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How can a horse's conformation ever be this bad?

21K views 70 replies 40 participants last post by  farmpony84 
#1 ·
 
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#4 ·
That's a horse that should have been put down years ago!!
 
#12 ·
I've seen plenty of horses with sway backs, not that extreme, but who still live in comfort. Sure it looks funky, but he loks OOOOLD, and aside from something funky with his hocks (sickle hocks?) he actually isn't that badly built. He looks like a faithful old horse who has done his time serving people and who hopefully is enjoying retirement.
 
#13 ·
He actually may have been born like that. We have a horse at my ranch that has a sway back that looks almost exactly like that, and he's had it since he was born. It is a medical condition called lordosis as was mentioned earlier, but most of the time it is not actually painful, and can get better with exercises. It looks really bad, but its not that big of an issue. Here's an article about it: http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/swaybacks_081205/*
 
#15 ·
Actually, aside from the lordosis (I'd assume it's that, not just a simple aging process) and a slightly weak hq, and slightly sickle hocks, he's actually not terrible.
As long as he's comfortable (many horses with severe lordosis are) I don't see any reason he can't be a pasture puff....
 
#16 ·
Actually, aside from the lordosis (I'd assume it's that, not just a simple aging process) and a slightly weak hq, and slightly sickle hocks, he's actually not terrible.
As long as he's comfortable (many horses with severe lordosis are) I don't see any reason he can't be a pasture puff....
Exactly! No need for the "that horse should have been put down years ago!"

And I don't think the hocks look all that bad - I've seen worse.
 
#20 ·
I've seen this happen when breeding young mares to early! My friend bought an arabian mare that was bred when she was 1 1/5 !! She is now swaybacked but not to this extream! They bred her young because the stallion that they wanted to cross with her was about to die. I still dont know why they risked her though! She is a very pretty mare with EXTREAMLY rare Sheykh Obeyd bloodlines!
 
#27 ·
I think it is a little photoshopped. There is some "smudging" just above the horses back that looks like someone made the lordosis or sway look worse then it really is. I think the horse is old and positively swaybacked, but I think the photo has been adjusted a little as well.

I have a 30 year old horse that is very sway-backed. He wasn't always that way, the older he got, the worse he got. But he's a good old boy and he's worked hard his entire life. I don't think he needs to be put down just because he is breaking down, I believe he deserves to be honored, just like an old cowboy, and that's what I'm doing, honoring him until he cannot go on.
 

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#29 ·
"According to University of Kentucky's Dr. Patrick Gallagher, horses likely to develop lordosis are born with a certain skeletal structure that predisposes them to the condition, even as foals in some cases. Dr. Gallagher also found that, while dogs and humans are severely disabled by lordosis, horses are not affected in the same way."
Here's the site I found that on:
Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary: Swayback - Not Just Seniors and Broodmares
 
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