OCD in German bloodlines

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solaisnamara

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Am thinking of getting a German warmblood as a dressage prospect but have been warned about OCD and how often it occurs! Anyone know anything about it?
 
Get hocks x rayed as part of the vetting process. Our homebred Hanoverian gelding had ocd and his hock joint had pronounced swelling from about 2 1/2 onwards. He was operated on and it was a success but we just couldn't keep him sound enough to do anything other than hack and so I gave him away to a permanent home. Not quite what I had in mind when I put his graded dam to his grading champion sire..

Remember this is an extreme case and our rising 16yo dutch grade a is absolutely fine and jumps 1.30 tracks with ease. The luck of the draw...
 
It's not the genetics, so much as the way they keep them. Many of them are barn reared without adequate movement when they are babies. And then worked too hard far too young - they have competitive three year old classes on the continent.

Definitely take x-rays, it doesn't always show in the vetting, as a friend of mine recently found out with two successive vet failures after x-ray.
 
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It's not the genetics, so much as the way they keep them. Many of them are barn reared without adequate movement when they are babies. And then worked too hard far too young - they have competitive three year old classes on the continent.

Definitely take x-rays, it doesn't always show in the vetting, as a friend of mine recently found out with two successive vet failures after x-ray.

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I agree, I think it's more to do with how they are kept, fed and produced. I'd be reluctant to buy a 3 or 4 yr old from Germany unless I knew the stud or the background to how it had been kept. Have used a German stallion on my mare though
 
another good reason to buy British bred and reared sporthorses. We have some super mares and stallions here and access to great stallions all over the world and I know as a general rule our management and rearing of yourstock over here is of a higher standard.
 
From the replies I´m guessing this doesn't refer to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - as in "I´m not going in that school until all the letters are in the right order"
 
I have to admit, that was my first thought he he!!!!! Neddy spending its time lining up its bedding so its straight over and over again .,.... hang on...... sounds like one of mine pmsl!!!!
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I bought a 7yo (British bred) KWPN mare last May, from a well respected breeder. She's got excellent bloodlines and had no pressure put on her as a youngster.. She passed a 5* vetting when I bought her, but I (stupidly, in hingsight!) didn't have x-rays. I bought her for dressage, and as we started to put more pressure on her in the school, she went lame. She's now been diagnosed with OCD in her right hock (a small fragment of calcified ligament, apparently?) - we had her stifles x-rayed too and they're clear, and she's had a bone scan, so st least we know that's the only affected area.

Apparently sometimes there is just no rational explanation for why/how OCD occurs - both her parents were clear - although I don't know how/what she was fed...

She's having surgery on Tuesday to remove the fragment. I would just agree with what others have said - have whatever you buy x-rayed...!
 
Just to throw something else into the mixutre - watch out for those continental breeders who have 'cleaned up' any affected joints so that the youngsters then sail through the X-rays!
 
My first thought is always the other OCD as well! lol

I have a GWB he came over at an older age and had a lot of problems stemming from the working regime he was given, Behavioural as well as physical, no OCD though.

Its a shame as hes a lovely horse, having said that theres nothing thats stopped him working and hes now 15.
 
how interesting you say shes a stickler for feedng regimes and the foals are 24/7 turnout! The last I saw, she had all her youngstock in a barn all winter and they didnt get turned out at all throughout the winter.
All the horses my friend bought off Gamblethorpe Hanoverians all have OCD
 
Can someone please describe the symptoms of OCD is it always a swelling? or is there intermittent lameness? Behaviour problems etc.? I have owned my GWB since she was a foal and is on the very lean side as I don't believe in feeding up young horses especially the big ones.

How do you know whether its in the hocks? Really interested to know as I am sure a few others are but just don't want to run the risk of sounding un-knowledgeable.
 
Well, I'm certainly no expert on OCD, I'd never heard of it until my mare was diagnosed 4 weeks ago! Her symptoms were really just difficulty with lateral work, she wasn't noticably 'lame' and there was no swelling. She did become very 'sharp' when ridden though, and would throw in the odd mega-spook when changing rein, behaviour which we now think was caused my the discomfort in her hock. She also became 'awkward' to shoe, resiting the leg being picked up. Her OCD was diagnosed by a lameness work-up by the vet, nerve blocks & x-rays, and was then confirmed with a bone scan. Sorry, that's probably not much help!
 
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