Advice and thoughts please

jenbleep

jenbleep

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Hello all :)

I hope you are having a lovely Easter!! :D

I have ridden a horse for a friend of mine for about a year - he went away for the winter on loan but is back now and friend wanted to sell him. She felt something was off so got the vet out last week, and the vet found he:

*has a heart murmur
*sheared heels
*sarcoids (one on his neck the size of a 5p, this has not changed size in the year I have ridden him). Another small pea sized one on the other side of his neck
*Melanoma - doesn't have one yet but likely to get one on his cheek. (I wasn't there when the vet was out, so I need more information on this!! Any info on how the vet can know he has one, but you can't see it?!) :confused:

Oh, and he windsucks.

He's only 7, 16hh and ID x TB. Friend doesn't know what to do with him - she can't sell him, but would put on a long term loan with someone who is aware of his issues and manage them or sell for a small exchange of money. (£1!!)

I have always been keen on him and people have been sort of nudging me to take a chance on him. Another lady I ride for (also friend's trainer) has said that if I did take him on, he might give me 5 good years then it all go to pot. Or maybe we'll have ten years, or 2, but it's a chance I'd have to take. He is not lame with the sheared heels.

He's very athetic (passed the flexion tests!) and has a lovely jump and paces. If I took him on I would just have a bit a of fun on him (riding club, hacking etc). He's OK in traffic, but can be quite spooky at times so I would not say 'bombproof!' (Tends to ignore a lorry, but then shy at a leaf on the floor type of horse!) Good for farrier, vet etc etc. I'm afraid I can't remember his sire.

Have you ever taken on a 'special' :D horse and it have a good outcome?
 
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I haven't taken on a "special" horse but just wanted to say you could go out and buy a horse that sails through a five star vetting and it could get a career ending injury the day you get it home.

If you have the finances to potentially have an in rideable horse for a few years I would say go for it.
 
Ooh tricky one. I guess any horse you take on could potentially break a leg or something catastrophic at any time so no guarantees of how long you will have them with any horse you get. The sarcoid and melanoma prob wouldn't put me off but I would be concerned about the heart murmer- think I would want to get more info from the vet on that one as to its severity. Let us know what you decide.....He sounds like a lovely boy. x
 
kinnygirl1 said:
The sarcoid and melanoma prob wouldn't put me off but I would be concerned about the heart murmer- think I would want to get more info from the vet on that one as to its severity. Let us know what you decide.....He sounds like a lovely boy. x
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Yes, good point. The vet would need to do a scan to check the severity, as we don't know any more than that at the minute.

He is lovely! :)
 
If I liked the horse then I would probably take a chance on him. I've had two that I have bought for a nominal amount, one I had for 6 years before having to have her pts (old age) and the other I still have but have loaned him out permanently as a pet after it was confirmed he wouldn't be sound enough for every day riding. He has been with his loan home for nearly 7 years and she loves him and is happy to ride him a handful of times a year. I had him for over 4 years before his unsoundness became a problem, so those 4 years were worth the chance I took on him. Good luck with your decision.
 
If you like him having ridden him for a year then the risk of buying him is lower than a horse from an ad that could have all sorts of issues.

The heart murmur would make me want an independent vet to check and give me his view on severity - a nasty one which could cause him to drop dead while you are riding would be a no (clearly! you could be badly injured) but many comp horses have minor murmurs without issue.

heals I'd talk to an independent farrier (not the one the girl uses) and ask his opinion - that may be something that could be fixed in time?
 
Polos Mum said:
heals I'd talk to an independent farrier (not the one the girl uses) and ask his opinion - that may be something that could be fixed in time?
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I've seen his feet, it's only in three feet and not that bad so I believe they can be managed easily. Even if he has bar shoes for a while I doubt he would need them forever....but then again, I am not a farrier! :)
 
jenbleep said:
*Melanoma - doesn't have one yet but likely to get one on his cheek. (I wasn't there when the vet was out, so I need more information on this!! Any info on how the vet can know he has one, but you can't see it?!) :confused:
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OK so the melanoma is actually there, but wasn't 5 months ago before he went on loan (so of course I didn't see it!)

It is on his left side, where the throat lash would go. Would this bother you?
 
I used to loan an an ex-racehorse from my YM (when her daughter was at uni after I lost my previous horse) who they had bought for £1.50 after he had been LOU'd for kissing spine, wind sucker and a melonoma. Their vet had told them not to touch him with a barge pole - but, they have had him 8 years and in that time he had BE, BD, hunted and become a fab alrounder. He is 18 now and still going strong - he needs quite careful management but was a great horse despite being a right off on paper.

If you like him, go for it! :)
 
every horse ive ever had have been very 'special' for various reasons all completely worth it, one that was written off as a physco and needed to be PTS,colic prone, cant catch, rodeo nighmare witch turned out to be my money couldnt buy (in my budget anyway) horse of a lifetime! I have one who was told was permantly lame but never bin lame in the year ive owned him and turned out to be a bombproof gem of a horse with a cracking jump although hudini has nothing on him! Jury is still out on my latest pity buy tho! :p

Anyway if you can afford to keep him then go for it! The 'special' ones are always the most rewarding!
 
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