Stringhalt
Hello! I've been lurking for a while and commenting for a couple of months now, never really had anything to post about, but I have a question that I'm hoping you guys can assist me with.
Basically, tell me what you know about stringhalt. I know what it is, and what is supposedly the cause of it, but I've never had any experience of it myself. I'm looking at buying a mare who has been diagnosed with mild stringhalt in one back leg. She's a rising 16yr KWPN registered Dutch warmblood, 17.3hh, very nice breeding. She's also in foal to a very nice stallion. I'd be getting her for an excellent price (around a quarter of what she'd be worth without the stringhalt) as she belongs to a friend who is unfortunately having to downsize due to sudden loss of land.
She has a couple of other slight issues (bolshyness when nervous and unsettled, a little bit spooky, not been hacked out alone) but nothing I don't feel I'm capable of handling - I've worked with big horses before, and bolshy ones, and most of my time is spent working with abuse rehab cases. She's well schooled and her current and prev owners have done dressage with her, she's capable of jumping well but hasn't jumped competitively, at least for the last few years.
She wouldn't be my main horse - I already have a mare who is my main horse for jumping and hacking, and a filly who I'll be breaking to event next year, so I'm not looking to buy a competition horse. I'd like to have something that I can just hop on and actually enjoy schooling for half an hour instead of it being a battle (my mare is not a dressagey pony, we don't enjoy school work together lol), have as an extra hacking horse, and hopefully move the guy who is currently riding my girl three days a week onto so that I can haver my horse back! I'd like to be able to do a bit of dressage and maybe jumping with her.
So does anyone have any experience of stringhalt in horses? How will it affect her soundness/movement? From what I gather it can be uncomfortable for them but not painful as such, and they don't become technically unsound but it does affect their gait, so dressage would be a bit iffy. Any tips on managing it with environment/diet/complimentary therapies? She's barefoot also, and I'd really like to go down the complimentary route before turning to conventional medicine.
I'm not entirely sold on her yet - I've yet to meet the horse as I'm weighing up all the pros and cons before I go and see her (as put me in spitting distance of anything with four legs and a tail and I'm in love XD) though I do like her look and the sound of her very much. I'm really not terribly bothered about the fact that she's probably not going to be competition material, or if she is she'll probably degenerate over the next few years, but even though I'd be getting her for a very good price, I don't really want to throw money away if her condition is likely to mean she'll need to be retired very soon.
Sorry about the essay, and thankyou very much in advance for any advice :D
Basically, tell me what you know about stringhalt. I know what it is, and what is supposedly the cause of it, but I've never had any experience of it myself. I'm looking at buying a mare who has been diagnosed with mild stringhalt in one back leg. She's a rising 16yr KWPN registered Dutch warmblood, 17.3hh, very nice breeding. She's also in foal to a very nice stallion. I'd be getting her for an excellent price (around a quarter of what she'd be worth without the stringhalt) as she belongs to a friend who is unfortunately having to downsize due to sudden loss of land.
She has a couple of other slight issues (bolshyness when nervous and unsettled, a little bit spooky, not been hacked out alone) but nothing I don't feel I'm capable of handling - I've worked with big horses before, and bolshy ones, and most of my time is spent working with abuse rehab cases. She's well schooled and her current and prev owners have done dressage with her, she's capable of jumping well but hasn't jumped competitively, at least for the last few years.
She wouldn't be my main horse - I already have a mare who is my main horse for jumping and hacking, and a filly who I'll be breaking to event next year, so I'm not looking to buy a competition horse. I'd like to have something that I can just hop on and actually enjoy schooling for half an hour instead of it being a battle (my mare is not a dressagey pony, we don't enjoy school work together lol), have as an extra hacking horse, and hopefully move the guy who is currently riding my girl three days a week onto so that I can haver my horse back! I'd like to be able to do a bit of dressage and maybe jumping with her.
So does anyone have any experience of stringhalt in horses? How will it affect her soundness/movement? From what I gather it can be uncomfortable for them but not painful as such, and they don't become technically unsound but it does affect their gait, so dressage would be a bit iffy. Any tips on managing it with environment/diet/complimentary therapies? She's barefoot also, and I'd really like to go down the complimentary route before turning to conventional medicine.
I'm not entirely sold on her yet - I've yet to meet the horse as I'm weighing up all the pros and cons before I go and see her (as put me in spitting distance of anything with four legs and a tail and I'm in love XD) though I do like her look and the sound of her very much. I'm really not terribly bothered about the fact that she's probably not going to be competition material, or if she is she'll probably degenerate over the next few years, but even though I'd be getting her for a very good price, I don't really want to throw money away if her condition is likely to mean she'll need to be retired very soon.
Sorry about the essay, and thankyou very much in advance for any advice :D