Re: Endurance for horse w/ leg injuries

[Magnumsmom@aol.com]

To summarize your question from my one rat study,
Magnum had a fairly severe leg injury off the track at
age 4 when he had what I think was a condalyr fracture
of his left fore.  He got great immediate vet care from
UC Davis.  He is sound, but has a large, lumpy left ankle.

I got him at age 12 after he'd gone through being
abandoned (unbeknownst to his race owner), rescued,
and returned to health.  Magnum and I did train and
compete in Endurance... we finished a 30 and 2 50's,
we were pulled at lunch at one 50, and we did not start
a 4th 50.  That's the extent of his endurance carreer.

Can Magnum do another 50 even though he is now 20?
Yeah.  I honestly think he could still do a 50 here and
there and I think he'd enjoy the rides.  He could do LD.

The big question is:  Is it in the best interest of the horse?

In my humble opinion:  No.

Everyone of my friends here on Ridecamp know how
hard it was for me to face that little word.

Bottom line is he *would* eventually suffer another leg
injury and eventually the affected joint would give out.

Endurance asks a lot of our horse-friends, which is why
even to finish is to win.  And it's what makes Trilby's
many many successful completions year after year on
the same horses that much more impressive.  Of course
it only took her 50,000 miles to figure out how to do it...

:) - Kathy Myers
in No. Cal. with Magnum the TB ex-racer, aka "Little Matador"
1981 b. g. 5-0-3/23, ret.  100 AERC endurance miles
and Mr Maajistic... resident endurance weasel
*** PS... Magnum used to interfere terribly due to that enlarged
left fore ankle.  I thought I'd never be able to ride him without
full ankle galloping boots for protection (I have Bar-F's).  But
an experienced endurance rider told me it was likely he'd learn
not to interfere with good shoeing, miles, and practice.  Indeed,
Magnum did learn not to interfere with time (~2 years).  I have
not used the boots for years and he does not interfere anymore.