would you buy a horse with a substantial scar??

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cocomalonealex

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just interested in your opinion ive been to look at a five year old tb gelding , he has a 3-4 inch visible scar on his hip,. i have seen two vets certificates from previous owners both say scar is purely cosmettic and there is no resulting long lasting damage. obviously this would cause problems if i wanted to do any form of showing which i dont. just a general riding horse. just wanted some opinions.
 
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We have a couple with scars... didn't even notice one of OH's horses one (which is near on a foot long) until OH pointed out in passport. Means nothing to me, not interested in showing and a scar means nothing compared to personality

Pan
 
A scar wouldnt bother me in the least if he ticks all the right boxes. obviously whatever happened to cause it would exclude that area on your insurance, so i would double check on that.
 
thanks guys he really does tick all the boxes so quite and willing:)
just wondered apart from the obvious showing would the scar affect the horses chances in any other disciplines?:)
 
My lad I lost yesterday had a 4" keloid scar from heel up the back of his pastern when he came to me rising 4.. It was a field accident.. Cleared a vetting and we never had any problems resulting from it.. He was a winning show horse as a youngster but not shown since..
 
Yes I have had two, one with a bad scar on her nose and one with a white hair scar across his chest where he must have had a run in with some fencing.
Don't let it put you off if you like it.
 
Mine has scars from being attacked by a pitbull that showed up when she was still dark grey, some small ones that the hair never grew back on, a splint & windgalls. Never made any difference to competing, I don't show really but she has come first plenty of times at local show level in working hunter, & more recently in veteran. So no, it wouldn't put me off.
 
Mine has a 12" scar across his chest from an argument with a barbed wire fence (before I bought him). It isn't noticable in winter with his slightly thicker coat but most definitely visable with his summer coat. Luckily the hair grew back chestnut and not white.
 
My old SJ had a set of scars on the inside of his hind cannon. I knew how he got the scar and the vet was confident it was only cosmetic. He went on to jump 1.50's. However he had an accident in the field and split the scar open and severed a tendon. Wouldn't stop be buying another though
 
Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Think the showing world needs to be a bit more enlightened too IMO; appreciate the emphasis is on perfection and what is pleasing to the eye but think it needs to be realised that horses are horses and are meant to be ridden and used NOT stuck in cotton wool and then just trotted into the ring periodically.
 
My mare has some pretty horrific leg scars from when she was involved in an accident in a trailer with her foal :( shes fine now, never had any problems with them
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Think the showing world needs to be a bit more enlightened too IMO; appreciate the emphasis is on perfection and what is pleasing to the eye but think it needs to be realised that horses are horses and are meant to be ridden and used NOT stuck in cotton wool and then just trotted into the ring periodically.
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People I know, who show up to a very high level - HOYS and Royal International, definately do more with their horses than "just trotted into the ring periodically". But if you are showing then everything has to be taken into consideration, from conformation, manners, condition, rider turnout, and blemishes.
 
Both of mine have scars. The TB has one on her leg from a field kick, actually the cobs was a field kick too - from the TB!
 
I didn't notice the scar on one of my lads until the vet pointed it out. According to him, when first done "there would have been a hole big enough to get your head in" on his abdomen. No idea what caused it, it's not a surgery scar that we can identifiy so presumably was an accidental injury of some kind. Certainly hasn't bothered him.
 
Yes definitely. My girl has a defirmed and scarred hip where, from what I can gather, she had an accident with a wall when she was young. She apparently has good bloodlines so the then owner paid tonnes to have the hip reconstructed but it was never good enough for the show ring. To be honest I didn't even notice for a good while because I jut fell in love with her and knew she was the one for me. She past her five star vet check, vet said it was purely cosmetic and didnt affect her and whilst she can be a little tight on the one side most horses are.
 
Bought my lad with a very substantial scar to the length of his near hind cannon. He got stuck in a gate as a baby and it was badly healed, he's 11 now. Had him vetted , though he didn't cost much, and the only thing they said was that it might affect a resale.

Don't care, he's not going anywhere.:)
 
I wouldn't have thought it would matter at all. Went to view a tbx with one on his shoulder and oddly he dished on just the leg too. I wouldn't be put off by scars but use them as markers of 'potential' issues... such a the tbx I went to see, the lady then told me not to bother getting him vetted which to me rings alarm bells..

I guess with my knowledge from my uni course i would investigate the scar a little more such as position, and whether it is pliable, by this I mean does it feel stuck to deep tissue below it or is it easily movable... if it does feel stuck you can use massage to realise it. Though I'm basing this knowledge on what I have leant from my human based course but I think rules apply to animals and humans alike :)
 
It wouldn't bother me for cosmetic reasons, but... my first horse had a huge scar on the fleshy part of her near side hindquarters, which had apparently happened in an accident with barbed wire as a youngster. It was L shaped, like you get when you tear your jeans. She was passed by the vet but I got her a bit cheaper because of this blemish. I bought her unfit and off grass, but as she became fitter it became apparent there was a problem. She would wear out her near hind shoe at twice the rate of the other shoes, and she also brushed badly with that leg. Closer examination revealed that as she put her near hind to the ground she would rotate the hoof slightly, thus wearing the shoe more. She was never lame, but the peculiarity of her gait (which was not noticeable anyway, the vet didn't notice; I was young and ignorant anyway!) I believe was caused by the damage to the major muscle in her hindquarters.
 
Another vote for buying horse with scaring - i bought a 4yr old with a scar to his hind fetlock and extends down into his hoof making shoeing a little difficult (odd size feet and difficultly placing nails at first) but its all cosmetic and its mainly other folk that have a problem with it rather than me or the horse - I would buy this horse a million times over, regardless of his scar or no scar his potential and willingness to work is second to none! :)
 
And another vote for buying horses with scarring from me! My favourite mare ( the bay in my avatar) fell under a feeding trough in a barn with her old owners. She skinned her stifle,hip and near hind fetlock . They had to do a skin graft from her cheft to her fetlock, which looks really weird most of her leg is black apart from this bright bay splodge! She also has a scar above her left eye.

She is my best pony, I adore her - I call her my safety blanket as she is just amazing, wouldn't change her for the world - scars and all ;)
 
Provided there were no ongoing problems and it was cleared by the vet, it wouldn't bother me. I'm not interested in showing.

I would expect it to affect the asking price though.
 
If you're not planning on showing him (and, likely, it would only be in hand stuff where it would count and only then when it came to splitting hairs) the only question shoudl be how he gor the scar and whether that will have any continuibng consequence. My boy is going to be 18 this year and, like his owner, has a few scars here and there evidencing an active life. He's never been marked down for any of these blemishes (we compete western versatility) and if your prospect is sound in all other respects, you shouldn't let it worry you.
 
Mine has a 2 inch wide scar on the front of her fetlock, doesn't bother me! Didn't get her vetted because I didn't want to lose her for the price she was and didn't intend on doing much with her anyway and haven't insured her. She is a bit sensitive on it with shampoo and sprays but otherwise doesn't affect her.

If it's a nice horse which ticks all your boxes and is a nice price, go for it.:)
 
My horse has a big scar, but it really never bothers me and it certainly never effects him so yes!
 
Wouldn't bother me either :) Ned has a tonne of them! If I was seriously into showing (which I'm not) then I might consider something else, unless the horse was super awesome.
 
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