Trail horse with fused ringbone?

[clyde.bay]

We recently bought a property where we can keep horses, so are looking forward to bringing my gelding home for good (we are currently renting a farm). However, we only have one horse and my husband would like to trail ride with me occasionally. So, we are looking for a nice companion horse who can be trail ridden and maybe do some flat ring work (when we have a ring!).

A horse has come up that looks like a great fit, but has fused low ringbone in a hind leg. She is 11 years old. Should this be a dealbreaker for what we want? I don’t want to take on a lame horse or a super expensive maintenance regimen, but we are also not asking this horse to do much. Her owner says that it doesn’t cause a problem other than mild stiffness in damp weather, managed through a joint supplement.

[NancyM]

Low ringbone, whether fused or not, tends to be more problematical than high ringbone. The complexity of the joint between the short pastern bone, navicular bone, and coffin bone is complex, and damage there is often bad news in terms of soundness. That being said, the horse may still be adequate for what you are looking for. Maintenance bute is also cheap, and often effective too. The horse should be priced at $1, to provide you with a receipt to prove ownership. No, there is no guarantee of future soundness and health. Welcome to horse ownership! This is always the case, no matter what you pay, or what imperfections the horse is known to have at time of purchase. Lack of guarantees is one of those things you have to accept when you purchase and own a horse. If you like the horse, you accept that.

Good luck!

[findeight]

There’s also tendons and ligaments running inside the hoof and if the low ringbone has rough spots, it irritates the soft tissues running over it. Usually not as big an issue with high ringbone, or so I have been told. Never had to deal with it but seen a whole litkf PPEs halted if low ringbone shows up.

In OPs case, if it’s really cheap, dead safe and for light use only? Maybe work but likely need to be on Bute or Previcoxx in perpetuity.