the same pattern i. e left foot in front, and that can result in a club foot on occasion. Unless you have a farrier who is on top of the situation, this may require check ligament surgery.
As others have mentioned, this typically has no effect whatsoever on the horse’s soundness later on.
.[/QUOTE]
This.
[QUOTE=Bent Hickory;7773054]
Check ligament surgery is routinely performed on growthy foals to prevent upright foot development. There is typically a short window of time beginning at birth when the surgery is effective (a few months). In these situations, the surgery is preventative. As such, no effect whatsoever on price.
I spoke with a BNT about the topic of check ligament surgery on a foal. He regularly deals in six figure horses. His view was that the procedure done as a foal is of no concern.[/QUOTE]
Agree with this. I think the problem is does she have a club foot now? And if so, then it’s no riskier for riding purposes than whether she had the surgery previously or not.
If the surgery fixed the club foot, then it wouldn’t affect the price for me. If it didn’t fix the foot, I’d get her working so I could prove that that she was sound on it. It might also help to have xrays available to the buyer. When I was looking at one, I was told to look for rotation of the coffin bone on xray and look for a dish in the hoof. The one I looked at was only 2, had the surgery at 8 months (it still looked so clubby, I thought they hadn’t done the surgery) and already showed some changes, although the vet didn’t think the changes were significant, he recommended special shoeing/pads and yearly xrays to stay on top of any changes. I passed. Special shoes on a horse that has never worked a day in her life? No thank you. There are enough nice horses out there that don’t have these issues to take the risk.
Do you know how many people who own horses and don’t know what a check ligament is? Or what “hi-lo” syndrome means? Or how Hi-Lo affects stiffness on one side or ease of picking up leads? Or what a club foot even is, unless severe? They HAVE heard a club foot is BAD though.
The OP’s ad mentions the surgery to correct a club foot and her asking price is 1/2 of what it should be because of that. While it may not matter to some knowledgable horse people, it sets up a big red flag for others simply because they don’t want to chance an unsoundness down the road. Also, it’s doubtful any vet would sign his/her name to a piece of paper guaranteeing the surgery will never cause the horse a bit of trouble or your money back. Nope, can’t see that happening.
I’m in the camp with those who believe these horses should not be bred. Neither should their sires or dams because they’re the very animals that produced the problem. Just like in the Arab and TB world, one very popular stallion with a surgically corrected club foot can have significant impact on the breed.
In a few years time, it becomes difficult to find one that doesn’t need surgery. Just read the recent TK dispersal thread and how many of the horses had had check ligment surgery. One wants to ask, before purchasing a breeding to one of these stallions, if the cost of the check ligment surgery is included in the stud fee. :lol: Of course, sometimes the stallion is fine and the dam is the problem.
This surgery is done ROUTINELY on thoroughbred yearlings prepping for the sales. It does not affect future soundness; in fact it is done to assure future soundness.
It’s a buyer’s market right now so that’s part of the problem. You may need to start her so you have more attributes to add to her resume; why not work with her this winter and offer her in the spring?
I think the KD dispersal horse issues were due to imbalances in the hay grown at the farm and was not genetic.
