Would you buy a horse with sidebone ?

[jvoyce]

I don't know anything about sidebone and the internet is perhaps not the best place to look. Obviously I'll talk to my vet, but does anyone have any experience of this. For example, at what point is it an issue and is it degenerative ? Should I run away screaming from a horse that's been out of work for several months with it ?

Thanks chaps x

 

[marmalade76]

No.

 

[Kayfm]

Dont walk into trouble .......................

 

[jcberry]

run away screaming is the best posssible answer im afraid!

 

[Rollin]

I had an old horse who developed side bone in his 20's. My vet recommended rocker bar shoes and he lived to be 27 years of age, hacking for all but the last 6 months of his life.

As a hack he coped perfectly well and all he cost me was a bit extra for his shoes.

I would not buy a young or prospective competition horse with side-bone but as a hack it would depend on price and vet's opinion.

 

[Chunkie]

Personally - YES!!!! Run run run!!!!

I assume that as with anything else, each case is different, but here's mine.

My mare was diagnosed with sidebones (confirmed by x-rays that also showed slight pedal bone rotation in both front feet) in August 2005 following 4 months of lameness. The lameness was initially diagnosed as a sprained fetlock and my vet hadn't even considered either condition, hence the delay - he thought my girl had navicular.

Having got the laminitis fairly well under control for most of the time (she is a mild case compared to others), It is only since March/April of this year (4 years after onset of initial lameness) that I can ride for any distance on the road.

I don't do a lot of road work anyway due to the amount of scary farm machinery in our area, but even if I wanted to, I could not trot on the road for the whole of that period of time. My girl would feel as though she was walking on hot coals and would simply stop and walk if I tried - although she was perfectly sound, happy, forward going and could walk, trot canter and gallop on grass.

In May of this year I did what I consider to be my first "normal" hack in 4 years - a 2 hour ride which consisted of more roadwork than bridlepaths, and where I trotted where and when and for how long I wanted to. Sounds really boring if it's something you do every day, but it was like Christmas and a million Birthdays rolled into one for me!

My vet told me at the start that sidebones can take 3-4 years to settle down and that's what happened with us. I never considered selling my horse because I am fortunate enough to have bridlepaths within a couple of hundred yards so it never really stopped me from riding. I would never choose to buy a horse with the condition though - especially if I wanted to do a lot of roadwork or hunting or jumping of any sort.

Gosh - I thought I was trying to cut a long story short - didn't really work, did it?!!

 

[Kenzo]

The internet is a good place to look, your on it now and you will get a lot of good advice from people on here who have experienced this first hand with their horses.

Sidebone is often closely linked with navicular disease, I would not purposely buy a horse with such problems or any kind of ossification of bone/cartilage, you be on a roller coaster of vets bills and the occassional lame horse.

 

[Rollin]

I would ask your vet. My old horse was x-rayed and my vet was not at all worried for the work I was doing. According to my vet manual 'sidebone rarely causes lameness'.

only a vet can advise you.

 

[golddustsara]

My friend has a horse with sidebone and after her experiences I certainly would not consider a horse with this condition. It has cost 10,000 in vets bills with expensive tildren treatments, scans and suchlike. A year on he still isn't sound....

 

[Divasmum]

No.

 

[Marnie]

My 7 year old homebred girl has sidebone on both sides of her left front and on the outside of her right front. She is quite stocky and I was told by the vet that you would see similar in most horses of her type and that it shouldn't be a problem. You can see it in the x ray below. She did have a fractured pedal bone which has now healed and one vet talked about the side bone maybe being implicated in that, but none of the others who saw her really felt that it would be a problem

Bit worried now!

[image]

[/image]

 

[QUICKFIRE]

There is a horse free to a good home on Project horses which has sidebone, I wouldn,t have one for free so no way would I pay money for one

 

[jenmac_85]

It would depend on the extent of sidebone and what I was planning for the horse.

My boy has the beginnings of sidebone, but it isnt causing him any problems (he wears Natural Balance shoes) and as long as Idont ride him too often on hard ground and minimise concussive work, we expect him to be fine.

I wouldnt write one off totally, but I would look at each individual case.

 

[legend]

Run away...or frankly drive and fast!

My 19 year old boy has just been xrayed (for laminitis) and it turns out he has sidebone (similar to Marnies xray). I've had him 15 years and he's been in a decent level of work for the whole time (including ele dressage and unaff 3 day events) and I had NO idea, and am fairly *coughs* obsessive about lameness!

However, that is totally different to one that has been off for months with it - are they sure its the sidebone thats caused it, or have they just had it xrayed and decided that because it has sidebone it must be that causing the problem?

But, sorry I'm the same as Quickfire, wouldn't touch it with someone else's bargepole!

 

[jvoyce]

Thanks everyone for your experiences, very much appreciated x

 

[fatpiggy]

No, and I would't take on a freebie with it either. Why spend your hard-earned cash on vet bills when you can spend it on a healthy animal?

 

[ISHmad]

Sorry but I too agree with everyone else on here. Hope you find a suitable horse soon.