|
|
 Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
   
Location: chasing kids and animals | Ok guys here is the deal. There is a nice lil 6 yr horse that came off the track that I had vet checked and it shows an old ( vet says atleast 2 yrs ) chip at top of knee joint that has calcified over. Horse is not showing any sign of lameness at ths time but Vet did say that he possibly would once being trained and started on barrels. Horse has full movement of knee and walkes, trotts and lopes fine now.
Has anyone dealt with this before? What was the outcome?
I guess now I have to decide to pass on him or buy him.
what to do?
|
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | I JUST dealt with this on a horse I was looking at, I will pass on it. There are plenty of other horses that will xray clean. Unless you pay for the surgery, I would keep looking... |
|
| |
|
Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
Location: chasing kids and animals | Was yours a floating or was it already calcified over? |
|
| |
|
Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
Location: chasing kids and animals | ok guys.. opinions of a NON floating chip... no lameness, does show arthritis.... |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 477
| Last year I ended up passisng on a gelding who might have had something similar to what you are describing. Horse was being competed on and didn't flex sore on it, but after 2 vet's opinions saying it may continue to stay sound or it could be really lame in 3 days, I opted to pass not wanting to chance it. Sometimes I have regretted the decision until I think of all the $$$ I could have been out on the horse and the upkeep and maintenance he may have required. I think it is a tough call and hard to have a crystal ball some times! Probably also depends how much you are spending on the horse, too, and if you can afford to loose that much if the horse doesn't stay competitively sound. |
|
| |
|
The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| The vet needs to look at the joint, if there is any signs of arthritis, not a good thing, UNLESS it is a lower joint and can be fused, but to fuse a joint it is approx 2500 and no guarantee.
Also even if there is no signs of arthritis be prepared to be injecting sooner rather then later, as early onset arthritis may not show up on certain X-rays.
Personally I would run the other direction
If I already owned the horse then I would try everything to prevent arthritis from developing or progressing |
|
| |
|
 Life Saver
Posts: 10477
Location: MT | My gelding had a chip that had attached and had zero issues with it. His happened when he was a yearling, he is now 23 years old and that knee is as solid as it's always been. It's ugly and big (it always has been, has not changed at all over the years). He has passed several vet checks over the years with it, without any issues at all. He was used as a barrel and rope horse his whole life. He had (and still has) full range of movement on it. He's never been injected on it and required no special maintenance for it.
One thing a farrier pointed out to me was that his hoof on the leg with the knee chip was the same size (and maybe a wee bit bigger) than the hoof on his other front leg. He said it meant that he used that leg every bit as much as the other.
Edited by ruggedchica 2015-08-17 6:36 PM
|
|
| |
|
Mrs. BigWig
Posts: 1868
Location: chasing kids and animals | Thanks guys |
|
| |
|
Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | I would pass. I went thru this a yea ago vetting a horse. Probably one of the easiest horses I had ever ran, but the vet said that he would need surgery (floating chip) and then injections later down the road and he said that wasn't a joint to wanted to inject a lot of times. |
|
| |
|
 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| I would be more afraid that the horse would fall with me than the horse being lame. I have one that has a chip in his knee. Never limps but it does hurt him especially when the farrier picks it up. I retired him because I did not want to take a chance with him falling. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | Never buy a possible heartache if you can help it. As much time and emotion as we pour into our horses it doesn't make sense to purchase one who may already be lining you up for heartbreak down the road. Better to pass on him now and have a temporary sad letdown than to hold the rope of your best friend 5 years down the road while the vet euthanizes him.
Speaking from jaded experience here, but I would pass.
ETA: especially if he does show arthritis already. In a knee of a 6 year old you're going to want to run... you're a year out getting him broke right and patterned, another year out getting him seasoned and solid. That's two years of running on an already arthritic Joint before he's really solid. Let's say you are lucky and get 10 years running out of him before it blows or he falls or it deteriorates so far he can't run anymore.. He's still only 16 years old and injections aren't cheap as far as maintenance and most horses live well into their 20's. so you're looking at at at least another 4 years of no barrels possibly longer and probably as an expensive pasture pet.
More realistically he's not going to be able to run for ten more years for you, lets say he makes is 3 more of hard use or even 5 of lighter use including patterning and seasoning... Is it worth the investment maintenance and eventual heartache when you have to retire your horse or put him down or watch him suffer?
Edited by redmansmyman11 2015-08-18 2:19 AM
|
|
| |
Folks on-line