Low pasterns and long-term soundness

[quiacato]

I know low pasterns can cause problems. Just looking for real hand experience. My husband and I picked up three horses without seeing them first - we are very happy with the two. The third is a very well bred coming 4 year old QH - we like him but he has low pasterns - we would not have purchased him had we seen him in person because of his angles. We CAN return the horse for a refund but we do like him. His hoof angles are a contributing factor - his heals are at least 1.5 inches too far forward and all four of his hooves had a lot of bruising. Farrier said angles will improve some when hooves are correct but no way to know how much.

What have your experiences been with horses like this?? We bought him as a resale project so for sure not ideal for that…he is cutting bred but we would be happy just finding him a good trail riding home

[Redlei44]

Do you have any pictures you can post?

Bad hoof angles can and should absolutely be corrected to maintain foot health and overall soundness. It won’t correct bad pastern conformation.

It’s good of you to give this guy a shot.

[Pippigirl]

Going on no photos…I would be concerned about low pasterns. Having the farrier get and keep the heels back will help deal with it. Long term soundness would definitely be a concern.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I suggest you have your vet examine the horse. Low pasterns can be a simple, though undesirable, conformation issue, or a sign of somethi ng more problematic (like Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis/DSLD). I wouldn’t want either in a horse of any age.

[Risuena]

In my opinion is it’s a matter of degree. Extremely low pasterns can absolutely cause issues (or be a symptom of them as @Melissa.Van_Doren mentioned). But within the range of “normal”, I’d go for low pasterns over upright any day.

My horse has fairly sloping pasterns…I’d call them pretty close to the edge of acceptable and they made me think twice before purchasing him. Knock on wood he’s been incredibly sound - while life prevents me from working him crazy hard, he does everything I want including foxhunting and jumping >3’.

[Abbie.S]

Pictures would help.

There is a difference between “low” and “long”. A horse with pasterns on the longer side (meaning an increased length if you measured between the fetlock joint and the coronary band) wouldn’t bother me so long as the hooves were all there in terms of quality, substance and balance. Count me as another that would go for longer pasterns over short and upright every day of the week.

A horse with “low” pasterns, on the other hand, might make me think twice. DSLD popped up in the back of my mind as something very likely in the future with a horse that has pasterns that are dropped to some extent. If the feet aren’t there or are mirroring the pastern angle (think long toe, run forward heel) that’s another future problem brewing.

Without seeing photos of what you’re referring to it’s hard for me to hard pass, especially given you’ve stated his feet aren’t in good shape. If you can see past the present problems and envision his bony column alignment once his feet get to a better balance, you may find he actually won’t look all that long/low after all.

[quiacato]

I will get some good pictures of him today. Our vet will be out today to do teeth/chiro on our other new horses so we will discuss with him. His angles are bad, just no way around it, just hoping to hear people who have had horses stay sound despite it. He is a young horse and we feel terrible he will likely get used too hard and broke down if we send him back to be resold…he is cutting horse bred but does not have the angles for that and he has not had much done with him.

[endlessclimb]

"Front Pastern Conformation
It is frequently stated that long sloping pasterns in the front leg predispose to suspensory and superficial flexor tendon strain. While there is an intuitive appeal to this, it is the author’s experience that the opposite is more likely. Dr. Joe Cannon has pointed out that long upright pasterns in racehorses lead to a high incidence of suspensory apparatus injuries.

Dr. Ron Genovese agrees and observes that upright pasterns are also more frequent in horses that bow. Horace Hayes says: “Long sloping pasterns are easier on suspensories and necessary on hard ground.”

The author has observed that long sloping pasterns in race horses (which are more common in stayers) are likely to run down, but otherwise are not a problem. Upright and especially short, upright pasterns, predispose to proximal interphalangeal joint disease. While not a common racehorse ailment, it is significant in jumpers and other performance horses. Top dressage horses must have some length and slope to their pasterns otherwise the suspension and cadence they require in their gait is not possible."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265158330_Conformation_and_Soundness

Get his feet back in balance, and barring something like DLSD or other true conformational abnormality, I think you’re fine.

[Pippigirl]

Over the long term is the problem. She had long pasterns on the hinds, heels back etc. Everything was fine until her teens and they started dropping and had to retire her early.

[GraceLikeRain]

Personally, if my eye says “those look low”, then it is reason for me to pass. Do you have pictures?