> On to sickle hocks, which my horse unfortunately has. After looking at
>all the gorgeous horses at the ride all weekend, I find myself more and
>more dissatisfied with the conformation of my horse, essentially his hind
>legs, to the point that I'm considering selling him and finding another.
Lee-
Don't sell your sickle hocked horse. I'll bet you anything that
"Sunday,"my old pony-cross mare has worse sickle hocks than your
horse. In 1985 after I did my first 30-miler on her, the vet said, "Well, she looks
fine, but I hope you don't plan to do any 50-milers on her with that
kind of conformation!" Well, I did, and after 2,010 AERC miles on
her and only 1 pull, this vet and I laugh about her comment years ago.
Sunday was never a "winning" horse; she was always in the middle of
the pack (she was always top 10 if there were 20 entries or fewer).
She's been retired from endurance for 5 years now. Now in her
mid-twenties, she's still sound and next week she starts a new career
with the local rehabilitation hospital's hippotherapy program.
Karen Steenhof
Boise, Idaho