Over many years of exposure, I have seen a variety of conditions and injuries with a broad range of results. The diversity of care and rehab is equally broad. I have seen nowhere near everything and am not a vet by any means but I have learned enough to know that the degree, detail and the commitment to the care and rehab is directly influential to the prognosis, many times going far beyond what any vet had dared to voice.

Most common in my yard is peripheral arthritis, tho some have brought in their own issues, such as a navicular cyst, a congenital leg deformity, and one with a penchant for abcesses (she is diet regulated now-no added sugars, and hasn't abcessed in three years : ). If you deal with OTTBs at all, oselets, bone chips, minor fractures, subluxations behind the hip and bowed tendons are not uncommon (as well as notoriously bad feet until their diet normalizes).

I am smugly confident that tendonitis is a VERY common and likely culprit for those NQR lamenesses that don't present anything specific. MY favourite ones to hate: the horse presents just enough to make you look but not enough to show you 'what', sometimes not even 'where', just ...off.

....and then there's the whole breed-'em-better-treat-'em-better approach that would quite likely enhance the longevity of HEALTHY joints.... That makes too much sense and takes too much time/cash so let's not go THERE, ay? ; )

I have not knowingly dealt with OCD yet but suspect that if I stick with the business long enough, I will. Keep my posted on your friend's ASB if you don't mind? I wish them best of luck!

An update on the Saddlebred Mare: So far the vets think that it's something like arthritis in her hocks (she's a jumper, though not old!). They've got her on a light workout schedule until next month with the idea of trying to bring the problem back up visibly as when they tested her she was moving just fine. No X-rays were taken because the vet couldn't really pinpoint one location to take pictures of, so we'll see next month how she's doing. She seems glad to be back under saddle and doing very light work, so hopefully things work out for the best!

On a related note, as far as arthritis goes, I had an Arab mare who had a terminal case of arthritis in both knees. Eventually her knees froze up solid and she was no longer able to walk. I'm sure there could have been some things medically possible to help ease this situation but we simply didn't have the money to do it. She was an older girl, almost 25, and had seen a lot in her life. She was happy and whinnying at me every morning and evening when I fed her all the way up until her passing. It's such a sad state that there are so many medical advances and yet sometimes things as "simple" as money can get in the way of it.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Justice. Too many people think they can afford a horse because "it's only $500!" but they don't take into account the regular fees, let alone the unexpected fees. I can say that as a younger kid, I was just happy to have horses around all the time, and I was clueless as to the expenses my parents had to fork out to keep them going steadily. Unfortunately something had to give and it seemed to be the welfare of the animals eventually. Luckily my mare's condition wasn't necessarily caused by the lack of money; she had pre-existing problems when we bought her, but we were clueless newbies!

So I agree: my biggest advice to any potential horse owner/leasee/etc is to make sure you've got the money on hand for it! They're just like having a child. You wouldn't have a child (ideally) if you couldn't afford to feed it/clothe it/get medical care/etc. Animals are just like people, but horses are more expensive by far.

Business indeed! Gas is a zillion dollars a gallon but unless you plan to get around everywhere by foot or buggie, you're paying for it in one way or another (your car, public transit, etc). Just a necessary evil for the luxuries we want in life. I agree that there are a lot of people who sacrifice their horse's well being or comfort for their own. I've got no problems eating microwave noodles and drinking kool-aid for dinner if it means my horse has shavings in his stall for the next week. Unfortunately not everyone sees it this way.