Please talk to me about cow hocks...

HeresHoping

HeresHoping

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I've been sent the details of another possible horse (not an IDx, a Selle Francais) by my horse physio. One that I can fit in my meager budget without compromising on vet checks and transport.

Lovely, lovely mover - I've been privileged enough to see some gait analysis videos of her. My instructor says super cadence.

But...she's 17hh (ok, so that's not really a but and it's just me who wanted a slightly smaller horse) and the pic I've been sent of her bum shows she's really quite cow hocked.

Given that I've lost a really good horse due to connective tissue issues and, in the end, crumbling suspensory apparati (she's gone to breed as her CT issues were as a result of being kept in a barn for the first 4 months of her life); and then having had my boy PTS due to severe subluxation of the SI joint, I'm just making sure I have a few years of fun rather than extortionate vets' bills and time off games.

Are they indicators of any tendencies I should be aware of?
 
My friend has a horse who is very cow hocked. He is 14 now and has never had a lame day in in his life. He has done a bit of everything, but especially enjoys jumping. He has a bit of a strange technique but is very careful and hardly ever knocks a pole down.

He is regularly seen by the physio who has never detected any problems arising from his cow hocks.

If you like the horse then I wouldn't let the cow hocks put you off.
 
I suppose it depends what you want to do and your budget but I would rather correct conformation and less movement, you can improve the movement to some extent, train for accuracy and gain those better marks but if there is a weakness you will eventually have no horse to work on.
No horse is perfect but starting with something incorrect makes life harder.
 
Thank you. I want her for some lower grade BE stuff and general all round activities. My physio has seen her for the last two years (she's on a hunt yard) for maintenance massages once a month. As far as she knows, the horse has never been lame and sails through the hunting season without dropping significant amounts of weight.
 
I had a BBWA mare who was born in 1982 and still going strong, I did loads with her in her prime and she still going strong.

Never had a days lameness in her life, and was really cow hocked. I'm not sure if we were really lucky or she was just a tank :D
 
Providing you aren't going to show I wouldn't worry too much, there's a lot worse things she could have.
 
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