Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Slight back problem there?

Here's the ad. It says only that she is selling as a pet. NO! REALLY??? I thought maybe she was going to be an eventer with that back!

This is just freakish. It's not even the typical roach back. I'm trying to decide whether the back is that way as a result of hind leg/end problems that have rendered this mare crippled behind, or if the back has affected the hind legs. Either way, I'm guessing she was born with it.

My usual question - why are we trying to sell this for $500 on the Internet? Do you really think someone is not going to take your $500 Andalusian mare and NOT think it's a good idea to breed her? I don't know the extent of the problem here but she looks awfully uncomfortable, poor mare.

You know, the Internet has been highly educational - I've never seen an extreme roach back in real life, in all of these years. Much like the Craigslist personals, the equine internet allows us to see things we never knew existed (and aren't sure we wanted to know existed!) Roach backs, wry noses, a horse with almost no neck...it's like the carnival is in town. I've never seen any of this stuff happen on the good breeding farms I've worked at or around, have you?

Where are these horses coming from, and is it just a crap shoot or what factors increase the odds of getting a foal with a major defect? Vets/vet students? Breeders? Fill me in. How avoidable is this stuff? Does it happen more often than I think and the horses are just quietly euthanized with no one the wiser?