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After reading this, I walked away to think, instead of reacting to
it....still have to give an opinion....given what is -written- below,
I still have a hard time thinking that doing any kind of distance
riding is a good or kind thing for this mare.  Bless the hearts of the
folks who rescued her and obviously put in so much care to improve her
life.  I would think there would be a lot of low-stress jobs this
horse could do; in best-case scenario...but I have a hard time
understanding why someone would chose to do distance on a horse with
no tendons and a broken down fetlock joint...and if the horse has to
wear a special curved shoe; and is not landing properly on the hoof,
then the hoof structures can't be that healthy either and.....

.WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY sound and well-conformed horses going to
auction and killers for a pittance, isn't that perhaps a better place
to put efforts to develop a distance horse......?

I guess I am going to get flamed for this.....and please don't compare
this horse to human atheletes who overcome physical disabilities in
order to accomplish athletic wonders; becase this horse has no
choice.....

Maybe the horse isn't as bad as the post sounds..and maybe I am being
just judgemental.....but it's my opinion......there are tons of horses
out there that would be well suited for the sport of endurance....
Karen

On 8/23/07, Katrina Mosshammer <ammosshammer@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Posted for my mother:
>
> My daughter, Katrina, asked me to share our similar experience with you. We
> have a lovely arab mare purchased out of a killer sale about 10 years ago
> with a horribly mutilated hind fetlock. She has no tendons on front or
> either side. The joint was so big, I couldn't reach around it with both
> hands together, full of scar tissue and still oozing......  the leg was still 
> huge but most of the oozing had stopped and aside  from the fact that the 
> joint was completely stiff and she was walking on the fetlock because the 
> hoof had completely grown out to the front, she was in
> no pain. They started riding her and about 3 months later I bought her.
>
> My shoer loves a challenge and over the next two years, we were able to get
> the hoof to almost a normal decree. She wears a special shoe that is
> actually curved to force her to roll the foot up as it leaves the ground
> (looks a little like a half grapefruit). The joint was still stiff but as
> the scar tissue dissolved from use, she began to flex it some. She still
> carries it in a round lateral motion rather than picking it up normally. I
> have completed numerous LD rides on her the past several years. Occasionally
> a vet will ask what happened to the joint, but I've never had one challenge
> her ability to complete a ride. In fact, a couple of our vets jokingly call
> her "that crippled mare".
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