Roach Back

[TN Belle]

I have come across a deal with a guy who wants to get rid of some minis super CHEAP! :new_shocked: He has five to sell as a group, two bay studs, two black pinto mares, and one bay pinto mare. One stud and the bay pinto mare are very nice and I will greatly take them, however the other three are very questionable. As I have to board mine now, I am hoping to make a little money and sell them asap. :bgrin The questionable bay stud has been bullied by the other stud very badly, he is skin and bones and cut up all over with some very bad wounds, :no: but has a very nice disposition and a lovely head. I hope to split them up, clean him up and give him some groceries and he will look nice all but for some scars. The other two black pinto mares are the topic of this message. They are full sisters and both have roach backs.

: I am not too familiar with this deformity and assume they can't be shown and hope no one breeds them, so would any one buy them. They were both sweet and apparantly both mothers at some point. I am afraid to turn down the deal for these two bad ones cause I can't afford to be "stuck" with them if they don't sell. :no: Neither of them looked malnourished but were a little thin and I wonder if some excersise and food can even them out a bit. I am so sitting on a fence on this deal, I can talk myself into either way.

: Is it worth getting two good, two bad, and one maybe? The owner's wife died last fall and she took care of them, he on the other hand is truly ignorant about horses. Not trying to sound rude, but he knows NOTHING. No vacc's, no coggins, no papers, has no idea of ages, and they run in a paddock filled with major debris. There is chain link fence COVERING THE GROUND, not up as a fence, weed whacker string everywhere, beer and vodka bottles all over, and there are about thirty goats with them. I told him I would need coggins before anything else and he was very willing to take care of that once I said I would take them all. HELP ME DECIDE!! The next auction near me will be in the fall, so I have few months to clean them up a bit.

 

[Miniv]

I think getting them out of that situation would be a wonderful thing to do.........

A horse with a roached back should never be bred, and is unshowable. So, it would need a pet home.

And if you cannot get papers on any of them, you will probably be looking at all of them going to pet homes as well.

The exception would be if one of them was so outstanding in quality (and under 34" at age ) that someone would be willing to go through the steps with hardshipping into AMHA.

MA

 

[Lauralee]

He certainly does not sound like the type of buyer I'd want to do business with.

If you are looking at this venture from a financial standpoint, you can buy alot of horse in today's market for just a little bit of money.

You can buy a nice horse from a reputable seller if you do your homework, for just about the same amount.

Why not go with a reputable breeder and let the miniature horse rescue do the rescue work. You'll get more for your money, and you won't have the headache of reselling the unwanted ones.

 

[maplegum]

I can't offer any advice but I do have a question. It would be good to see those horses removed from that situation though :no:

What is a 'roach back'? Does anyone have a photo?

 

[TN Belle]

The mares backs are concave, they round out just above their flanks, before the hips. It is the opposite of a sway back. On large horses, it can make them stiff and sore, but rideable. As much as I have searched all night long, I can't find a single picture on the internet and my pictures that I took today aren't very good. Since they are white, it doesn't show very well from above them, but some side shots show the bumps on their spine from rounding upward.

These guys really are purely a sell asap for me to make some money to buy the ones I really want. I think I might keep the bay pinto mare as a driving challenge, but have no need for studs and the roach backs. I currently board mine, so space is limited and money is short to keep them for too long. I am by no means a horse trader, but to get them out of the place and make a little money on the side, who can blame me. BUT by the time I do get vaccs on them and their feet done and make them look presentable, not considering who I might get attatchd to in the process, I might not come out that much ahead afterall.

 

[gorgeous]

Hey Belle,

As a person who has made my share of questionable horse purchases in the past, don't do it. In today's market, there is no guarantee that you can sell them at all, much less make any money. What will happen to them if you can't sell them? How much do you think someone will pay for a roached back horse? How much will it cost you to get them in shape to sell? I would save the money to buy better quality and not someone else's headaches. JMHO

 

[disneyhorse]

I would NOT buy them to resell just because you hope to make some money to buy better horses. There are SO many "what ifs" in the animal industry. What if they all get some contagious disease, some die, and some require expensive vet care? What if one colics? If they are in bad shape, there is even MORE chance they will require some veterinary care...

Andrea

 

[Minimor]

If you're buying the 3 extra horses just to clean them up, feed them up and make a little money on them, I would say don't do it. I would not count on making any money off them--that is just too uncertain. If you are wanting to get them out of a bad home, give them some TLC and then place them into good homes--pretty much a rescue situation where you may very well lose money or at best break even--then yes, that's a good thing to do.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

As others have said this is a rescue situation. leave it to a rescue facility that will see it through and make sure the horses have good homes.

An auction is a poor place to be looking to place horses in good homes and I am sorry but horses that have had as rough a ride as these deserve better than to be taken on as a "money maker".

The stallions need gelding and I am assuming you will not want to do this??

The roach backed mares need adoptive homes.

No, this is not the right thing to do, for you or for the horses sake, either.

 

[lyn_j]

Jane js right. You could very conceivably spend far more to rehabilitate these horses than the purchase proce and I can see you losing money rather than making some. Unregistered pet only horses would sell for a couple hundred dollars if that much if you are lucky. The two stallions need to begelded so there is a couple more hundred ivolved thereRemoving them from a bad situation is admirable however be prepared to spend lots of money to recoup nothing.

Lyn

 

[Miniv]

If you're buying the 3 extra horses just to clean them up, feed them up and make a little money on them, I would say don't do it. I would not count on making any money off them--that is just too uncertain. If you are wanting to get them out of a bad home, give them some TLC and then place them into good homes--pretty much a rescue situation where you may very well lose money or at best break even--then yes, that's a good thing to do.

VERY well put!!!

The environment those horses are in sounds like a rescue group should step in, frankly........

 

[HGFarm]

Will a rescue group step in? What if this guy wont let them go to a rescue? I understand your not wanting to leave these horses in that situtation and that would really bug me, to remove a couple and leave the others there not being taken care of, and unwanted. How sad!!

Yes, there will be some vet bills and money involved. If you are willing to do that, then by all means remove them from that awful home. But if not, I hope that someone will get them out of there. :no:

 

[TN Belle]

I think that getting a rescue organization involved would stir up some unneeded trouble. He has a total of eight horses and wants to get rid of five and keep three for sentimental reasons from his deceased wife. They seem to be fed in one spot, like first come, first serve, some are thin and some are healthy, but none are fat. All of thier feet are very bad, he said they haven't been touched in nearly a year. He told me that if I didn't take them, he has a few other people who are interested, but I can't tell if he is talking like a used car salesman. I mentioned several things as nicely as I could and literally spent two hours with them to befriend them as unforecfully as possible. As I said, he is ignorant on the modern way of caring for horses. Three of the five are easy to handle, two are not, can't even touch them, not even with sweet feed to offer them. He truly just doesn't know.

After getting tons of advice, I am thinking of taking the bay pinto mare and the bay stud, the two nicer ones. If I leave the beat-up stud, he will have a chance to recover and the two black pinto mares with the roach backs will hopefully find a good pet home from these other interested buyers. I wish I could post pictures directly from my camera, but I lack the equipment to do so. I really appreciate all of the insight and advice and can I hope it will make some difference. I can't save them all and was told with my local draught situation, everyone will be selling and not buying cause they can't feed what they have.

 

[BM Miniatures]

Here is my gelding,

He has a roach back.

He is a multi champion driving horse and is super dooper at activities!

It doesn't faze him at all he has given lessons at our local riding school with no problems.

I drive him for fun around our area and he is awsome!

He has sired quite a few foals, non with a roach and he himself did not have one when he was a foal.

As you can see that roach makes him looks like a bit of a beach ball

He is my baby boy and will never be sold!