Would you buy a horse with a splint?

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Cobbychic

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Question in title. It’s old and doesn’t cause any lameness. Horse in question is 4. Been backed and now back in work being brought on slowly.
 
Depends where it is, if right on the joint I might think twice, however if just on the leg it would not bother me. Once cold they should not be an issue. My horse has a chain splint, of 3 splints and it has caused my horse no issues now it gone cold. Could effect showing prospects I suspect.
 
I bought my 6 yr old with beautiful clean legs. Through boisterous charging with his mates in the field he now has two splints ����. One front, one hind, neither bother him or cause any issues other than making me sad that his legs aren’t beautiful clean legs anymore. Horses are horses. I wouldn’t turn down a horse with splints unless they are close to a joint and if concerned would question it in the vetting.
 
When we bought our ID mare as a 3yo, she had three splints, and they never caused her bother (apart from being excluded on her insurance for a few years).....

In fact I'm sure they gradually shrank over the years.

Fiona
 
As long as it was not in a bad place or the size of an egg .
I have bought loads of horses with splints over the years .
 
one of mine had one at 4 and it gradually went down over a matter of months until it was barely noticeable, his 14 now and you can just slightly feel it but not see it his never had another one since. my other horse is 13 and has one on his front leg it came up literally over night his not lame with it but he wont be shown his year as its really noticeable but I am sure it will go down most do over time.
 
As long as I didn't want to show and it's not in a compromising position, yes. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which horses develop them so you could easily buy one with clean legs only for a splint to appear - especially one as young as 4.

My boy, very unusually (he can never have normal problems :rolleyes:) developed a splint at 15 - the vet thought it must have been trauma related although no other evidence of trauma. He was really quite lame as it formed - and due to his age it was very slow to form - but there's been no lasting damage and he's sound as anything at 22.
 
Probably not windgalls in a 4yo no, in an older horse maybe, but I would want to see the ultrasound scans of the area
 
Cobbychic said:
What about windgalls?
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would depend on the horse, and the price, for me.

Millie had windgalls as a young horse. If I'd rejected her because of them I'd have missed out on nearly 15 years of amazing fun. It's possible that her later injuries reflect some kind of inherent weakness that was always there... but she didn't come with a big price tag and I already knew she was going to be an awesome horse, so totally worth the gamble IMO.
 
I've had a couple of show horse over the years develop small splints. They have disappeared in 6 months to a year. However they were small and caused no.lamness and were hard when first noticed. I think it would depend where on the leg (ie if near joint) and how big as others have said
 
Yes. Choccy had a huge splint on outside of near hind just below hock joint when I bought him rising 8. He's now rising 25 and has done 17 years of hacking and riding club events without any issues, and is still hacking (just back from 3 days of riding on Ridgeway in Wiltshire). I don't show him except for having done a couple of local ridden veteran classes in last couple of years, both times he won the class.
 
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