Calling all Vets/Experience/Injury specialists....I need some guidance

TheEquineOak

TheEquineOak

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My partner has been looking for a horse since January....we had about given up until we were passed details of an 18.2hh Hanovarian beauty. We have been to see him occasionally and, for my partner and the horse it looked like love at first sight...now the problem.

The horse was competing up until a few weeks ago when he came in off the field lame. The owner believes he has a stifle but cannot afford a vet to check it out. The horse had severly lost a lot of muscle on his left hind but it is slowly starting to regenerate. I have seen him in the field, he has a slight limp but was having fun walk, trot and cantering. Once he had been going for a while his stiffness started to ease too. He stands still and lets me pick up all feet and didn't fidget at all when I flexed his 'injured' leg. He is on no medication or pain killers.

So what do I do? Can anyone suggest what it could be? Would you consider taking on a horse with an injury as new as this?

He is on permanent loan. If I were to take him there is an arrangement that I try and bring him back into light work (walking on the straight up and down slight gradients) and if there is no improvement I will call my vet out to diagnose, and should he be passed only as a companion, I will give him back to his owner. I would and have walked away from situations like this before but I think this horse deserves a chance, especially as my partner wants him so much.

Are we dreaming?
 
I am not an expert! But if you are being given the option of handing him back if it doesnt work, then I think it's worth it. Make sure you get a full written contract stating that if the vet passes him as a companion only he is to be given back, you don't want to be stuck with him if he's lame
 
If he's still not right, I wouldn't be thinking of riding him. At 18.2 that's a whole lot of horse to be injured and irritate further. It could be a whole number of things and wouldn't be risking guessing a prognosis for him.

I'd be getting the vet out now, sorry. Not fair on you or the owner to simply give him back if he proves to be unsound still. :(
 
agree don't touch it.

Also i would be worried i he didn't have a stifle, infact he should have two! Unless you mean stifle injury in which case don't touch again!

By the sounds of it the poor horse needs a vet now. If the owner can afford to compete they can afford to have the vet out. If they can't afford the vet they shouldn't have the horse. Harsh but true!
 
Message read loud and clear!! I had told her that I was going to be in touch in a couple of weeks to see if there was any improvement. One thing is for certain, he won't be seeing a vet until someone willing takes him on.
 
That's not your issue though tbh, he's their horse and should be receiving neceassry veterinary care from them. They sound thoughtless and careless about him tbh.


I'd also be very very careful if he's miraculously sound next time you see him,stifle injuries rarely just 'disappear' without due care and I'd be very very careful, somewhat cynical,if he'd be buted off his head or not. You then take him, thinking he's sound....few weeks down the line with you, he then turns up lame again and all responsability and liability for his lameness and treatment will be on your head.

Tread carefully.
 
santa145 said:
agree don't touch it.

Also i would be worried i he didn't have a stifle, infact he should have two! Unless you mean stifle injury in which case don't touch again!

By the sounds of it the poor horse needs a vet now. If the owner can afford to compete they can afford to have the vet out. If they can't afford the vet they shouldn't have the horse. Harsh but true!
Click to expand...

Ditto this
 
The owner wasn't competing him. He was out on loan to an advanced rider and handed back to her when he went lame. Shameful!!! I'd be kicking myself for not having a contract written up. The owner (and her partner) have both been made redundant. Yes I agree, that when you own a horse you should have reserves and insurance to cover things like this but she doesn't. There's no point commenting on the if's and but's because what's done is done. There will be no vet until someone takes him on, simple as that. If he is passed as a companion surely thats not the end of the road for him...

The time, experience and to some extent, the money is available to help this horse, he just needs to be passed (eventually) for riding. It would be insane to vet him when he is in someone else's care but do I make the decision to bring him over in order to vet him? What else can be done? Would charities be able to get involved?

Please only respond if you can help...I don't need to hear about who is responsible and how 'poor' the horse is. I understand all this already.
 
Difficult situation indeed.

As I read it the horse has obviously suffered some sort of serious injury that means it won't simply come right within a few weeks, otherwise the previous rider would not have handed it back.

Without seeing the horse can't really truly comment on the extent of the injury but by the sounds if it is associated with the stifle it will require an extended period of rest before it may possibly become right enough to ride.

If you really like it and think there may be hope call out the vet at your cost to where the horse is currently kept (ie owner's) I can't see the owner's disagreeing as its to their advantage. The horse then gets diagnosed and if it will come right great for you and you can then take it on on loan if not the owner can then consider its long term future whether that be signing him over to a charity or PTS or whatever else.

Personally I still wouldn't take it on either way but if you are that keen on the horse it would seem the most sensible step forward.
 
Why not pay for a vet's visit where the horse is kept now yourself? Hopefully the vet will be able to diagnose the problem and you will have an idea how much his treatment is going to cost and what he will be able to do afterwards. That way you can make a sensible decision without committing to take him on. I would imagine a visit and lameness exam wouldn't be more than 100 pounds at most and that's not a lot to pay for figuring out what is going on.
 
if, if, IF you go back in a couple of weeks to see how he's doing, then either turn up unannounced or spy if you can, in the mean time. Horrid, and I wouldn't like to do it, but obviously the danger of him beiong buted up is a real one.

Otherwise, I agree with Booboos and Santa145 above :)
 
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