Ridecamp: [RC] horses

Melody,

Many horses have splints.  I think it is rather rare to find one who
doesn't, esp in the back, where most people don't notice.  I have only heard
of one horse whom this effected...she was ridden hard and kept coming up
lame.  It was a splint that was causing her lameness.  I have found many 2
year olds on pasture get splints.  If you are really worried, get it
x-rayed, but I bet if I looked, at least half of my herd has one, though
none have one on both front legs.  I read once that splints should be
considered blemishes and not unsoundnesses, and I have found this to be
true.  In buying a horse, this is not a factor to me, if it is small and
there is no swelling.

A club foot and contracted heel sounds like there was an injury at one time,
most likely on the OTHER leg.

Also, on the subject, and this is just my experience of course, but old bows
don't bother me a bit either, but I would stay very clear of any suspensory
history!

If you are looking for a 100 miler, you might want to look for an 6+ yrs
horse that has some long slow miles already under his belt.  It may save you
a lot of time and money and heartache in the long run!

Louise Burton
Firedance Farms Endurance Arabians
Oklahoma
http://pages.prodigy.net/firedancefarms



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=