Low ring bone and trying to sell?

My horse has been diagnosed with low ring bone. He has done yearling lunge, etc. and when I bought him he was 4 and had only done a few cross rails. I got him for 17k and he's now about 7 and has done 3ft jumps. Unfortunately he started falling lame a lot and we got him x-rayed. Diagnosis: low ring bone. Fix: special rubber support in shoes and cortizone%26amp;something else shots every 8 months to 2yrs max. Just before we found out, we had been trying to sell him so that I could move and do Jumpers classes instead of hunters. He can no longer do much jumping -and especially not anything big-ish at all. We were going to try to sell him for 25k now that he was so much more advanced but now our trainer is saying we'll be lucky to get 5k! I thought maybe we could put him up for sale as a dressage prospect. His gaits are absolutely dynamite and he blows the judges away on his hunter undersaddle classes. He knows how to strut, and has a big heart. He is a TB/ paint and flashy. What can I do?

Low ring bone and trying to sell?
Be honest in your marketing. Anyone who is paying that kind of money for a horse would surely have a vet check and xrays done.





I presume you have done your homework on ringbone. Eventually it may fuse without surgery. Usually, then, the stress causes high ringbone to develop.





Sometimes really good farrier work (check out Olineck's research on ringbone- he uses a caulk like filler under the pad) (and Pete Ramey's natural method from his website) helps.





I've been through this with a mare for 6 years and still have her. She's not usable. But others can be made usable with proper care. You really can't market him as a dressage prospect, though, knowing his diagnosis.





We did everything short of surgery.


The best we found was quality barefoot trims.





Not very encouraging, I know. It's impossible to tell what activity caused the damage. And too late to fix it now.
Reply:Selling is going to test your moral character. If you want the best for your horse (and most of us do) and if you want to maintain the reputation of being an honest person, you have no choice but to sell with full disclosure.





As far as cost is concerned, your horse is not worth nearly as much as what you paid for it now. He has a condition which is not reversable, might be treatable, and is most likely going to get worse. I would offer him for sale as a light riding horse only. You will be EXTREMELY lucky to get $5K for him. In my area, a horse with that kind of problem is worth less than $1K.





Harsh news, but that is the business.



skin disease