Upright Pasterns

[Potato!]

What are the potential problems with upright pasterns, I am looking at a horse to just do a bit of local level riding club activities/ pleasure rides and hunting etc.

I have my eye on a very nice youngster who I am looking to buy and bring on, However he does have slightly upright pasterns. He seems to tick the other boxes for me and I’ve seen him in the flesh and like him but haven’t actually ridden him yet. Hopefully going to try him this weekend.

 

[rambling]

A lot of Irish horses with Draught and Connie blood will have slightly upright pasterns as do a lot of "ranch" horses and Criollos I have seen . These were traditionally "functioning" horses not built for top speed but most would have given long and useful service at jobs they were suited to.

If you buy a horses like that it would be wise to pay special attention to his hoof balance and shoeing as they may be more prone to Arthritis in their later years.
Hammering them on hard ground won't be good for them at all ,but then its not good for any horse is it?
Other problems would be that their trots will never be spectacular so they won't get very high paces marks in Dressage and the ride may feel a bit choppy.

The best of luck if you buy .

 

[Faro]

Upright pasterns - as a generalisation, means a slightly shorter stride and a slightly more uncomfortable ride. More prone to concussion as any shock is transmitted straight upwards through the bones, rather than being dispersed by the tendons. A plus point however is that horses with upright pasterns are less predisposed to soft tissue injury as the tendon isn't working at such a big angle.

 

[Shutterbug]

Dont know if this is any use but my boy had uneven pasterns with one being more upright than the other - one farrier told me there was nothing I could do and he was just born that way but another started corrective shoeing to balance his hooves and his pasterns have evened out over a period of about a year. He does have mild arthritic changes in his hind right but no issues with his forelegs - he has been scanned and xrayed on all 4 legs due to the hind and needed cortisone injections - not sure if its connected but given what rambling said thought I would mention it

 

[fleabitten]

My ernie has upright pasterns and has indeed succumbed to arthritus.....I would avoid if possible!

 

[jhoward]

ohhh shes talking about taio LOL.

B feel free to post a picture of him or i can.

 

[Potato!]

Yeah just interested to hear what problems might occur. You can put a pic if you like as I'm on the mobile

 

[Miss L Toe]

It is best to avoid any conformation defect, if you have any competition ambition.
It will also affect his value, now and in the future.
All three of my farriers [moving around] remarked how nice the pastern and hoof angle is on my horse, so this must be very significant [his conformation otherwise is certainly not particularly good].

 

[Potato!]

Confirmation wise he is good other than the slightly upright pasterns

 

[ladyt25]

Well, I am going to disagree with the majority here - I would say my horse has upright pasterns and I have not experienced any issues with him at all. I think it depends on the rest of the leg comformation to be honest - how do the pasterns line up with his hoof, the knee and the shoulder? I would say my horse is quite upright all the way up his leg from foot to shoulder and therefore I think this means there is not as much pressure as there would be in a horse where the foot/pastern axis was not the same.

my horse is connie x TB and he has a decent bit of bone too. He has not had a days lameness related to conformation issues since I've had him - the only lameness he's ever had is to do with foot abscesses and nail bind as his feet have thin walls (well you can't have everything!)

So, if I were you I would actually get a decent horse vet to check the horse over and give their opinion. At the end of the day ANY horse can go lame, even the horse with the 'perfect' conformation but sure you don't want to buy one that may be pre-disposed to problems down the line.

As for the arthirtis comment, well, my horse is now 20 (I've had him since he was 4) and, as far as I know (vet checks him each year) he is not showing any signs of arthritis yet!

 

[jhoward]

here we go, said cretin is around 4, breed is ment to be irish but could be anything. i do not have any objections to posters being honest in relation to op questions.

 

[ladyt25]

Hmm, from that pic I wouldn't say he was taht upright - if only I could post a pic of mine as a comparison!

On that pic though he does look a bit back at the knee and seems to have a broken back foot/pastern axis BU that could just be how he is stood and the camera angle. Hard to tell really

How old is he?

 

[Kat]

I don't think his confirmation would concern me for general RC use.

 

[el_Snowflakes]

It really depends on how each individual horse copes with the (slight) conformational defect. A vetting would give you more insight into whether or not the horse could cope with the level of work that you require. I dont think you can generalise with theae things.....good luck- looks sweet btw

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I thought that I'd post these as they are quite interesting. This poor mare with very upright pasterns, coupled with horribly boxy hooves (broken hoof/pastern axis) was lame in all four legs and totally retired before the age of 13 (when the photos were taken). She had arthritic changes plus ringbone.

 

[jhoward]

possibley a bit of a miss leading picture.. excuse the awful look of him it was the day i got him, but pasterns look much different in this piccie

 

[ladyt25]

Faracat - certainly in that first pic she looks very broken forward in respect of her foot/pastern axis so i think I can see why she may suffer from arthritis - I think that's when you get the problems, when the foot doesn't follow the same line.
Jhoward - I find that horse quite hard to judeg to be honest as in that pic he now looks broken back in the pastern although still look a bit back at the knee. I think this just shows you need to see horses in the flesh as pictures are very hard to judge by. He also looks bum high there whereas in the first pic his withers appear higher - is he still growing?

 

[jhoward]

ok im working backwards.

the lst picture was when i bought him which was may this year passport says 4 vet/me thought younger.
the other picture was in july this year. so lets say he is 4 now to be safe! so yes still growing