# how dose my horse look



## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

here is merlot a 10 year old appendix


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## reining girl (Jan 30, 2009)

i love black horses. Very handsome boy. Looks like he could use muscling in the hindquarters. Looks cowhocked. And in the last picture his back pasterns look really wierd, but it might just be the angle of the pick. Is he a cribber? But anyways he really is a handsome boy.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

-Post legged (straight legs) in the back
-Hind pasterns are long, looks like he has a suspensory issue in his hinds
-Fairly straight shoulder
-Stands under in the front

*The last two I think are the way he's standing, not actual conformation.

I love his color and he looks fairly well balanced in body dimensions. I've seen other pics and he has a pretty face too. It looks like you guys have a good time together. He looks like a real sweetie.


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

yah he also stands like a cow lol here are some better pics

this one he dosnt look that bad


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Still post legged in the back, but I don't see the pastern deal as bad. His shoulder and front legs look better though. Really he's a good looking horse, they all have faults. The only thing I find concerning is the straight hinds and pastern issues visible in the first pics (primarily). Overall, there isn't anything that is going to cause you problems with general riding and etc. 

Just looked something up and it looks like he "may" have degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis. Look it up real quick and you'll find some info (I've got to study still tonight, sorry!))

This is a good Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equine_conformation


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

He's awfully cute!
I would be concerned about his hind end. His pasterns are very long, and his hocks are quite straight (post-hocked) and I am concerned that you might be looking at a suspensory problem in the near future. I'm thinking Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) DSLD
I think you jump this horse on a regular basis from your previous posts? Please correct me if I'm wrong! I would be concerned that his hind end might not hold up, it's something to discuss with your vet. (Images of DSLD horses: "HORSE CARE" Hoof Trimming Learning Videos, Laminitis Treatment, Well-horse, Skin Fungus, Testimonials )
His front pasterns are quite long as well.
He has a very nice shoulder and deep wither. I love his face 
Again, I would really like to urge you to see about the DSLD to keep both you and your horse happy


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

DSLD is becoming more common. You cant diagnose it till after death by looking at the structure of the muscle fibers in the suspensory legs. I agree. When I saw the first set of pictures I was like Holey Cow. Those back legs have some sort of suspensory issues. The best thing for this is 24/7 turnout and support boots (like smbs when possible.) Talk to your vet about the exent of his problem. My first horse's suspensories eventually turned to scar tissue. It felt like they were calcified. He was stalled, but only when I would put standing wraps and pillows on him.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

LOL, JDI you and I were posting at the same time. Glad you've heard of DSLD too, I don't know much about it.


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

its rare when i jump him f i do there little shows but as u all dont know im planing to show him western for now on and english flat classes my hole plane was to stop jumping him cuz that but he born with his legs like that and after 3 years of getting his hoofs trim so short you saw all the nervs didint help so when i got him we let his hoofs grow and next summer im going to get shoes on the back hoofs also not in the winter he will slip on ice lol


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

sillybunny11486 said:


> DSLD is becoming more common. You cant diagnose it till after death by looking at the structure of the muscle fibers in the suspensory legs. I agree. When I saw the first set of pictures I was like Holey Cow. Those back legs have some sort of suspensory issues. The best thing for this is 24/7 turnout and support boots (like smbs when possible.) Talk to your vet about the exent of his problem. My first horse's suspensories eventually turned to scar tissue. It felt like they were calcified. He was stalled, but only when I would put standing wraps and pillows on him.



he lives outside all year round he hates it inside


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Sillybunny, in my limited research about DSLD, I haven't heard that it can't be confirmed until after death - do you have any links that I could read up on? Thanks in advance!  To my understanding, DSLD can be diagnosed while the horse is still alive. I'm very curious now!

My link:



> *How is DSLD diagnosed?*
> Palpation of the suspensory ligaments reveal bilateral pain response and thickening or hardening of the mid-body or branches. Ultrasound imaging will show poor fiber pattern at the origin of the suspensory or at the bifurcation and branches. The branches' circumference might be enlarged bilaterally. In radiographs, the sesamoid bones will be lower than normal in relation to the fetlock joint, with possible bilateral mineralization of the suspensory branches visible. Degenerative joint disease might be visible in the pastern joint; subluxation of the pastern joint will worsen. Themography will show significant bilateral warming over the branches of the suspensory. Nuclear scintigraphy in both the soft tissue phases will show the suspensory branches as quite reactive; in the bone phase, the proximal sesamoid bones and pastern joint will "light up."


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

^^ good to hear about him being kept out. 

As for hooves, You need to be very careful, changing the angles can put more stress on the suspensories. Pull his break over back and roll his toe (mustang roll.) You can talk to your farrier about setting his shoes back, or getting an egg bar shoe (if the farrier thinks its necessary.) My farrier custom made shoes for my gelding. They were regular shoes but had a triangle welded on the back (like a trailer i guess.) It was like a bar shoe but it put the breakover alot further back.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

When I did my reasearch about 5 years ago thats what most sites were saying. I understood it to mean, your vet can diagnose the horse with a suspensory issue, just from looking at him, but you cant be 100% certain its specifically DSLD untill you cut the muscle open and see its structure. Their ideas may have changed since then, but I thought this was the overall concensus a few years ago. 

Maybe it was because most people can't afford to get ultrasounds or themography?


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

sillybunny11486 said:


> ^^ good to hear about him being kept out.
> 
> As for hooves, You need to be very careful, changing the angles can put more stress on the suspensories. Pull his break over back and roll his toe (mustang roll.) You can talk to your farrier about setting his shoes back, or getting an egg bar shoe (if the farrier thinks its necessary.) My farrier custom made shoes for my gelding. They were regular shoes but had a triangle welded on the back (like a trailer i guess.) It was like a bar shoe but it put the breakover alot further back.


ill talk to my farrier next time i see him i can't have shoes on in the back for the winter time cuz we are not allowed to have winter shoes with the spikes on the back incass one of the horses kick a other horse happend to a friend and the horse had to be put down and summer shoes i dont trust as i do alot of trail riding in the winter and rigth now its to muddy to get shoes put on the mud will suck them off :O but i will talk to my farrier  thanks


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

MDO, that's great to hear that you're going to get the farrier out  I would also like to stress the importance of consulting your vet for this problem and I believe you were the one asking in Health about your horse falling down? Your horse is super cute, I just want the best for both of you 

Sillybunny, thank you for the info  I understand what you're saying, perhaps advances have been made recently in that department


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

JustDressageIt said:


> He's awfully cute!
> I would be concerned about his hind end. His pasterns are very long, and his hocks are quite straight (post-hocked) and I am concerned that you might be looking at a suspensory problem in the near future. I'm thinking Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (DSLD) DSLD
> I think you jump this horse on a regular basis from your previous posts? Please correct me if I'm wrong! I would be concerned that his hind end might not hold up, it's something to discuss with your vet. (Images of DSLD horses: "HORSE CARE" Hoof Trimming Learning Videos, Laminitis Treatment, Well-horse, Skin Fungus, Testimonials )
> His front pasterns are quite long as well.
> ...



OMG :shock: that looks soo bad =[ ill pring the the page and show him and see what he says


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

MDO, if you can catch it early I think there are treatments that you can persue to limit damage and progression. It is fairly important to get a diagnosis and information from your vet as to the best avenue. I wish you the absolute best of luck with this.


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

well i know my horse has prombles but ill never sell him i was told that i should sell him and get a better horse but ive told them ''he aint a pair of shoes im not going to trade him or sell'' but then again i like got him for free so [=


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

MDO, that is very sweet of you. Not many people follow your mentality, so I would like to commend you on your attitude towards your horse. How refreshing! I am so glad you're going to be looking into this (and the falling?) with your vet - I think it is very important and will help you keep your lovely horse sound for much longer than if you just ignore these things.
My horse is certainly not perfect, he's quite oddly put-together to be perfectly honest, but he's mine - he's my heart horse  I know where you're coming from!


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

> The only absolute verification we have now is resection at necropsy. The next best is ultrasound using the Protocol. The ultimate is having a gene test, which is where most research is now focused.​


DSLD/ESPA



> *Dr.Mero's Protocol for Diagnosis of DSLD*
> 
> _"These four steps: palpation of the suspensory ligaments, observance of baseline
> lameness, fetlock flexion tests, and sonographic examinations of the suspensory
> ...


United States Peruvian Horse Association - Peruvian Horse Health



> Presently, the presumptive diagnosis of DSLD is obtained from patient signalment and history, clinical examination, and ultrasonographic examination of clinically affected horses, and is confirmed at post mortem examination. Presently, there are no reliable methods of diagnosing DSLD in asymptomatic horses.


Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmatis (DSLD)

Those are the first few sites in my search engine. I think they can look at genes and muscle to determine if a horse is predisposed to have it. But I think its hard sometimes to tell the different between DSLD and an injury buy a vet check alone. My vet never even said DSLD to me, but my horse had all the physical signs, its a new term, and some vets dont even use it, maybe they dont understand it or there isnt enough research yet.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Thanks for the links sillybunny


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

thanks everyone i love these site you learn so much [=

here are some pictures of his legs to give you all a better look but yah FOR SURE ill talk to my farrier and when i get a bit more cash ill call the vet [=


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

To be honest, I wondered when I saw your pictures in another thread. See that first picture, how his pastern is bending all the way down to the ground? That is abnormal when the horse isn't under that much stress. 
The only time I don't worry too much when a horse's pastern has that much bend is after a fairly large jump, when the horse has thousands upon thousands of pounds of pressure on one leg, like so:








Your horse is splitting his weight fairly evenly (if not a little more on the forehand) and is still getting more flexion than that horse in the jumping photo. 
Here's a horse galloping (or cantering and playing...haha) and all his weight is on the inside hind, and it doesn't have a lot of flexion - this is normal flexion:








Here is a horse in a similar point in the canter as your first picture, you can see the back pastern isn't nearly as bent as your horse's:








Unfortunately, from a non-pro opinion, I do think you're looking at DSLD. If you can catch it early, and get proper treatment, you could prolong him being sound for a good long while


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)




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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Are those all pictures of him? Photo 1, 2 & 3 to me look like there is a suspensory problem. Again, I am not a vet, this is just my speculation. The last photo, the trotting photo, shows him till in suspension, so unfortunately that isn't a photo to judge anything from, as there is very little to no weight on the joint at that point.


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## MerlotDotOne (Nov 18, 2009)

yes 1,2,3 are his photos


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Just as a side note... loving the orange!


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