What did I do in a past life to deserve this?

Sounds like you don't need to panic yet OP but a good conversation needed with physio and vet.

I don't know what I'm talking about either but wonder if his young age could be of benefit, if he hasn't had years of working incorrectly to cause further issues or problems elsewhere? It sounds like you have the experience to do the right strength and fitness work with him if it is a case where these will be appropriate. Fingers crossed this is the case and you have good times ahead with him to look forward to once he is fit and strong in the right places.
 
tda said:
A friend of mine bought a 2 yr old colt that had failed a vetting as being sickle hocked, I couldn't see it when he arrived and he went on to be inspected and graded as a stallion, so who knows 🤷‍♂️
Young and weak can look awful on pics, do you have a video of him moving?
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Not from the side yet. I rode tonight and got some videos so might have one to show people. But equally I think people are right in that I should just wait for the vetting.

Esmae said:
Personally I would never purchase a known problem. Horses are expensive enough as it is. In your shoes I would walk away and keep looking.
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Normally I would but this pony really is incredible and I have fallen a bit head over heels for him. Took him in the school tonight, just to see what he was like, and the difference from start to finish in a 20 minute session was honestly unbelievable. He is really special.
 
When life had kicked the stuffing out of me, I bought Rigsby. He was a teenager, just finishing 3 months of box rest for lami, was ems, borderline cushings, had asthma, wasn't good in traffic and didn't load to travel. Oh, and his passport said he was a rig!!!

I paid money for him as I felt safe. He made me laugh.

I have never regretted the purchase.
 
Flowerofthefen said:
If he usually stands like that I'd say there is more going on than sickle hocks. I hope the vet thinks differently as he sounds a gem.
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I looked at him today and he doesn’t usually stand like that. I think it was just a photo taken at the wrong time. But keeping my fingers crossed for a good vetting and that the vet agrees that training and strength will help his hocks.
 
J_sarahd said:
Not from the side yet. I rode tonight and got some videos so might have one to show people. But equally I think people are right in that I should just wait for the vetting.


Normally I would but this pony really is incredible and I have fallen a bit head over heels for him. Took him in the school tonight, just to see what he was like, and the difference from start to finish in a 20 minute session was honestly unbelievable. He is really special.
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This is why I think you should vet the horse before taking one on trial as it's really difficult to give them back if you really end up loving them😒
 
I suspect you could improve that a lot with some good farrier work. X ray hind feet mostly so you can work on getting the angles right as soon as possible (they might also be 100% and not need anything) while you are doing all the getting going and strengthening work so then the muscle development will be better from the off. I usually think slightly camped under hinds can be improved hugely with some 3D frog pads and x rays to decide if you need to stick some angle on to get the axis right. Sure it will cost you a little bit of money for next 6 months but you are paying for longevity by doing it now.
 
Just learning here, but am I right in thinking that because the angle of the hock has thrown the lower leg not upright that this is where issues can come from, as this will cause muscle & joint stress? No nastiness meant here, just asking.
ETA Looking at pics of Dave in field, his hind cannons are upright. Just wondering.
 
Dave's Mam said:
Just learning here, but am I right in thinking that because the angle of the hock has thrown the lower leg not upright that this is where issues can come from, as this will cause muscle & joint stress? No nastiness meant here, just asking.
ETA Looking at pics of Dave in field, his hind cannons are upright. Just wondering.
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Yeah, as far as my research goes, more susceptible to hock arthritis etc.
 
J_sarahd said:
Yeah, as far as my research goes, more susceptible to hock arthritis etc.
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It can make them more susceptible to curbs too. I had an ex racer with massive curbs, his hind leg confo was OK so guessing it was more thr strain from racing, but they didn't involve the tarsal plantar ligament (sure that's what it's called) so didn't cause issue because they were hard and formed by the time I bought him.

The fact that he's 5 with no apparent curbs or spavins, and that you're not going to be hammering him with hard work, I think is a good sign. Again, just something to discuss with vet because I'm not one.
 
Red-1 said:
When life had kicked the stuffing out of me, I bought Rigsby. He was a teenager, just finishing 3 months of box rest for lami, was ems, borderline cushings, had asthma, wasn't good in traffic and didn't load to travel. Oh, and his passport said he was a rig!!!

I paid money for him as I felt safe. He made me laugh.

I have never regretted the purchase.
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Out of interest Red, what was it that made you go to view Rigsby initially? Was all of that disclosed on his advert?
 
AShetlandBitMeOnce said:
Out of interest Red, what was it that made you go to view Rigsby initially? Was all of that disclosed on his advert?
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I was broken. Mum had a head injury in 2018 and went from fine, as in driving herself swimming then shopping, and doing my business books, to not fine, in one day. She deteriorated. The NHS were awful and neglectful, social services useless, community care non existent, and I had a full on battle on to get her safety and dignity, let alone any quality of life. She firstly moved to an independent living flat, then was being kicked from home to home, and I was her only LPA.

I had a lovely competition horse at the time, but was not on my game and was dumped twice in 3 weeks. I couldn't risk that as sole LPA, so I sold her. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I felt broken, was dealing with so much I was overwhelmed, and didn't even know if I ever wanted to ride again.

I deliberately set out to buy the most broken horse I could find, that would potentially be rideable in the future. I scoured Preloved for a broken one. I wanted one to care for and to be full time enough to absorb me.

Found Rigs.

He was a superb purchase. 6 months pretty much walking him out in hand. He had rotation in 3 of 4 feet, and also stiff hocks from box rest. Lots of walking round the village in-hand mended both of us. That was the intention and it worked.

Rigs was a superb buy.

Initially, my goal was to still have him alive after a year. We did all the vet tests, had a specialist trimmer, soaked hay and banned grass. He had to lose so much weight that I felt cruel but the vet said this would lower his EMS score, and it did. He is now symptom free, on no drugs, working whenever I like, and has taught my new BF to ride. On the way, he did a dressage and won with over 70% (he'd never been on an arena before and had been a pure hacking horse), learned to jump and did a clear round, and did some riding club. He didn't particularly like those activities so doesn't do them, but he was game to try.

I didn't know about the passport saying he was a rig, and for that I took some money off so I could blood test and have something towards rectifying it, if it were true. As it happened, he was not a rig, goodness only knows why the passport said that. But, I changed his name to Rigsby when I paid to have his sex change on his passport.
 
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My two-penny-worth!
Definitely get all the (real world) information you can to inform your decision but in the end I suspect it will come down to a non-veterinary decision.

Is his temperament, confidence boosting, suitability for what you need right now important enough to trade it against that you might not have him for as long as you'd hoped?

For me, as long as he was in that part of my head where I went in with my eyes open & was going to remember why I bought him if problems arise later, I'd snatch their hand off but we can't help you with that.
 
Goldie's mum said:
My two-penny-worth!
Definitely get all the (real world) information you can to inform your decision but in the end I suspect it will come down to a non-veterinary decision.

Is his temperament, confidence boosting, suitability for what you need right now important enough to trade it against that you might not have him for as long as you'd hoped?

For me, as long as he was in that part of my head where I went in with my eyes open & was going to remember why I bought him if problems arise later, I'd snatch their hand off but we can't help you with that.
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Thank you. Honestly, yes. After all the rubbish I went through with Nova, I’d rather have a few years of absolute fun on a horse I’m super confident on than longer on a horse I’m not as confident on. I’ll never hammer him - I’m not the sort, don’t have the money to be out doing things every week and I’ve learnt a lot from Nova in terms of trying to keep them as well as possible - so hopefully that will go in our favour if I do end up with him.

Obviously if he does pass the vetting, I’d want him to stay sound and pain free for as long as possible but I’m at a point in my life where I just want to have fun on a horse I trust.
 
OP I really wish you well and I hope he passes. I've had horses that look conformation wise awful but they stayed sound worked hard into their 20s. As long as you are sensible should be fine. As he matures, conditions and builds up muscle it can make a huge difference.

I bought a pup just over a year ago to do agility with (long story) probably shouldn't have as conformation not the best and more issues as she grew. But she is fab and lovely has regular physio to due to her wonkiness. I never thought she'd make an agility dog but we are competing and take each day as it comes.
 
Barton Bounty said:
I did not at any point say it is going to fix them 🤣 it might relieve the pressure though.

I am only going on someone from my last yard had it done for exactly the same thing in exact the same type of pony. Sadie didn't have any issues after that was a cracking pony and went onto competing with a wee girl.
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Every time you inject in to a joint you have a risk of infection, and infection in a joint is difficult to treat. When treating a joint its a balance against risk/benefit, and if the horse is not lame can you assess the benifit? If you sell it on do you declare its been injected?
I actually buy animals that other people would pass over, due to confirmation, because I have never had a budget of more than £1500, one had an action like a whisk so he had his own way of going, but all had long working lives, in to their twenties. IME how they are prepped to do work is more likely to give them a long working life.
 
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J_sarahd said:
He had the vetting yesterday and a couple of things were flagged up so currently in the process of trying to negotiate a price with the owner.

Good news is that he is sound and the vet didn’t think he has sickle hocks!
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Great news! Just goes to show how deceiving photos can be, I thought mine had them and the vet definitely didn't think he did when she vetted him :)
 
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