Hi,
I’m crossing over from eventer land to ask this question.
I have a horse that’s been carefully rehabbed from a tendon injury. I am looking to sell him in the hunter world as I think he would make and amazing equitation horse and it would hopefully be less stress on the tendon long term.
Just curious as to the how this world feels about tendon Injuries and taking a chance on them.
This is a high quality Irish horse. Huge, big mover/jump.
Trying to decide the best route. If most people won’t touch him due to history etc…
Thanks!
So I’ve never bought one with an existing tendon injury, but I almost exclusively buy unstarted horses, so usually pretty clean slates.
That said, assuming it is old and the horse has been in work since then, it shouldn’t be a huge issue. Some people want perfect xrays/ultrasounds, but I think that most are pretty reasonable. If he can do the job, he will be marketable.
So far as price, we would need a whole lot more information for that kind of assessment.
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I think it will be hard to sell him until he has proven that he can hold up to jumping on that tendon. If the recovery is recent and he hasn’t been back in regular work/competition, people may be leery. Dressage might be a better market if he is suitable? Or a (paid) lease to own so people can be confident in the tendon?
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Like others have said, if the horse has been back in work, doing what I would want him to do, for a long enough time for me to feel confident that he’s likely to hold up, the previous tendon issue would not be a deal breaker.
Other factors that I would consider include the nature of the tendon injury (What percentage of horses with this type of injury are successfully rehabbed?) and how suitable the horse is for a step-down job if that seems most appropriate.
So, like so many things with horses, it depends. 
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IME, they get tighter and stronger with h/j mileage and jumping. My vet made a joke about it… suggested that we apply for a government grant to study jumping as a preferred rehabilitative treatment. It was THAT good. I had a few of them. Good luck.
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A old bow used to not be a problem. Now it’s going to depend on what professional you are dealing with. But yes, sound and doing the job will help.
Irish horses aren’t usually equitation types though yours may very well be.
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Depends a lot on the nature of the injury, how long he has been back in work and to what extent, etc.
I would also say that, for what it is worth, if you’re thinking he would make a big eq type that would not be a low stress career option for him. In my experience, those horses work very hard, prep a lot, and jump a ton and the injury rate for Bog Eq horses when I was a junior seemed to be as high or higher than the injury rate in the UL eventer barns I rode at.
For me personally, if it’s been rehabbed properly I and the vet has positive advice for the prognosis, I’m not so worried about a lot of tendon injuries. One of my (warmblood) GP horses had a bowed tendon that never bothered him, my mum had an OTTB with two bowed tendons that was sound on them through a long show career and retirement (retirement was due to age, as he was in his mid 20s, not soundness), and I just bought a jumper mare that is currently rehabbing a small tendon injury. Some people will be more bothered than others but if he is sound and back in work I think there will still be a market for him.
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So I had one with a high suspensory that I got sound and realized I didn’t really like him enough to go through the rehab. Also an Irish horse, coincidentally enough. I still sold him for a mid-5s sale price to a teen who wanted a prospective big eq horse on a budget and was willing to put in the time and effort. That was a year ago, and the boy loves him, and the horse is happy and sound. It was roughly a 50% discount off what the horse had been for sale for before the injury, but this horse was not back in full work, so that seemed fair.
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Thanks for all the helpful replies…definitely gives me something to think about. He had a DDFT tear in his fetlock area…did all the things…scoped it, IRRAP, PRP, stem cells etc. He’s been back in full flat work and has been cleared via ultrasound for continuing on into whatever career. With obvious understanding of being cautious in certain footing etc. I haven’t started jumping him again yet, mainly do to wanting to take more time for me mentally to make sure he’s good. I plan on getting him back jumping consistently before trying to sell him. Glad to know it’s not a complete turn off for people
Having a recent ultrasound (as well as any other ultrasounds) of the injury for the buyer’s vet to review is a huge plus. Plus opening up the vet records of the injury will also help alleviate any buyer concerns. Sometimes a buyer may want their vet to review the ultrasound/information prior to getting ‘really’ involved in trying the horse.
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So, it’s been awhile since I bought my last Irish ex-eventer as an equitation horse, but at the time I knew I could not afford the combination of sane, sound, experienced in the discipline and was looking for the holes I could live with. So, I would have been your prospective buyer, both in the sense that the horse was transitioning into my discipline, and in that the injury and lack of prolonged sound competition record post-injury would have brought him into my budget.
Get him back jumping, demonstrate he is sound by taking him to some horse shows once he’s back in the groove enough to do so, provide all his imaging up front upon request, and expect that it’s going to be about 50% off of what you would have sold him for had he not had the injury. That percentage will change if you keep him for some time and he has a longer record of soundness after his recovery.
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I have a lot of experience in buying/selling as I worked as a broker. We were a hunter/equitation barn and the first thing we looked into was tendon injuries and tendon ultrasounds. If there was an injury or anything we would almost always pass. That being said there are many people looking for a nice broke horse for young kids or older adults that don’t plan on doing too much and can get an otherwise nice horse that others are passing on. I would set your sights in that direction!
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