Equine Health

Lameness

Purchasing a Roping Horse: Some Veterinary Advice

Whether you are buying a young, green horse or going for a recycled old veteran, getting the perfect rope horse is virtually impossible. However, armed with a general knowledge of conformation faults and common injuries to avoid, finding a horse with longevity is possible. This article, while by no means complete, covers general conformation and some of the lameness commonly seen in the roping horse by our equine practice.

Although quarter horse breeders have made significant strides to develop a more balanced horse, the typical quarter horse is still a large slab of meat on a tiny foot. In general, the bigger hoof the better. Small hooves have a greater propensity for navicular and other diseases.

It is important when examining your prospective horse to pick up the foot and examine the underside. The frog should be large and the hoof should have a generous heel. A long toe with a low heel should be avoided. Roping horses put a tremendous amount of stress on the distal limb while turning the steer or getting in position to rope the heels. The hoof takes a large amount of concussive force, as do the bones of the pastern. It is important to note the angle of the pastern joint. Straight or overly upright pasterns are an undesirable trait. A more relaxed pastern will withstand sharp turning and stopping better, especially on the left, or turning leg. The horse should be straight in the knees, and have a wide base stance. If you are a header, be sure that the horse is fairly good in size, especially if you are a large, heavy person.

Most horses that have any extensive roping experience will sustain an injury at one time or another. Some lameness can be managed well with treatment and the horse can still carry out its function. Other injuries will lend themselves to chronic pain and poor performance, and those are the ones to avoid.

One of the most common problems causing lameness in the roping horse that we see is ringbone. Ringbone is new bone growth that occurs on the bones of the pastern. It can either be articular (involving the joint) or periarticular (around the joint, most common in high ringbone). The prognosis for a horse with ringbone depends on the severity and location. In general, articular ringbone can be managed in the short term with joint injections of steroids and hyaluronic acid (Legend), and low-grade periarticular ringbone with phenylbutazone. However, long term prognosis for both types of ringbone is unfavorable.

Navicular syndrome is one of the most common causes of intermittent foreleg lameness. There are many different aspects of this disease, and proper diagnosis is necessary to determine if the heel pain is due to chronic degeneration in the navicular bone, navicular bursa, and/or flexor tendons. In general, horses suffering from any of these will be bilaterally affected with a shortened stride due to the shifting of the weight off the front feet to the hind end. As the horse attempts to keep weight off its heel region, it can have difficulty in making quick stops or turns. Navicular disease can be mild to severe and the clinical signs may be varied. Although there are different treatments for each type, in general younger horses without severe changes may benefit from medical management (i.e., corrective shoeing, intrarticular cortisone and Adequan, phenylbutazone) while surgical intervention (neurectomy) is often the only option for cases with advanced navicular disease that have not