Menu

Stay in Touch
Sign up for ENews
Subscribe Now

Unlimited access >

Menu

Would you buy a horse with ringbone?

Horse Care
#1

I have been looking high and low for a horse that will work well for me. I need something for riding on the trails once or twice a week, something sane, that can walk/trot, some canter, level headed is the #1 priority. I don’t ride long or hard, or often. I also want something I can pony my children around on for the next 5-6 years so that I don’t have to buy them a separate pony. I think I may have finally found the PERFECT horse. She is a 7 year old Tennessee Walker (painted, which is a plus, color didn’t matter to me but it is a plus), 14.1hh. She rides through anything, loves trail riding in the woods, swims in the lake, not spooky one iota. No training issues. Only $250.

The catch-my friend rode her on an 8 hr trail ride and she came up lame. She recovered within 2 days but she had the leg/hoof x-rayed and she has ringbone in that leg. Vet said it isn’t severe, is in the beginning stages. She has the x-ray and I’m going to have my vet look at the x-ray and see if she thinks we should x-ray the other leg, and what she thinks. That’s if I get that far. I’m going to see her again today, and to ponder on her. The price seems right.

Worst case scenario-the ringbone progresses and I can’t trail ride her. Would I still be able to use her for a leadline pony? Isn’t 7 pretty young to have ringbone? Would you buy this horse for the purposes I’ve stated? This mare has over $2500 worth of professional training on her, is a smooth ride, and best of all has a great head on her shoulders. She is perfect in every way besides the ringbone and if it wouldn’t affect her light use for years to come then it doesn’t necessarily have to be a deal breaker. BUT, I’m not really familiar with this disease aside from what I’ve googled.

#2

High or low ringbone? Articular or not? Those make a huge difference. High non-articular has the best prognosis.

How she is being trimmed (unbalanced) may have brought this on, and fixing that can easily eliminate future issues.

IME, limited as it is, ringbone that early seems to be either genetically caused, in which case it seems to just get worse, or it’s caused by poor trimming, in which case there is a lot that can be done, especially if it’s mild right now.

So, based on what you’ve said, there’s no answer I could give. If the horse’s price is right (and your requirements otherwise seem to be perfectly filled), and you understand that you may end up with a horse who can’t be ridden at all in a few years, leading you to give her away as a pasture companion or keeping her as a lawn ornament for the rest of her potentially long life, then it may be worth it.

If you can gets some pictures of the foot, and even the xrays, that would help immensely.

#3

I’ll ask her when I see her again today. I believe the vet thought it was from poor hoof care rather than conformation. She came from a neglectful situation before my friend got her. She went a year without being trimmed. I’ll try to get pics of the xray and of the feet. I’m still going to have my vet check out the xray and see if the diagnosis is correct, and if its high or low to confirm. I trust my friend but don’t know her vet. Thanks for the input!

#4

How beneficient are you, how much money can you spend on vets and farriers, and how badly do you want to ride this horse?

I don’t agree that proper trimming will negate any future problems. But that’s just me, I guess. My guess is you’ll spend more time taking care of this horse than riding so my advice would be to pass on this horse; there are plenty of sound horses out there in which to invest your time and money.

It’s one thing if you’ve had the horse for years and it develops ringbone. Taking on a horse with this problem is asking for trouble, heartache and vet and farrier bills. I wouldn’t buy this horse, if I were you.

#5

I’m not saying it WILL negate any future problems. But if the ringbone is currently mild, and was caused by poor trimming, then fixing the trim can prevent more development. Certainly no guarantee.

#6

[QUOTE=Cherry;3642500]
How beneficient are you, how much money can you spend on vets and farriers, and how badly do you want to ride this horse?[/QUOTE]

I agree. If you opt to buy a horse with ringbone, you MUST NOT go into it with any expectation that the horse will ever be useable, or even that it will be useable for some short period of time. You might get lucky or you might not. Think very carefully what your plans are for the horse after it becomes no longer rideable. Seven is awfully young and you might end up supporting the horse for more years than you are able to ride it. Now personally I don’t have a problem with that, but managing ringbone is NOT cheap, if it can be done at all.

#7

I don’t mind keeping her as a pasture ornament, but you all have given me good objective point of views. If I do end up getting her I want to go in with my eyes wide open. I have the $$ to support her the rest of her days, that is what I am doing with my old gelding who is retired and on loads of medications. He is lonely, so he would have company. BUT I do want to do light trail riding occasionally. So, I’m going to think long and hard and consult with my vet before jumping in. Thanks!

#8

Would you buy a horse with ringbone?

NO!!!

#9

That’s really all you can do. Many people buy horses with known issues, and as long as they go in with a full understanding of what’s there and what the possible worst outcomes are, they are usually capable of making the objective decision. People buy horses with known hock spurs all the time, and figure they can manage it. It works out sometimes, doesn’t sometimes.

Cost, age, training, and soundness are important deciding factors. It’s rare to find a horse who is well-trained AND inexpensive AND completely sound AND young enough. It’s up to you to decide which of those you sacrifice.

#10

I would also highly advise against it! There are SOOO many horses around that are perfectly sound and useable that are freebie, or very close to it.

Ringbone is nasty, and once it starts there really isn’t much that can be done, besides pain management.

I have only seen one case, but it is quite severe, to the point where we are considering putting him down before winter. He can hardly get out of his own way anymore, and this was a very quick progression, probably about a years time from when we initially noticed him being a little funky up front (he was not in work), and now he is so lame I can’t even remember which foot was initially affected. :no:

#11

I have an old horse with ringbone (among other things ;)), and I personally would not buy a horse, esp. at 7, with it. The biggest problem is its unpredictability. My guy will be (almost) sound one day and head-bobbing two days later–there’s no way to judge when it will bother him. Even if it is light, random trail riding, how can it be predicted whether or not horsie will be sound on that day?

Just my opinion. :slight_smile:

#12

I bought a 16 year old AQHA gelding last year with high ringbone. He is a champion reined cowhorse and I show him in reining. I knew when I bought him that he had mild ringbone. When he started to not want to spin to the left I had his leg x-rayed again and it showed that it had progressed a little bit. After some experimenting I found that he does real well on Previcox and Surpass. He has never been lame because of his ringbone and is doing very well now. Only time will tell how long I will be able to show and ride him but I am sure glad that I didn’t pass on him because of his ringbone. He is an awesome horse who has taught me alot. He will live with me until he dies regardless if he can be ridden.

#13

7 years old with Ringbone? NO WAY would I buy this horse. Ringbone is baaaaddd… :frowning:

#14

Hay

We had an old Appaloosa mare with side bone and ring bone. She was diagnosed many years ago so I do not know whether they were high or low. The mare has since died of natural causes at the age of 30. However this horse lived 20 years after the diagnosis. She was kept sound enough to walk from one blade of grass to another with short square toes and high heels. We tried many other trims/angles but this worked the best for her. She was sound enough for minimal lead line and walking trail rides which we used her for until about 23 years old. We kept her barefoot.

However she was worse/in more pain during the full moon. She could be as much as three-legged during the full moon? My mother who has arthritis said she felt more pain during the full moon as well. Who knows? Just something I observed about this horse.

This ailment does not get better but I would consider the horse if the temperament was EXCEPTIONAL for my young children and I had the means to keep this horse for life as a pasture ornament once her days of riding are over which may be sooner but then again, who knows?

#15

I would say it is not a good sign that the horse is only seven and already has this condition. Yes, anything can happen even if you buy a sound horse, but she is so young. You need to really think about the future. She may not be sound enough for riding, and you also have to realize that you may need to make a decision about euthanizing her if the pain gets to that point. And you will not know wether that point will be sooner or later.

#16

[QUOTE=Cherry;3642500]
How beneficient are you, how much money can you spend on vets and farriers, and how badly do you want to ride this horse?

I don’t agree that proper trimming will negate any future problems. But that’s just me, I guess. My guess is you’ll spend more time taking care of this horse than riding so my advice would be to pass on this horse; there are plenty of sound horses out there in which to invest your time and money.

It’s one thing if you’ve had the horse for years and it develops ringbone. Taking on a horse with this problem is asking for trouble, heartache and vet and farrier bills. I wouldn’t buy this horse, if I were you.[/QUOTE]

I agree in principle, but we had one of our ranch horses get ringbone from a pasture misshap and he was sound enough for light riding for several years, as per vet recommendation that we keep using him.
Eventually we had to retire him, but he was still good for light walking around with handicapped riders for two more years, then we retired him and kept him on bute for two more years, when our vet euthanized him, as he was hurting too much.

If you don’t find anything else as nice for you as that mare, they are advancing much in the treatment of ringbone and in a few years they may have some way to help those horses better than we have today.

Right now they are using one new operation for some kinds of ringbone that gives a horse much relief, by fusing that joint.

See what your vet tells you and go from that.

#17

Well I wouldn’t write the horse off as a possibility for what you want in a horse. There are never any guarantees with any horse you buy, whether something is found on a prepurchase exam or not. If the ringbone is articular (and it probably is if lameness was seen after a long hard ride), it is more serious than a false ringbone, (not articular, more often from a blow than joint problems). But as with many articular arthritic problems, once the inflammation cools out and the excess bone growth stops, light exercise can wear small extrenuous bone growth on joint surfaces smooth again, and be functional, especially for light recreational riding. Some joint flexion may be compromised, but for light riding, this is often not a problem at all for a horse. Full fusion will occur in extreme cases of joint damage and excessive bone growth. Once fused, the joint can again be quite functional for pleasure riding. The most likely time that this horse will be effected by slight ringbone changes will be when the inflammation is fresh, or if it gets heated up by substantial use. If this happens, treat with bute or other anti inflammatory treatments to help cool it out, set up again. IF you were looking for an international three day event prospect, you would want to pass on this horse. Since you are not, this one seems to still be a possibility for you to me. Any horse you buy or aquire comes with no guarantees, get used to it. Accept the risk if you like the horse, and think it might do for what you want.

#18

I might buy a horse like this for myself knowing full-well the expectations a diagnosis like this brings, but I would never advise someone else to buy a horse like this.

My guess is this horse will be sound but the minute the OP brings the horse out to ride it, the horse will be lame. The vet thought my mare had ringbone and/or sidebone going on–she was so lame she was tripping all over the place–I would never risk putting a child on a horse like that, even if it was leadline only. When I walked my mare for a short distance my arms would ache from trying to keep her from falling flat on her face! :eek: :cry:

Sorry, my advice is still NO!!! Keep looking… :wink:

Plus, we had a farrier weigh in on this thread and he said no too… And he should know…

#19

I usually say pass on these things and will here.

It is a 7 year old that has had it’s feet neglected and who knows what other bad care. No way to know if the bad hoof care caused the ringbone or not but I vote no on that one. More likely genetic or conformationally related…I have seen alot of bad hoof care and rehabbed a few, some with continuing issues. None developed ringbone, even the one with the “elf slippers”. And, yes, 7 is young for ringbone from any wear and tear causes like older horses develop.

Once you get ringbone, you cannot make it go back. You can do pain management, shoe/trim to alleviate any discomfort and restrict the workload. But it is there forever.

All the management costs money-and a decent work up to evaluate the true extent of the problem to decide what management is best is not worth it on a $250 horse.

Buy this one and disappoint yourself plus risk breaking your children’s hearts when they cannot use her.

#20

Very eloquently stated Rick:cool:
I agree!!!

Get your Digital Subscription here - only $21.95 / year

Subscribe here
See gift options

Sign up to our monthly newsletter!

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.

Copyright © 2023 The Chronicle of the Horse