Your thoughts ....... Heart over head ?

[Mackenzie6]

I have been offered by the trainer of my father's very quality young future NH racehorse mare half sister who is too small at 15.2 and has a soft palate which can be resolved by surgery but the owner would rather shoot her as she's too small. The line is usually big horses, my dad's 6 yr old is 16.3 who's already won pointing. The owner of this mare either wants a small amount or to have her shot. I have been told she's got good movement and conformation and is a lovely mare it's just a question whether the soft palate is hereditary ??, has anybody bred from a soft palate mare ?, she's apparently a cracking stamp just small and the soft palate flaw. She's only 4, so if anyone has any knowledge of this I'd be truly grateful !, hate to see an otherwise quality horse have that fate !.

 

[DonkeyClub]

What's her breeding?

 

[JanetGeorge]

ALL horses have a soft palate - what is the dysfunction meant to be?? There's a useful short article here - http://www.equinecentre.unimelb.edu.au/docs/palate.pdf

And another about the problems of soft palate displacement - the most common problem. http://www.thehorse.com/articles/14186/dorsal-displacement-of-the-soft-palate-winning-with-air

Haven't seen any suggestion that it is a genetic problem.

 

[GreedyGuts]

Displacement of the soft palate is a fairly common condition of racing thoroughbreds that can be performance limiting. The cause is not well understood, but there are treatment options. Assuming the mare is otherwise worth breeding from, it would not put me off, and should not affect her in any way as a brood mare.