How to NOT pick a lame horse because I certainly don't have that skill - pictures added

[Texarkana]

I’m so sorry. With horses, you try to do everything right, and sometimes everything still goes wrong.

One piece of advice I will offer, though (and take it with a grain of salt): you may want to re-evaluate your horses’ living situation. It sounds like they were boarded. So many boarding barns contribute to an unhealthy/unsound lifestyle for reasons too numerous for me to list.

I know you’re feeling rather gun shy, but when you get your next horse, you may want to try to find/create an ideal living situation first, then bring in the horse.

Please feel free to disregard my thoughts if they do not apply. Also, I want to stress I’m not trying to place the blame on you or even the boarding barns. We are all influenced by 21st century forces that make horse keeping a challenge. Even in “perfect” situations, horses aren’t immune to issues. Yet amid such a string of bad luck, it may be a consideration to break the cycle.

[stargzng386]

@Texarkana

I’m so sorry. With horses, you try to do everything right, and sometimes everything still goes wrong.

One piece of advice I will offer, though (and take it with a grain of salt): you may want to re-evaluate your horses’ living situation. It sounds like they were boarded. So many boarding barns contribute to an unhealthy/unsound lifestyle for reasons too numerous for me to list.

I know you’re feeling rather gun shy, but when you get your next horse, you may want to try to find/create an ideal living situation first, then bring in the horse.

Please feel free to disregard my thoughts if they do not apply. Also, I want to stress I’m not trying to place the blame on you or even the boarding barns. We are all influenced by 21st century forces that make horse keeping a challenge. Even in “perfect” situations, horses aren’t immune to issues. Yet amid such a string of bad luck, it may be a consideration to break the cycle.

This did apply with the horse I had for 7 years, there were a few places that weren’t a good fit and I moved, though I found out later the barn where he tore his suspensory had a LOT and I mean a LOT of horses over the years have the same injury. That may have been caused by the footing and I’m still kicking myself for it. I have pulled most of these horses if an issue arises at the barn to put them into a better boarding situation.

With these horses I’ve tried stalled, not stalled, paid $$$ for higher end barns or individualized care, funny enough the cheaper barn just out in a huge field was where I had the least issues. The second suspensory injury happened 6 months after full recovery and I had moved him to a barn where he was turned out in a perfectly flat and clear field with one really old pony so no running or shenanigans to get him riled up to re-injure himself.

I actually feel like I’m at the perfect barn now. Huge fields with limited horses in them so they aren’t grazed down. They actually mow the weeds and seed the fields. Auto waterers that are cleaned regularly. I pay a little extra for essentially a dry stall I can use how I wish and it’s 8 minutes from my house. It’s a perfect 10 minute ride along wide grass mowed paths to the ring, has a nice half hour loop around a small lake and access to larger trails.

[stargzng386]

@fordtraktor

Ugh, that sucks. Euth is a reasonable option. I know it isn’t popular to say, but there it is. There should be a lot of half lease/free lease options in your area. Maybe try that? Giving it back when it breaks is why I don’t lease horses any more, but lots of people do!

My vet has mentioned it for the current horse but I just can’t. He is my heart and can live happily out in a field and get stuffed with cookies until he is too sore to be comfortable. He’s literally waiting at the gate anytime he hears my voice. Currently he trots and canters in his field, rolls, lays down to sleep, loooves his food and all all around is a happy go lucky sweetheart who just does not want to be ridden. I can’t euth an otherwise healthy horse. The last horse I technically own but he’s in a fantastic situation where I don’t have to pay for his bills and his new caregivers with euth when he’s no longer pasture sound.

I did a half lease for awhile while waiting for my youngster to grow up…I just hate training someone else’s horse and not getting the long term benefit. Or having your work un-done by the owner in-between your rides. I’d consider a free lease at my barn but it’s not a large training barn so nothing currently at the barn I could lease I’d have to search for something to lease. I’m not really interested in splitting my time between 2 barns I’m already stretched with time especially once daylight savings time starts and it’s dark at night. I’m working from home but still try to walk my dogs daily and have a number of farm animals at home to care for (plus the kittens I’m bottle feeding right now, though those are temporary until they go to new homes)

[stargzng386]

@4horses

I’m mainly interested in Welsh ponies, Connemaras, and Morgans. I was very impressed by my friend’s older haflinger. 26 years old and just as healthy and sound as a young horse.

Funny enough I’m going to look at a welsh pony mare this weekend along with an unraced TB. I figured maybe buy the opposite of what I normally like and it’ll be great lol. I’m not rushing shopping but think I need to just dive in before wallowing. After the last horse with the suspensory I took a long break, but after having the few good months of riding with my current horse that I enjoyed so much I told myself I just don’t want a break like that again. I want to RIDE plain and simple. My barn manager was horse shopping a few weeks ago and I was helping and also kind of mentally starting to look for myself knowing this might be coming. Right now I’m keeping my shopping range closer to my location because I’d really prefer to have my vet do the pre purchase exam because we have a good relationship and I’ll get a very no nonsense truthful evaluation. I am staying away from raced TB’s and being near a track you can throw a rock and hit 5 of them for sale.

I am tentatively looking for a lease it just doesn’t excite me as much but if I found the perfect fit I would do it.

Thanks for the words of encouragement it means a lot. I have a few good friends in my corner who are really supportive and one is coming shopping with me so that I’ll have her eye to tell me if I’m crazy or not. My cousin is also a vet specializing in rehab so anything I’m really considering I’ll get lots of video while trying them to send her for an opinion. I can also tape the vetting and send it to her for a second opinion along with the xrays. She was the one who said the last horse would probably re-injure the suspensory based on where it was and it was not my fault he could do it getting up in the field so I was mentally prepared for that to happen and able to make the decision to not try to rehab it again. She also told me my current horse’s hocks are complete crap and the vet saying they’re mild/not too bad was them just trying to soften the blow so she again helped me mentally know that this might be coming.

[halt]

@Texarkana

I’m so sorry. With horses, you try to do everything right, and sometimes everything still goes wrong.

One piece of advice I will offer, though (and take it with a grain of salt): you may want to re-evaluate your horses’ living situation. It sounds like they were boarded. So many boarding barns contribute to an unhealthy/unsound lifestyle for reasons too numerous for me to list.

I know you’re feeling rather gun shy, but when you get your next horse, you may want to try to find/create an ideal living situation first, then bring in the horse.

Please feel free to disregard my thoughts if they do not apply. Also, I want to stress I’m not trying to place the blame on you or even the boarding barns. We are all influenced by 21st century forces that make horse keeping a challenge. Even in “perfect” situations, horses aren’t immune to issues. Yet amid such a string of bad luck, it may be a consideration to break the cycle.

I came here to say the same thing.

So much of a horse’s usefulness and longevity comes down to how they are kept. I find horses in boarding barns with standard care (8 hour turnout, 16 hour stalling) are rarely sound. Taking control of my horse’s living situation and bringing them home has totally changed how healthy and sound they are… And I had one that sounds a lot like your gelding, constant lameness issues. I brought him home to retire him permanently because he just had too many chronic issues and after 6 months of living outside 24/7 he was sounder than he ever has been. We just wrapped up our season. He is 25.

Sounds like you’ve had a string of bad luck, possibly with some of the above mixed in. I hope your luck going forward is stellar.

[stargzng386]

@halt

I came here to say the same thing.

So much of a horse’s usefulness and longevity comes down to how they are kept. I find horses in boarding barns with standard care (8 hour turnout, 16 hour stalling) are rarely sound. Taking control of my horse’s living situation and bringing them home has totally changed how healthy and sound they are… And I had one that sounds a lot like your gelding, constant lameness issues. I brought him home to retire him permanently because he just had too many chronic issues and after 6 months of living outside 24/7 he was sounder than he ever has been. We just wrapped up our season. He is 25.

Sounds like you’ve had a string of bad luck, possibly with some of the above mixed in. I hope your luck going forward is stellar.

I’ve only had one of these in normal stall board for maybe 6 months. I specifically search out barns offering 24/7 turnout or very close to it with just being brought in for nasty weather. The 4 year old has never been stalled due to the hock arthritis he has. He was in a smaller paddock that wasn’t helping so I moved him to a different barn with a huge field on a hill so lots of natural exercise.

[SharonA]

They are supposed to be sound?

[MLOaks]

I hear you loud and clear. My first horse was an awesome, old bloodlines, QH and she was sound until 30. The next had a great personality, but navicular syndrome was the battle we fought for 10 years. We had to out him on light work at 16, retired him at 18, and put him down at 25. No more QHs for us, either.

I have a Mustang now. They are tough. Humans don’t screw up their genetics (although, get one from an HMA that isn’t too small for the best genetic diversity). She is awesome. In many ways, she reminds of me of my first QH.

[Texarkana]

@stargzng386

This did apply with the horse I had for 7 years, there were a few places that weren’t a good fit and I moved, though I found out later the barn where he tore his suspensory had a LOT and I mean a LOT of horses over the years have the same injury. That may have been caused by the footing and I’m still kicking myself for it. I have pulled most of these horses if an issue arises at the barn to put them into a better boarding situation.

With these horses I’ve tried stalled, not stalled, paid $$$ for higher end barns or individualized care, funny enough the cheaper barn just out in a huge field was where I had the least issues. The second suspensory injury happened 6 months after full recovery and I had moved him to a barn where he was turned out in a perfectly flat and clear field with one really old pony so no running or shenanigans to get him riled up to re-injure himself.

I actually feel like I’m at the perfect barn now. Huge fields with limited horses in them so they aren’t grazed down. They actually mow the weeds and seed the fields. Auto waterers that are cleaned regularly. I pay a little extra for essentially a dry stall I can use how I wish and it’s 8 minutes from my house. It’s a perfect 10 minute ride along wide grass mowed paths to the ring, has a nice half hour loop around a small lake and access to larger trails.

I’m glad you have found a great place now! The struggle is real.

I have both boarded and worked at an insane number of boarding barns in my life. It’s so hard to watch person after person have the same problem, like you describe at the place with suspensory issues. Yet it happens extremely frequently. Modern horse keeping has allowed a lot of bad equine living situations to persist. Good owners end up blaming themselves and paying dearly (both literally and figuratively) for unsoundnesses that could have been avoided with more movement, more forage, and less overall stress for the animal. Horses find enough trouble on their own without us humans stacking the deck against them with too little turnout, incompatible or stressful herds, too little forage, bad farriery, bad footing, etc. etc. Yet finding a boarding barn without those issues is like finding a needle in a haystack much of the time!

Jingles for GOOD luck in your future!!!

[stargzng386]

@SharonA

They are supposed to be sound?

Thank you for this it actually made me laugh outloud

[eightpondfarm]

i have many breeds of horses but in all my years of horse ownership have stayed faaar away from TBs and QHs. To me, they seem like the least likely breeds to remain sound. Recently, I’ve migrated toward mustangs. Seems that 20 generations of survival of the fittest will produce a good sound horse.

[halt]

@eightpondfarm

i have many breeds of horses but in all my years of horse ownership have stayed faaar away from TBs and QHs. To me, they seem like the least likely breeds to remain sound. Recently, I’ve migrated toward mustangs. Seems that 20 generations of survival of the fittest will produce a good sound horse.

?? TBs are worked harder than any other breed except possibly STBs, younger than any other breed. Of course there are going to be injured TBs from this, and the injuries are not a reflection of their genetic soundness, but the work asked of them. No other breed on earth can race as early or as soundly as these two breeds.

TBs & STBs have been some of the soundest horses I know - and that’s AFTER retiring from a first career in racing. It’s too bad so many people have this mindset, but it means more good horses for the rest of us who know a special horse when we see it.

[Janet]

The best way to have a sound horse is to buy a horse that is currently sound and happy doing the kind of (and amount of) work you plan on.

Even then things happen, but at least you start out with the best odds.

(Though I rarely follow my own advice.)

[Lucassb]

@Janet

The best way to have a sound horse is to buy a horse that is currently sound and happy doing the kind of (and amount of) work you plan on.

Even then things happen, but at least you start out with the best odds.

(Though I rarely follow my own advice.)

IMO this is the best advice on this thread.

I have bought plenty of young horses in my lifetime - all from great breeding programs, brought up with the best care and training money could buy. But still, the soundest horses I’ve ever had were the ones that were already doing a job at least as hard as the one I wanted to pursue, and had decent (not perfect) vettings to demonstrate their ability to hold up to that work.

My oldest just passed away last winter - he was still quite sound in his mid 30s.

Buy something that is already doing what you want to do, vet the bejesus out of it so you know what the baseline is, and then all you can do is provide the best care you can. Not a guarantee for sure but the highest percentage shot available.

[Malda]

Hugs, jingles, and anything else I can send you! I know how you feel, I had to PTS three horses in a row (I should have put down the 4th one, but I sold her with full disclosure and the person who bought her had the horse PTS) and they were each owned for less than three years. People lie when they sell horses, even with a PPE and a couple of rides I still bought “bad” horses.

All I wanted was a trail horse I could own until it grew old and passed. Doesn’t sound like a big deal.

I think I finally have that horse and I was about to give up. Hang in there and maybe change what you are looking for. That’s what I did and now I have a nice trail horse.

[Marigold]

@halt

?? TBs are worked harder than any other breed except possibly STBs, younger than any other breed. Of course there are going to be injured TBs from this, and the injuries are not a reflection of their genetic soundness, but the work asked of them. No other breed on earth can race as early or as soundly as these two breeds.

TBs & STBs have been some of the soundest horses I know - and that’s AFTER retiring from a first career in racing. It’s too bad so many people have this mindset, but it means more good horses for the rest of us who know a special horse when we see it.

I came here to say exactly this. When I am looking for a high performance horse, I look for a TB. You have so much more information buying a young TB than a young anything else. When I bought my mare, I already knew she would hold up physically to hard work. I knew she would hold up mentally too, and that she had a good work ethic. I was lucky though. A trainer I knew had a horse I liked in the area of a vet I trusted.

Sure, she could step in a hole tomorrow, but I’ve worked her hard over the last few years and she has done everything I’ve ever asked of her (however sloppily I ask) with a smile on her face. Keeping her happy in the barn is a different story, but they say the quirky ones are the good ones so catch us winning Paris 2024 :lol:

[PonyPenny]

@Janet

The best way to have a sound horse is to buy a horse that is currently sound and happy doing the kind of (and amount of) work you plan on.

Even then things happen, but at least you start out with the best odds.

(Though I rarely follow my own advice.)

I agree. I rather have an older horse, even with some maintenance, that is doing the job I want it to do, then an unknown young one. I was given a horse with a pretty severe left rear hind suspensory injury with an avulsion fracture when he was 13. The injury happened when he was 11. He had an extensive show career before I got him. I managed it and my daughter was able to compete on him quite successfully. He did strain it three times since I have had him. Once in the turn out. Once slipping exiting a trailer and once slipping in really crappy footing at a show. He always came back though. He stopped jumping at 18 and now does dressage with me. I have an excellent farrier who I verify which barns he will go to. My barn has great footing which I will not compromise on, and a great trainer who is kind and a excellent rider. He is 21 now gets a daily equioxx pill and get his hocks done yearly. So far, so good. I know someday he will be done and be officially retired, but that day is not here yet.

[candyappy]

Most of us are really lucky and have no soundness issues most of the time. Keep trying is all I can say. Maybe look for a grade horse who might be a little more " sturdy"? So many issues can come with pure bred anything now a days. No guarantees and I have nothing against papered horses ( i have one). I have had plenty of sound “mutt horses” who were a blast to ride and lasted .

[Ruth0552]

Haven’t you heard the old adage? You want a healthy dog? You go to the pound, and you take the ugliest dog there. It will never get sick.

I know people are all over people breeding selectively and everything, but there is something to be said for genetic diversity. Honestly, I’d stop looking at registered horses. Buy some unregistered crossbred- mama was a TB papa mighta been a paint, but the horse has decent conformation, and I swear the thing will never go lame.

There’s also something to be said for buying over age 12 or so. Horse has been in work and is holding up, etc.

I am also fully in favor of people taking their NQR horses on walking trail rides and hacks. I think it keeps the horse in slightly better shape and the basic muscle fitness can help with whatever is going on, it keeps the horse’s brain a bit happier, and I think it keeps the human happy too. I’m guessing the 4 year old will come sound in a couple years, but there’s no harm in hacking him out until then. I mean, it’s a walk. He’s going to walk around his paddock otherwise, so he might as well walk somewhere new with you on him (as long as that is safe to do).

[Fillabeana]

I wouldn’t jump right in with the unregistered horse thing.

Throwing the papers away, on a horse with HYPP, or PSSM, or another genetic disease is a sales strategy for the unscrupulous.

If a horse is grade, and known to you, and currently sound with ‘normal’ management and care, and in work similar to what you want to do, ok.

But you might add some genetic testing if the rest of the PPE goes well, registered or not.