Would you put a mare with suspensory injury into foal?

[FlyingCircus]

Vets don't seem to be wanting to steer me any particular way.

I have an 8 year old mare who has a suspensory branch injury and proximal suspensory desmitis due to compensatory movement patterns. She is rehabbing at the moment and just started under saddle again. Rescanning in a few weeks time.

I'd love a foal from her, but is the extra weight going to cause more of an issue or if she rehabs back to soundness would that no longer be a concern? I'd want her back fully sound before I considered it.

Her conformation isn't perfect, so I'd have to consider that with picking a stallion. Foal would be for me to keep, not to sell.

 

[Tiddlypom]

According to my vet brood mares who have carried several foals are prone to dropped hind fetlocks due to the extra strain on the hind suspensory apparatus.

So no, I wouldn't choose to breed from a mare with existing hind suspensory issues. ETA though re reading OP it's not clear which limb is affected?

 

[SantaVera]

No I wouldn't

 

[FlyingCircus]

According to my vet brood mares who have carried several foals are prone to dropped hind fetlocks due to the extra strain on the hind suspensory apparatus.

So no, I wouldn't choose to breed from a mare with existing hind suspensory issues. ETA though re reading OP it's not clear which limb is affected?

It's one hind that is affected.


Thanks for the honesty though! I wouldn't want to do anything to make her uncomfortable, but can't find much research or guidance online.

 

[eggs]

As a general rule I would say no. It sounds like she has issues that caused the compensatory movement and in your own words her confirmation isn't perfect.

Could she carry a foal - most likely yes and I know of one mare whose suspensories were absolutely shot who did have a couple of very nice foals but had to be pts as she became absolutely crippled. Should she have a foal though is a different question.

 

[Melody Grey]

More of a ‘how she got there’ in respect of her conformation would be more my concern than her ability to carry the foal.

 

[FlyingCircus]

As a general rule I would say no. It sounds like she has issues that caused the compensatory movement and in your own words her confirmation isn't perfect.

Could she carry a foal - most likely yes and I know of one mare whose suspensories were absolutely shot who did have a couple of very nice foals but had to be pts as she became absolutely crippled. Should she have a foal though is a different question.

Yes definitely wouldn't want to breed from her at the expense of her! She can be a field ornament or light hack for rest of her days and that's fine by me.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

No I wouldn’t.

 

[TheMule]

It's not just the weight, it's the effect of the hormones on ligament elasticity.
I would consider it if she has excellent hindlimb confirmation and its scans clear after a year

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

It's not just the weight, it's the effect of the hormones on ligament elasticity.
I would consider it if she has excellent hindlimb confirmation and its scans clear after a year

I don't know if it's the same for horses as it is for humans but yes the pregnancy hormones make your body go all floppy and stretchy. I needed regular physio to keep me relatively pain free plus lots of pilates and walking as my body started doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things to compensate for the rapidly growing bump!

For me it would depend on how she got the injury (bad luck vs due to conformation) and I'd want her to be fully healed and sound before making the decision. Also was it always an idea to get a foal from her or has this come to light because you're unsure if she'll be in proper ridden work again?

 

[Dexter]

Absolutely not. Why would you want to breed from an unsound mare who doesn't have ideal conformation? No matter how carefully you pick the stallion you can still end up with the worst of both. If you want a foal, there's plenty for sale, or plenty of quality broodmares available for sale, loan or lease.

 

[lizziebell]

Sorry, I have to agree with others. Too many foals being bred indiscriminately. Although the aim may be to breed a foal to keep, it doesn’t always work out (ends up too big or too small for you, or has an unsuitable temperament for what you want, change of circumstances etc etc … list goes on), and therefore you should be breeding quality that has a sales value.

 

[Goldenstar]

No I would not .

 

[SEL]

The ligaments getting lax is a very real issue. I was on a yard where owners had to bring a pregnant mare to box rest because one of her hinds (I believe pre existing injury) had dropped right down. The yard had a large foaling box but she was in it for 4 months. They did turn out into a small paddock when the foal was born and the mare was a total saint. Everyone was expecting explosions and a possible PTS, orphan foal situation but she looked after her baby and stayed the course until the filly could be weaned.

It was something I'd never heard of before - fortunately the owners got a lovely foal but it wasn't without a lot of stress for them.

 

[FlyingCircus]

Thanks everyone, hear the General consensus loud and clear I'd never breed from a lame mare, so this was more if she was to become sound again and hold up to some level of work. I wouldn't be putting her in foal next year, for example. Maybe at 10 + after she had proven she's not going to break again by just existing.

I have always wanted a foal from her since I bought her as a 4 year old. I'm not trying to breed just because she has had an injury, I'm very focused on getting her sound (at £245 a week for rehab livery, my bank account wishes I wasn't ).

Interesting RE hormones and their impact. I hadn't really heard of that/thought of that before!

Rest assured she won't be indiscriminately bred. I absolutely adore her so wouldn't want to do anything that put her in harms way.

 

[SEL]

Interesting RE hormones and their impact. I hadn't really heard of that/thought of that before!

One of the potential treatments for sticky stifles is regumate - loosens the ligament off so it doesn't catch. Thought that was fascinating!

 

[FlyingCircus]

One of the potential treatments for sticky stifles is regumate - loosens the ligament off so it doesn't catch. Thought that was fascinating!

How bizarre! Learn something new everyday, especially where horses are concerned