Question about splints...

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Zoemojo

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I am thinking of doing some m&m/pony workers with my connie in the future. He has done them in the past very successfully at local level (mostly 1st's or 2nd's) with his previous owner but would his splints count against him much more at county level? Thanks for any advice.
 
Yes they would. Splints are really a no-no. Less so for a worker though as an all important clear round will bring them up the line so all is not lost

I've seen a bit if hairspray and a toothbrush used to ruffle the hair to disguise a splint ;)
 
Yes, they would be looked upon as a blemish/soundness issue - so like for like your horse would be placed lower than a similar horse without splints.

That being said if he is a really good example then I wouldn't worry and crack on with the county level :)
 
They would probably be a deciding factor if judge can't decide between 2 horses & the clean leg one would win. But I wouldn't worry too much - they aren't a complete "no-no" & if in a hunter class (working or show) then it is less of a blemish as they are expected to be a working horse.
A riding horse/hack should definitely be clean legged.

But splints aren't necessarily there for life - my horse had 1 on each front leg as a 4 year old and they re absorbed completely by the time he was 7. You wouldn't ever know he had splints! I didn't do anything to them at all - nature took its course :)

I would take your pony showing and do the working hunter classes local and county. In my experience here at county level splints aren't really considered as such a terrible thing that means a horse must never show - they might lose a point at conformation but that's about it really.

Go and have fun! :D
 
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I question whether they are a soundness issue too. My Shagya stallion threw a very small one but was never lame. In 2014 he completed 3 x 90km endurance, and was top horse on points on more than one occasion and given a BRAVO by the vets.

This year he is SJ one of 13 clear rounds, in a 57 horse class, two weeks ago. He has been lame once in 7 years with an abscess. OK we are not entering showing classes. It is such a small blemish.
 
My mare has a splint (tiny now) that she threw in the field as a 3 year old. I was gutted when she did it but she wasn't lame on it when she got it & has never had any issues at all with it!

I have done some workers with it & they didn't even notice it !
 
Thanks for the advice. He is a good stamp of horse and has never had any soundness issues because of them; I'll go ahead and give it a good go!
 
only_me said:
They would probably be a deciding factor if judge can't decide between 2 horses & the clean leg one would win. But I wouldn't worry too much - they aren't a complete "no-no" & if in a hunter class (working or show) then it is less of a blemish as they are expected to be a working horse.
A riding horse/hack should definitely be clean legged.

But splints aren't necessarily there for life - my horse had 1 on each front leg as a 4 year old and they re absorbed completely by the time he was 7. You wouldn't ever know he had splints! I didn't do anything to them at all - nature took its course :)

I would take your pony showing and do the working hunter classes local and county. In my experience here at county level splints aren't really considered as such a terrible thing that means a horse must never show - they might lose a point at conformation but that's about it really.

Go and have fun! :D
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Do you know how your 4 year old got the splints? My 4 year old got a splint on one of her front legs a few months back. Showed no sign of lameness or pain related to it and she really is quite a drama queen usually! I really hope hers is re-absorbed and isn't there for the future.
 
MTBTLT said:
Do you know how your 4 year old got the splints? My 4 year old got a splint on one of her front legs a few months back. Showed no sign of lameness or pain related to it and she really is quite a drama queen usually! I really hope hers is re-absorbed and isn't there for the future.
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I don't sorry, but I would imagine they were from concussion/trotting on roads. He wasn't lame when they appeared (bought him direct from breeder) & they were never an issue - I think if they appear young they have a good chance of reabsorbing :)

He also has one on the outside of his hind leg - he was kicked by a donkey (which he probably deserved) - about 2 years ago and it was pretty big, never had any lameness with it & it has started to reabsorb! So definitely a good chance for your mare for hers to reabsorb :)

Mine has shown at county level and always been well placed in LW & ladies hunter & workers, it's never been an issue! He also was placed 2nd in LW in a big class recently full of pros so it's not necessarily an issue anyway :)
 
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