Would you buy a horse with mild navicular changes?

Yep, I would buy if the price is right. We once did a lameness workup for one of mine who had gone a little lame behind. Trotted 10m circle on hard ground and very quickly forgot about the hind as she was absolutely hopping lame in front on the hard circle. X-rays revealed severe navicular bone changes but she never ever went lame in front with the work I was asking her to do (showing, low level jumping and even hunted on good ground). After the findings we did change the shoeing and put pads on when the ground got hard ‘just in case’ but unless you asked her to trot on 10m circle on concrete you’d never have known she had it. Retired eventually through completely unrelated field injury!
 
I am totally confused! and to add into the mix she's a very good friend who works FT, has 2 girls and is very busy so I don't want to mess her about or waste her time. I'm umming and arring about going over to see the horse this weekend, but then am worried that if I fall in love with her that heart will rule head! oh decisions.....
 
Kirstd33 said:
I am totally confused! and to add into the mix she's a very good friend who works FT, has 2 girls and is very busy so I don't want to mess her about or waste her time. I'm umming and arring about going over to see the horse this weekend, but then am worried that if I fall in love with her that heart will rule head! oh decisions.....
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Do you want to ride this horse and not worry? if yes then do not buy it. Do you have the purchase price to gamble an potentially lose? If no, then do not buy it.

It does sound like you are buying it because its cheap. Its not cheap, it wont ever be cheap and mentally and financially it will take its toll becuase right now, this horse isnt sound. Its managed and coping but it might not always go that. You are going in blind as navicular can mean anything, changes to the bone usually do not correspond to clinical signs, so without an MRI its a guess as to the cause of the issue. If its caudal heel pain, yay, great. A year of barefoot rehab should fix it, if its soft tissue damage it mght never fix an might suddenly and dramatically get much worse.

And you didnt say if this horse met your criteria? What is it other than the price that appeals to you? Bearing in mind the low price is irrelevant really as your gambling that money with not great odds.
 
I'm Dun said:
You are going in blind as navicular can mean anything, changes to the bone usually do not correspond to clinical signs, so without an MRI its a guess as to the cause of the issue. If its caudal heel pain, yay, great. A year of barefoot rehab should fix it, if its soft tissue damage it mght never fix an might suddenly and dramatically get much worse.
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This exactly. Vets now diagnose navicular or navicular syndrome for a variety of things, some have a greater chance of long term soundness than others. One of mine had a sdft injury which was initially diagnosed as navicular syndrome.

Before proceeding it's important to ask what investigations have been done and on what basis has the diagnosis been made? Some soft tissue injuries are serious and have a poor outcome but don't present with obvious lameness especially if bilateral.
 
My ‘navicular’ mare actually had arthritis in a hard to see place in her hoof. She got progressively more lame, then we found the issue and injected to make her field sound. Retirement was what happened next.

I would absolutely not take on a navicular horse at any price.
 
Kirstd33 said:
I am totally confused! and to add into the mix she's a very good friend who works FT, has 2 girls and is very busy so I don't want to mess her about or waste her time. I'm umming and arring about going over to see the horse this weekend, but then am worried that if I fall in love with her that heart will rule head! oh decisions.....
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Can you afford the maintenance bills you may get from the vet .You really must be honest with yourself about this.
Are you up for taking her shoes off for a prolonged period and managing that because that may help the horse a lot .
You need to asking your self all of these types of questions .
This horse will sell if she’s a nice person and goes to a home that’s easy for her .
Over the years I had several horses like this but I had enough spare cash to manage whatever got thrown at us.
I am also used to the whole PTS thing if it goes wrong .
It’s not something I am ethically troubled by.
Think carefully
Good luck .
 
Having read other more positive posts, if she's possibly the right horse for you, and they'd let you have her on full time loan then perhaps that's a scenario you'd feel more comfortable with.
 
Kirstd33 said:
I am totally confused! and to add into the mix she's a very good friend who works FT, has 2 girls and is very busy so I don't want to mess her about or waste her time. I'm umming and arring about going over to see the horse this weekend, but then am worried that if I fall in love with her that heart will rule head! oh decisions.....
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I think you do right to at least go and look. See how you feel. One of my heart horses, I knew was 'wrong' when I viewed, but it was heart over head and I don't regret it one bit. He didn't last long, but I relished every year we had together.
 
Does your friend really need to sell, or would she let her come across to you to free up stable space? If you take her on, it must be on the understanding that you are giving her a sporting chance of recovery. She is young, and that is in her favour. If you can find a vet who is familiar with barefoot rehab and is prepared to work with you, so much the better, but as others have pointed out, you must be made aware of the full extent of any issues/damage. Good luck!
 
Red-1 said:
I think you do right to at least go and look. See how you feel. One of my heart horses, I knew was 'wrong' when I viewed, but it was heart over head and I don't regret it one bit. He didn't last long, but I relished every year we had together.
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Youve got your own land and a decent budget as well as the knowledge of how to deal with most issues. A different set up by far to the OP
 
thanks all for your thoughts and musing. It has been interesting reading everyone’s POV. So…. I declined the offer to buy as for those for you that know I already have a coblet who sadly had to be retired at Xmas following 12 months of surgery and rehab, so once bitten…. As the sayinn goes. The owner has now offered her on loan to me as as good friend knowing that she would be well looked after on the proviso that if I want to return her at such point that o give her plenty of notice. She does keep a couple of competition ponies on a livery yard for her daughters but also has family land that the horse in question could retire onto. I am mulling this proposal over and am going to see the mare at the weekend.
 
Kirstd33 said:
thanks all for your thoughts and musing. It has been interesting reading everyone’s POV. So…. I declined the offer to buy as for those for you that know I already have a coblet who sadly had to be retired at Xmas following 12 months of surgery and rehab, so once bitten…. As the sayinn goes. The owner has now offered her on loan to me as as good friend knowing that she would be well looked after on the proviso that if I want to return her at such point that o give her plenty of notice. She does keep a couple of competition ponies on a livery yard for her daughters but also has family land that the horse in question could retire onto. I am mulling this proposal over and am going to see the mare at the weekend.
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Could be the perfect outcome. Look forward to further updates.
 
Kirstd33 said:
thanks all for your thoughts and musing. It has been interesting reading everyone’s POV. So…. I declined the offer to buy as for those for you that know I already have a coblet who sadly had to be retired at Xmas following 12 months of surgery and rehab, so once bitten…. As the sayinn goes. The owner has now offered her on loan to me as as good friend knowing that she would be well looked after on the proviso that if I want to return her at such point that o give her plenty of notice. She does keep a couple of competition ponies on a livery yard for her daughters but also has family land that the horse in question could retire onto. I am mulling this proposal over and am going to see the mare at the weekend.
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Fabulous result! Hope you like her at the weekend 🥰
 
There is a thread on here, 'Calling Barefoot Experts' that follows a similar horse through rehab, with photos and progress reports. The last post on the thread was very positive, and had the horse sound enough to start making plans for the future. Might be worth a look.
 
Kirstd33 said:
thanks all for your thoughts and musing. It has been interesting reading everyone’s POV. So…. I declined the offer to buy as for those for you that know I already have a coblet who sadly had to be retired at Xmas following 12 months of surgery and rehab, so once bitten…. As the sayinn goes. The owner has now offered her on loan to me as as good friend knowing that she would be well looked after on the proviso that if I want to return her at such point that o give her plenty of notice. She does keep a couple of competition ponies on a livery yard for her daughters but also has family land that the horse in question could retire onto. I am mulling this proposal over and am going to see the mare at the weekend.
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Snap their hand off. Other than the potential of being upset if she breaks, you cant lose with this.
 
So I finally got over to see my friends mare last night after work.......and she's lovely! Very friendly in the field and in fact came over to see me on my own whilst I was waiting for them to arrive, and beautiful, so, so pretty being a light chestnut almost honey colour. The teen daughter rode her first in the school for 15 mins, then I hopped on for a short hack around the livery yard fields. She was responsive enough but not overly off the leg and I even felt brave enough to have 2 short canters, both times she pulled up gently with a very soft mouth.
My friend would love me to have her on loan however I have 2 reservations,

1) if she's big enough to carry my teen daughter? she is a full up 15hh but on the finer side being a warmblood x (teen daughter is 5ft 6 and on the curvier side)
2) if she'd fit in on the very rough and ready livery yard where I previously kept Coblet. Its track grazing and not much grass set up predominantly for fatties and semi retired and she's neither.

The friend would love her to have a low level job and be someone's NO.1 and being honest her teen daughter wants her Livery stable for another 148 competition horse that can compete at the levels she wants to.

I'm going back to see her again later in the week with my daughter, so we'll see?
 
Tentatively positive then!
15hh sporty type would weigh approx 450kg so you are looking at a weight limit of 67.5kg / 10st9 at 15%

As for stabling. Horses actually don’t care about fancy. They need safe though, esp as coming on loan. Presumably your friend knows your facilities? Would be worth discussing with them to ensure they think the set up will work and you can budget for additional forage & feed if needed.
 
ihatework said:
Tentatively positive then!
15hh sporty type would weigh approx 450kg so you are looking at a weight limit of 67.5kg / 10st9 at 15%

As for stabling. Horses actually don’t care about fancy. They need safe though, esp as coming on loan. Presumably your friend knows your facilities? Would be worth discussing with them to ensure they think the set up will work and you can budget for additional forage & feed if needed.
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You see without putting her on the scales ( a big no no for teenage girls) I would think she weighs just a smidge over that as she's a buxom 5ft 6, compared to me being a completely flat chested 5ft 3! I have told Friend about the less salubrious yard and facilities and she doesnt seem too put off but compared to her yard last night its very basic :(
 
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Kirstd33 said:
You see without putting her on the scales ( a big no no for teenage girls) I would think she weighs just a smidge over that as she's a buxom 5ft 6, compared to me being a completely flat chested 5ft 3! I have told Friend about the less salubrious yard and facilities and she doesnt seem too put off but compared to her yard last night its very basic :(
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I get it, but equally is it really so taboo not to know what she weighs for this context. Not in an ‘you are too heavy’ way but more in this horse might just be too small for you.

If it helps I’m 5’6, 72kg/11’4st and an established balanced rider. I personally wouldn’t buy myself a sporty 15hh, especially one that may be a little compromised on its feet. I would happily ride one ad hoc, as I don’t think occasionally would harm, but day in day out I’d want a bit bigger/chunkier.

That said, when I go to Portugal to ride there is a little luso about 15hh that is my preferred one and the establishment don’t blink an eye about me riding him doing some fairly intensive dressage, so maybe I’m just overcautious.
 
If I had a tonne of my own land, ready and waiting to retire this horse out on, then maybe.

I dont. So no. I wouldn't want to take on this mare and be faced with putting her to sleep in the possibly not too distant future.
 
Kirstd33 said:
You see without putting her on the scales ( a big no no for teenage girls) I would think she weighs just a smidge over that as she's a buxom 5ft 6, compared to me being a completely flat chested 5ft 3!
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You see in this instance I think it is important, and a good lesson in horse care to know. Can you discuss it with your daughter, tell her the 15% ideal ratio and let her go off and work it out for herself?
 
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