Sickle hocks - would you walk away?

Wagtail

Wagtail

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I am going to look at a lovely TB (not bred for racing) and recently broken in. Fabulous paces etc and under £1k But from one of the pics it looks as though it has sickle hocks. I've asked for more photographs to be sure. But if it ticks all the other boxes, how serious do you think sickle hocks are as a conformational fault? I have personally had two TBs with slight sickle hocks. One went on to do BE, the other is my current lad with severe kissing spine and bone spavin.
 
Honestly Wagtail, after following your previous threads.
You have had such a hard time of it, to start out with a possible problem, would be me walking away.
 
I would walk away, you have only just started looking there are plenty with good conformation to look at, weakness in such a key area would be too much of a gamble especially in an untried horse, if it had stood up to a fair amount of work and was an older schoolmaster I may feel differently.
 
Ridefast, I am looking for nothing specific. My main interest is dressage, but the overriding important thing is temperament and personality. I would be offering a forever home to the right horse but am very limited on funds since my late mare and my current field ornament have drained my resources. My choice is to wait for 6 months - year and buy something for maybe £4 k or get something now for under £1 k. I am still very much mourning my mare and can't see anything else measuring up personality wise. I want something young (3 - 6) because I don't want anything with 'history' having just had such a horse (my gelding). I would consider older though. I am 5 ft 10 and 10 stone. I prefer small horses so anything 15.2hh - 16.2hh. Eventually, I will be buying two, and one of them needs to be up to the weight of my husband (14 stone) but I won't need that for a couple of years. I need to see how my gelding goes for now as he is suffering from bad arthritis.

I can't travel far at this time of year due to the commitments I have here. But Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, parts of Notts, and Northamptonshire would be doable.
 
A friend of mine purchased a 5 year old with sickle hocks, by the time she was 7 she was retired with arthritis and could only hack. Even a year of that was spent trying to keep the horse sound, but she just couldn't manage much at all.

I like horse shopping though so will have a look online!
 
Thanks. So far I am looking at one TB, one Section D and a cob x WB so you can see I am not going for any particular type! I am not keen on coloureds and greys, but one of the three on my shortlist is a coloured, so I wouldn't rule either out, obviously. I don't much like bright bay either, but my darling mare was a bright bay. It's personality that counts most for me, but the horses that make me go 'Wow!' tend to be well marked chestnuts and really dark brown/black.
 
Wagtail, have you thought of loaning/borrowing through the winter?
Would give you a chance to replenish funds for purchase in spring & give you something to tick about on in the mean time :)

Only mentioned it, as after the disaster I had with HF who went in the spring, I have a lovely 15hh mare to borrow till another 18 months time. :)
I've told her owner that FLF had better go home this spring tho, as am becoming attached, also that tho FLF is a lovely hack, she doesn't quite exert herself enough to suit me - but she IS 100% do do all every-day stuff with :)
 
hayinamanger said:
You've had enough heartbreak, Wagtail, things go wrong with horses all the time, but at least start with a clean slate :)
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Shysmum said:
I would walk away too - you can do without any more problems, you need a rest from them (and the potential worry). x
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Okay, I have had some more pics and videos sent and he is definitely not right behind. How do I tell the seller? She is such a nice woman. I want to be honest as I hate it when people leave you hanging and wondering what was wrong. I want to tell her that her horse is sickle hocked and does not move soundly behind, but how do I put that without causing offence. Horse is lame behind and tail swishes on lunge.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Wagtail, have you thought of loaning/borrowing through the winter?
Would give you a chance to replenish funds for purchase in spring & give you something to tick about on in the mean time :)

Only mentioned it, as after the disaster I had with HF who went in the spring, I have a lovely 15hh mare to borrow till another 18 months time. :)
I've told her owner that FLF had better go home this spring tho, as am becoming attached, also that tho FLF is a lovely hack, she doesn't quite exert herself enough to suit me - but she IS 100% do do all every-day stuff with :)
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Thank you. I am lucky in that I have an amazing horse to ride here. But I want my own, even though I could never hope to have such a nice horse as the one I am riding. I would buy the horse off my livery as she's for sale but £20k more than I can afford!
 
Wagtail said:
I want to tell her that her horse is sickle hocked and does not move soundly behind, but how do I put that without causing offence. Horse is lame behind and tail swishes on lunge.
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I'd tell her, diplomatically.

I.e 'Lovely little horse, however the conformation is not quite as correct as you would like, and the horse does seem a little un-level behind.'

Better she knows, so that she can get the lameness looked at.
 
amymay said:
I'd tell her, diplomatically.

I.e 'Lovely little horse, however the conformation is not quite as correct as you would like, and the horse does seem a little un-level behind.'

Better she knows, so that she can get the lameness looked at.
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Thanks, AM. I tend to agree with you. If I were the seller, I would rather know what was putting people off and address the problem.

CobsGalore said:
Not sure is this is too far away, but I quite like the look of her:

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/109451772/152-irish-sports-horse.html
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Lovely little mare with really nice limbs. Head looks a bit big, though I expect she has an inch or two of growing left to do. It is a little far away from me but I have marked it as a favourite to maybe contact the seller for more info. Thanks.
 
Just an update. I was very honest, but as tactful as possible and told her why I would not be coming to see her horse. Being the nice person I had judged her to be, she thanked me and actually asked for more details, which I was pleased to give, as I felt it would help both her and the horse.
 
Shame you aren't down Bedfordshire way....there was a 15.2 tb 7ry tb up for sale on one of the groups round here for under £1000....had done some BE. The only reason the I was given for her being cheap was no one wants TB's.

If I had the money and space I would have looked and gotten her vetted.
 
be positive said:
I would walk away, you have only just started looking there are plenty with good conformation to look at, weakness in such a key area would be too much of a gamble especially in an untried horse, if it had stood up to a fair amount of work and was an older schoolmaster I may feel differently.
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This^^
 
Well done for telling her, If I had looked at a advert and seen a problem I would have to let them know, and I would equally want to be told if I was selling something with a problem.
 
Thank you. I did feel kind of bad about it as she was obviously really gutted. She said she was a novice and had absolutely no idea, and had just spent a small fortune having him professionally broken in. Makes you wonder about the scruples of the person breaking him in, doesn't it? I would never break in a horse or even take one for schooling if it had such issues.
 
ridefast said:
Shame you're not in Dorset, I know a handful of horses that would suit you ;)
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Yes a big shame! I have seen a lot of reasonably priced horses there. There's hardly any in the East Midlands. Having spoke to hubby, he is adamant I should get a LWVTB. So what I would like to do is put down a 10% non returnable deposit, get the horse fully insured for vets fees and full value and have a contract drawn up to protect both parties and pay the balance at the end of April. I think that would be the best thing to do as I am offering a horse a home for life and so must make sure it's the right one.
 
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