Yearling with Fusing Hocks

[kaya842]

This is part general wonderment and part wanting to know because I am looking at a yearling with fused hocks for sport.

The breeder said that the yearling was born before his jock bones had completely ossified and that the joints are now fusing. She stated she expects they will fuse on their own by the time the horse is 3 or they can be surgically fused.
Has anyone had fused hocks in a yearling? Is this often a precursor to other joint related issues? Obviously we can’t predict the future, but would anyone have any guess as to it’s limitations in sport or if it would be able to be ridden at all?

[ElementFarm]

I’d walk. Young horses are suicidal enough without starting with a known problem.

We had a very premie foal born in 2016. She spent several weeks in the ICU. When we did bring her home, we were cautioned to limit exercise / turnout for several more weeks so that she wouldn’t damage her still-ossifying hocks.
3 years later, she seems sound and happy. We’ll just have to see how her first few months in the world impact her future sport career. She’s part of my family and I’m fine with that. But I definitely wouldn’t buy something with that kind of uncertainty and probably limitations.

[findeight]

Terminology problem here…are we talking the bone fully developing or the hocks fusing and losing range of motion as is very common in older horses?

Either way, I’d run, not walk, looking at a yearling for a future Sport Horse. But I am curious, anyone care to enlighten me? Too much experience with fusing hocks in older horses but clueless about what’s going on with this yearling.

[burton]

I have a two year old that has failure of ossification of the third tarsal bone in both hocks. I bought her as a weanling- no X-rays, just a general check up by the vet and she seemed perfectly healthy and sound. It wasn’t until May of her yearling year that she started to appear lame at the trot on occasion. We had her X rayed that summer, and sure enough she has not completely ossified third tarsal bones. I got several opinions from top vets, and they all agreed it is a fluke occurrence (this filly wasn’t a twin or premature) and she has a guarded prognosis. It is devastating to say the least, this was my dream horse.

From what I know, fusing is unlikely in horses with this problem, but it can happen. Arthritis is expected. As others have stated, walk away from this horse. As with all horses, there is no guarantee she will be sound, but with this problem, it is a huge risk.

Would love to hear if anyone else has experiences with this.