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Re: [RC] Swayback - Judy Saunders

Yes...swayback (lordosis) can be entirely inherited.  My Arabian gelding was
not noticeably swaybacked at birth but grew high in the hindend; his marked
swayback became evident around age 3, when he developed prominent withers.
And he wasn't backed until a year later.

And no...it will not be too painful to ride this horse as long as care is
taken to properly fit a saddle to him.  I was fortunate that Ortho-Flex had
just started up about the time I was trying to figure out what to do with
this swaybacked "monster I had created".  I sent a mold of Duke's back down
to them and Len Brown custom shimmed the tree and built the saddle to fit
his back.  We've never looked back.

J S Duke completed over 3600 long distance miles over 14 consecutive
seasons, from 1986 to 1999. He earned 90 ride completions in his career in
endurance, competitive and ride 'n' tie - 80% of these were Top Ten
finishes. He completed 7 100's, including 3 North American Championships
(silver medal team in 1991 and bronze medal team in 1993.  He never once had
any problems with back soreness.

Interesting that you mentioned that the girl wasn't happy about getting a
chestnut.  I had my hopes set on a grey.  Duke's dam's pedigree was grey on
both sides back 5 generations and his sire's back 3, but Duke came out
chestnut.  The first chestnut in his pedigree was Serafix.  I once came
across a picture of Serafix in his senior years, posed uphill with his hind
leg back for a perfect level croup.  I could visualize this translating to a
low back if stood square on level ground.

Anyhow, don't discount the swaybacks - I wouldn't trade mine for the world!

Judy Saunders DVM



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