What should now happen?

[~Lisa~]

Just a side note size of stall does not mean safe from getting cast. I have had horses get cast in huge stalls. Often even though they have the room they opt to lay right up on the wall

 

[Sue_C.]

Often even though they have the room they opt to lay right up on the wall

Yup, just like my Morgan mare, there she was, caught in the fence from rolling too close, and she was "only" in a 30 acre field with only two other ponies.

 

[Minimor]

I'm another that cannot see what stall size has to do with whether or not a horse will cast itself--I too have seen a horse get cast in a very large shed...have seen them do it in the pasture--give them a large pasture & they're still likely to go & lay down next to the fence & then roll over into/against it.

krissy, people on here do not always take the side of the seller...sometimes it's the buyer, sometimes the seller...I'm guessing that you're judging by a thread or two of yours. Makes a difference if the buyer knows nothing about horses, if the seller deliberately lied....if the buyer knew there was a problem with the horse and bought that horse anyway and then comes on here & complains about it...all sorts of different scenarios and so all sorts of different possibilities when it comes to how people respond to a thread like this.

As far as equine vets....every state may have an equine vet, but that doesn't mean they are close enough to use for every call. Here we have vets that do know something about cattle but are by no means equine specialists....the nearest equine specialist is 100 miles from here, and there are many things that he doesn't/won't do--for those things the horse (and for that matter dogs, cats, whatever other animals--for certain specialized procedures almost all animals must go out of province) must go to the large animal hospital at the vet college in Saskatoon--a 7 hour drive from here.

I have to think that if a seller offered me the book "horses for dummies" I would be inclined to say no thank you, you likely need the book worse than I do, please keep it

The vets guide to Minis I'd accept politely--I don't have that one, though I do have other horse related vet books that are IMO better overall.

 

[MindyLee]

BACK ONTO THE SUBJECT...

Looks like not everyone read this post all the way though, 2 vets (friends to each other and both dont like minis) looked at the colt VERY QUICKLY (less then 3 miniutes) to come-up with reason of the leg issues. WOW that's some great vet work! Anyway, Seller had her vet out who took exam on colt and came to the conclusion that it was the resault of a injury from when he was at the buyers home. The colt is on meds for inflamation and pain. Since the colt has been returned, his leg has not once been dragging behind him and is walking like nothing has even happened. Again seller offered vet check before selling both colts and buyer waved it. To me it looks like a case of... "bought colt, got it hurt, hurry up & return it to get my $$$ back."

I just was wondering what would you do in this situation on finding this colt a new home, sell or donate and what would you do if it was your colt & how you would handle this...

 

[Minimor]

It honestly does sound like this could be an injury, caused by whatever happened at the new home--and such an injury may very well heal & the horse will have no further problems. It could be entirely possible to sell the horse again once he is sound--or give him away if the owner is more comfortable with that. Either way, if it were me & I chose to sell/give away the colt once he's healed up & sound, I would tell prospective new owners about the problem & let them decide from there.

I've had two mature horses that hurt their stifles by being cast--neither ever locked up, but were lame on the leg--there was heat & swelling present in the stifle and the horses limped. While they did improve a lot with time & care & rest neither ever came completely sound. One was 8 the other in her teens. Cold weather was hard on them--I have to think that both developed arthritis in the joint & the cold made that worse. Blanketing on the coldest days helped them as that would keep the joint warmer.

Since this colt is so young he may heal better than my older horses did (and of course the actual injury may be completely different from mine)--but just in case I would mention to anyone looking at the colt later that he could end up with future issues such as arthritis & so could require some special care later, even if he appears to be perfectly fine at time of sale.

edited to add: Lisa's post made me realize I'd forgotten to specify--if it were me the colt would be gelded prior to being sold/given away. I was automatically thinking 'gelded' but guess I should actually specify that in my post. If it were me selling the colt in the first place as a pet/pet quality as said he was, he would have been gelded before he left the first time.

 

[~Lisa~]

I would geld, keep for a few months or a year and then decide how to sell after that.

Horses who lock do not always lock daily sometimes there can be months between episodes sometimes weeks.

Reality is NO ONE will be able to say with 100 percent certainty if it was a issue the horse was born with or a injury in this case - at least in my opinion.

IF a year from now the horse still seems sound as can be I would sell him with full disclosure of past events.

 

[Annabellarose]

I think that you have gotten some good responces along with a few debates that are related which you may not like, but that is going to happen when you post a topic on an open discussion forum. If both buyer and seller are satisfied and are still friends, why are you still wanting to know how this should be handled? If the resolution satisfied both buyer and seller, it was the right resolution. If your friend offered a 30 day money back guarantee and the buyer chose to use it and she honored it then all is right with the world. If your friend's vet cannot determine whether he will completely heal or not, I think that she should tell all future buyers or adopters what happened to him.

 

[Bunnylady]

I suppose it might even be possible that the colt fell in the trailer on the way to the buyer's home?

I mean, it's conceivable that he might not have been noticeably lame until it stiffened up the next day. It may not have anything to do with the baby gate, although the way animals can get themselves tangled up in things that were not intended for use around animals boggles the mind!

Anyway, it sounds like there are at least two vets in the OP's area that believe that stifle issues, at least in minis, are always the result of poor breeding. Vets are human too, but I think recommending that the colt be euthanized was going a bit far! Maybe these guys don't like minis, period. Unless the breeder feels that these vets are going around defaming her (or her breeding program) as a result of this, she probably should let it go. If she and the buyer are still on good terms, fine. Maybe everyone learned a valuable lesson, and the would-be buyer will do her homework before she jumps into the purchase of an unfamiliar animal next time.

As others have said, this colt may or may not recover 100% from this. I don't think there is a need to give him away just because he was limping one time, but I think that this part of his history should be revealed to anyone that is interested in him. He was pet quality to begin with, so (as far as we know) his value hasn't really been damaged. Hopefully he will recover, and go on to be a real quality pet for someone else!

 

[Mini Three]

Here is the thing...All of the speculation in the world will never truly help figure out how or why this occurred. I don't care how many "experts" you pay to look at the colt. I have a mare with a history of locking stifles. Months after this diagnosis, I went out to care for them in the AM only to find her three legged lame. Long story short- she ended up with a fractured pelvis and dislocated hip. How? We will never know. Why? Because NO ONE saw what happened!!! Things happen to these wonderful creatures and since they can't sleep with us in our beds there is 8 hours of night we can not explain. The colt may or may not have had an underlying stifle issue. The trauma may or may not have caused it. The trauma may not have even been a trauma. There is no way to prove either argument. The only issue now is the little man needs to be treated appropriately for his condition as it is now. Euthanasia in my opinion was one of the most ridiculous recommendations ever. I wish you the best with this colt. They are amazing and resilient animals.