An Imperfect Purchase?
Q. I’m thinking of buying a horse. The horse is a Paint, large QH-type build, 15.2-15.3 hh. He is 10 years old, just getting back into jumping, and has been somewhat of a “pet”; the owner’s niece has been riding him lightly. He was shown when he was young. The current owner has had him for about 7 years. He stumbled a few times when I rode him the first time and less the 2nd time. What does it mean when a horse stumbles a lot when you ride him?
I talked to his normal farrier who happened to be out there relatively at the same time as the vet check, and he said his feet had always been good. This horse has small, square-ish, short, uphill back hooves (his front hooves are of a pretty good size), but the farrier said some horses’ back hooves are just more like that. He stressed it wasn’t a problem. The farrier didn’t say anything about his stumbling (though he is due for a trim very soon), but the horse has never been lame in all his 10 years, and he is not lame now as deemed by the vet.
The vet who did the pre-purchase exam works on racehorses. The vet check went well, but she thought he had a little arthritis in his one knee. She took x-rays of his leg and said it was ok. I don’t know what that means, but I guess it means there are no chips in it, and the arthritis is very slight. I told her I would be using him for jumping lower fences, not over 3 ft. probably. She said it would be okay, but if I were to take him out cross-country jumping, that might be cause for alarm. Should this inhibit me from buying him at all? I’m only going to be doing some low jumping and flatwork with him!
The owner is very straight-up, and she said this is the first time she has heard of his arthritis. She has told us all of his flaws and stuff because she is going to be around our area and will be selling another horse soon, so she doesn’t need a bad name. If we were ever to sell him, she wants first dibs to buy him back. I love this horse, but I’d appreciate your opinion.
A. I’m so glad to hear you’ve fallen in love. It’s an easy enough thing to do with a horse, eh? And the most difficult thing in the world to do is to see clearly through all those stars in your eyes, so I’ll help you out a bit. I’m not trying to talk you out of this horse, but I do want to make you aware of this horse’s possible limitations.
Many things can cause stumbling, not the least of which is just plain old laziness, or perhaps being overworked and/or undernourished. Many horses also start stumbling when their feet grow too long and out of balance. All horses should have their hooves trimmed, and shod if necessary, every 6-8 weeks year-round. If a horse’s hooves grow particularly quickly, he may even require more frequent trimmings. If this horse stumbles frequently and/or badly with no apparent cause, I would be hesitant to jump him over any obstacles. I’m not sure such an animal would even make a safe trail horse. But if he only stumbles a little very occasionally or only when his feet are due for a trim, I wouldn’t worry about it. Is this horse stumbling, or is he just hitting one foot or leg with another? If he is interfering with himself in some way, a competent farrier can make corrections while trimming to alleviate the specific problem.
A horse’s hind feet will always be a bit more upright than the fore; that’s just normal equine physiology. Is that what you mean by “uphill”? It is, however, a little odd that his hind feet are square-ish. Usually, hind feet are somewhat more pointed and oval than the fore, which tend to be rounder. Perhaps this horse has been correctively trimmed by a farrier in the past to compensate for the interfering or stumbling you’ve noticed. It would be worth a bit more discussion with the farrier. As far as the shortness of his feet is concerned, perhaps if he’s barefoot he’s wearing his hooves down excessively (which may also account for the square-ish appearance) and requires shoes. Again, a discussion with the farrier may be in order.
Since you told your vet you intended to jump this animal lightly, and she saw no problem with the horse performing up to your expectations, I’d be inclined to believe her assessment. When a 10 yr old animal has done much hard work in his career, a bit of arthritis can be expected and would not be reason enough, in my opinion, to turn down an otherwise perfect mount … unless, of course, he was being sold for a price appropriate only for a perfectly sound horse. I am a little suspect, however, of this particular horse’s slight arthritis, especially since he’s just barely middle-aged and sounds like he’s done minimal work for the last seven years. How did he manage to develop even slight arthritis this early in his career? Perhaps he was overworked at too early a period in his growth and development (seems likely if he was trained to a competitive level by the age of three), or perhaps he has conformational flaws (short, upright pasterns, crooked legs, straight shoulders, and/or small feet for his size?) which predispose him to the development of arthritic conditions. I would suggest you call the vet and ask some more questions relative to the horse’s stumbling and arthritis so you have a better idea of this animal’s exact current condition and potential future function. You might also question the vet about any conformational characteristics she noticed in this horse which may indicate a predisposition to the further development of arthritic conditions. Consider also that this animal may be sound now because he hasn’t done any significant work for a long time. That’s no guarantee that if you start riding him regularly and jumping him, he’ll stay sound.
Given the fact that this horse did come up with an unexpected physical concern (arthritis) during his vet exam, and assuming his current owner is truly interested in maintaining an honest selling reputation, it would seem there’s room for some negotiation here, should you decide to buy this horse. Perhaps in light of his vet check, you could offer a reduced price and/or request a trial period (30 days) before finalizing the sale. This would give you time to see if his soundness will hold up to steady riding and will give you time to evaluate the stumbling problem immediately after a hoof trim. If you decide to buy this horse, make sure to include a buy-back phrase in the sale contract. It is encouraging that the seller wants the first option to buy him back should you decide to sell him at a later date, but it’s more important that she be willing to add a buy-back for the original purchase price clause to your purchase contract in case he doesn’t stay sound for a specified period.