Horse for sale that had bilateral neurectomy - advice!

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Hope someone might be able to help with this.

Im going to look at a horse that has had bilateral (hinds) lameness which was treated with a neurectomy last year. He is apparently completely sound and doesn't wear special shoes but has to be shod every 6 weeks without fail.

Here is what the advert says:

..................."He suffered lameness in 2017 and had a bilateral neurectomy but recovered well and was given the all clear. Since then he has been brought back into work and was back to full fitness by December. He is based on an event yard and gets worked as hard as the competition horses, with lots of lessons, jumping and cross country schooling. Therefore I have no doubt that Sam will have no further issues or complications.

His current owner says that she thinks the vets did the neurectomy uneccessarily for the insurance money. She is willing to show me all the x rays and veterinary paperwork associated with the treatment.


I know very little about it and Im not sure if I should even consider going to look at this horse. Of course I would get it vetted knowing this but does anyone have experience of a horse that has had this procedure done?
 
For PSD? in which case a neurectomy isn't terribly unusual when they are doing a fasciotomy anyway. What do you want to do with it and does the price reflect the issue?
It can be a tricky one with regards to affiliated competition as I think the wording still suggests that if you think the nerves have grown back it's fine...
But many do seem to do fine post surgery (I personally know a couple).
 
I feel so sorry for this horse, even though the owner has said what she has done, there is nothing to stop the next person who buys him from glossing over it. Mine had an n and f nearly 7 years ago and it worked really well for him. However I wouldn't sell him as you can't tell they have had it done. I am constantly guarding mine, he doesn't go on deep ground, I work him so that he is always using himself fully. The best thing for mine has been constant hacking, straight lines are your best friend. That said he went from being a broken down hunt hireling to coping with training up to Medium level dressage, competing BD upto Elementary, jumping upto 1m. He also had hock spavin, but his feet cause him the most trouble.
 
What makes you want to explore this horse given his history?

I would never knowingly purchase a horse with a history of health issues - there's no reason to. There are SO many horses out there.

I was going to say the only time I'd consider getting a horse who'd had to have a neurectomy would be if it was dirt cheap and I had my own land, but even then I probably wouldn't.
 
I would imagine the procedure the horse had done was a neurectomy & fasciotomy for hind proximal suspensory desmitis (PSD). But you would want to double check that with them. It’s a not uncommon diagnosis and procedure - in layman’s terms you get strain and inflammation of the suspensory ligament up at the point of insertion by the hock. The area is quite congested there so by opening up the facia you allow the ligament room to swell and heal. Denerving removes the pain in the process.

There are a couple of things to consider with this - the underlying cause of the PSD to start with - was it a primary condition (usually linked to very upright confirmation) or was it secondary to something else?
Nerves can regrow so you might want to seek vet advice on that too.
Technically the horse cannot compete under FEI rules having had this procedure (although I don’t have an ethical issue with the procedure and there are multiple horses on the circuit that will have had this done and just kept quiet).

This will boil down to the quality of the horse, the price they are asking and your attitude to risk.

I had one a few years ago with an affiliated record that I operated on and sold to the hunting field for 2.5K, and in hindsight was lucky to get that.

I also once viewed a teenage small tour dressage horse who was 3K.
 
SpringArising said:
What makes you want to explore this horse given his history?

I would never knowingly purchase a horse with a history of health issues - there's no reason to. There are SO many horses out there.

I was going to say the only time I'd consider getting a horse who'd had to have a neurectomy would be if it was dirt cheap and I had my own land, but even then I probably wouldn't.
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Thanks - I think deep down I know you have a good point. Im getting fed up with looking at horses (been looking for a good couple of months now - hours and hours of phone calls, driving all over the country and people who are dishonest and waste your time) and think Im getting desperate! Will steer clear and be more patient until the right thing comes along.
 
ihatework said:
I would imagine the procedure the horse had done was a neurectomy & fasciotomy for hind proximal suspensory desmitis (PSD). But you would want to double check that with them. It’s a not uncommon diagnosis and procedure - in layman’s terms you get strain and inflammation of the suspensory ligament up at the point of insertion by the hock. The area is quite congested there so by opening up the facia you allow the ligament room to swell and heal. Denerving removes the pain in the process.

There are a couple of things to consider with this - the underlying cause of the PSD to start with - was it a primary condition (usually linked to very upright confirmation) or was it secondary to something else?
Nerves can regrow so you might want to seek vet advice on that too.
Technically the horse cannot compete under FEI rules having had this procedure (although I don’t have an ethical issue with the procedure and there are multiple horses on the circuit that will have had this done and just kept quiet).

This will boil down to the quality of the horse, the price they are asking and your attitude to risk.

I had one a few years ago with an affiliated record that I operated on and sold to the hunting field for 2.5K, and in hindsight was lucky to get that.

I also once viewed a teenage small tour dressage horse who was 3K.
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Thank you for the info - its all rather complicated so good to have an explanation. I think I will steer well clear of this one, although I don't want to compete at anything other than local shows Im wary of expensive vet bills and a lame horse in the future.
 
Well, I'm going to disagree to an extent. If the horse is local, why not try it? The vendor is being honest which is a big positive.

The prognosis for PSD after surgery is pretty good, and more so if the horse has become sound and remained so for many months of work.

Friend's horse had this done and is back to his best 2/3 years on with no further issues at all.

Shame to write of a potentially nice but probably cheap horse without looking.

If you like it you can then speak to your own vet/the vendors vet and ask them what the level of risk is.

Obviously you wouldn't be able to insure against the same injury again, but the price would have to reflect that.
 
I might buy the horse for £1 is it was really good at something I wanted to do .
There’s a word of difference than looking after a friend whose got damaged on your watch and taking on other people’s break downs .
 
Goldenstar said:
I might buy the horse for £1 is it was really good at something I wanted to do .
There’s a word of difference than looking after a friend whose got damaged on your watch and taking on other people’s break downs .
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have to say this would be my attitude too.

If it was a very nice horse at a very nice price then I might be tempted. But not if you're tempted just because you're fed up of looking ;)
 
Goldenstar said:
I might buy the horse for £1 is it was really good at something I wanted to do .
There’s a word of difference than looking after a friend whose got damaged on your watch and taking on other people’s break downs .
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Same here. I understand though it can be dangerous as the horse does not plan it's foot placement so well? That may be wrong or down to a different nerve being cut.
 
To be the denerving only treats the symptoms of psd; unless the initial cause of psd was identified and treated also, there is no point in buying a horse that has been de nerved.
 
I saw this advert too and quickly moved on. I can’t quite remember the specifics but I don’t remember it being dirt cheap.
 
Casey76 said:
To be the denerving only treats the symptoms of psd; unless the initial cause of psd was identified and treated also, there is no point in buying a horse that has been de nerved.
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Sorry but this isn't true.

I didn't understand how it works until my friend's horse had this op. I went through the whole thing with her, including going to vet school with her and collecting him etc. He had mild inflammation of the ligament and it was chronic. The ligament runs through a narrow space with the bones of the leg and the fascia of connecting tissue compressing it. So the op cuts the fascia which allows more space and removes a small part of the nerve which is also being compressed.

Friends horse then did a full 6 months of rehab to get him using his back end more and he is actually better now than he ever was since she bought him. He looks fantastic and is much admired, is is also happier in himself and more forward.

The op actually treats the problem and allows the horse to work properly, that means they can then recover. It isn't like denerving front feet which just takes the feeling away completely.

Just wanted to correct any misconceptions.
 
AnShanDan said:
Sorry but this isn't true.

I didn't understand how it works until my friend's horse had this op. I went through the whole thing with her, including going to vet school with her and collecting him etc. He had mild inflammation of the ligament and it was chronic. The ligament runs through a narrow space with the bones of the leg and the fascia of connecting tissue compressing it. So the op cuts the fascia which allows more space and removes a small part of the nerve which is also being compressed.

Friends horse then did a full 6 months of rehab to get him using his back end more and he is actually better now than he ever was since she bought him. He looks fantastic and is much admired, is is also happier in himself and more forward.

The op actually treats the problem and allows the horse to work properly, that means they can then recover. It isn't like denerving front feet which just takes the feeling away completely.

Just wanted to correct any misconceptions.
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What you have described does not treat the reason that the inflammation appeared in the first place, it just gives it more room and cuts off the pain response.

This forum regularly has reports of horses that broke down again catastrophically some time after this procedure. Casey76 was right.
 
Well, it depends how you look at it. In my friends horse's case (and I do know this is just one horse) he was not working correctly because he wasn't 100% comfortable behind. So, taking away that discomfort allowed him to develop better. What came first? I think these things are often a vicious circle and you have to rewind that somehow. That's is how the vet described it anyway, and it has totally worked for him.

That vet had operated on upwards of 150 horses and has had excellent long term results and asks owners to keep in touch to let him know how their horse is doing over the months/years. Some were at 5-10 years post op and still sound.

Maybe it depends what you do after the op? As I said my friend has been much more aware of working horse correctly and has kind of got into classical dressage as a result.
 
I'm genuinely struggling to remember any reports on here of catastrophic failure of this particular op, I know at least 5 in real life who have all gone back to their former level of competition without issue. One I wish I had asked if the vets had checked SI too- I didn't as I didn't want to interfere/worry too much though I was asked my opinion on operating (turned out they hadn't and that was also an issue).
 
My first one came back for a year post op and made it back to the dressage horse he was pre op, but then we had front end problems and found advanced navicular. That was the probable cause for the PSD and once we fixed that it allowed the Navicular to show.

My second one was diagnosed with PSD and Mild KS at the same time had the op and shockwave/steroids for the KS, got going again nicely, came up short in front 6 months post treatment, suspected collateral ligament damage in front, again its suspected that was the cause the PSD and KS. I say suspected as I'd run out of insurance money and the prognosis was the same whether I paid for an MRI or not; so I didn't.

Both horses still happily retired living out approx. 10 and 8 years later and no meds needed. I honestly HATE PSD and am terrified of my new horse getting it, I had a 4 1/2 year break before I could bring myself to have another horse and I've gone for a breed where their conformation and use makes it unlikely. That said I do now know of one that has been diagnosed with it.

Yes I'm overly emotional about it; both the above were written about on here at the time.
 
letitia7778 said:
Hope someone might be able to help with this.

Im going to look at a horse that has had bilateral (hinds) lameness which was treated with a neurectomy last year. He is apparently completely sound and doesn't wear special shoes but has to be shod every 6 weeks without fail.

Here is what the advert says:

..................."He suffered lameness in 2017 and had a bilateral neurectomy but recovered well and was given the all clear. Since then he has been brought back into work and was back to full fitness by December. He is based on an event yard and gets worked as hard as the competition horses, with lots of lessons, jumping and cross country schooling. Therefore I have no doubt that Sam will have no further issues or complications.

His current owner says that she thinks the vets did the neurectomy uneccessarily for the insurance money. She is willing to show me all the x rays and veterinary paperwork associated with the treatment.


I know very little about it and Im not sure if I should even consider going to look at this horse. Of course I would get it vetted knowing this but does anyone have experience of a horse that has had this procedure done?
Click to expand...
I know the horse involved-saw the advert etc etc and re the point made later on with regards to competing FEI no it's not banned-it was my thought at the time but in fact it is allowed.
 
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