# Roach Backed Horse



## Haffieluver06 (Jul 3, 2013)

I found this horse for sale and went and saw her and i was wondering if her back was to bad for trail riding. Shes in bad shape.she is underweight and has bad teeth and has bad unhealthy feet but i can fix that. I rode her and she seems like a good horse but I want to know if her back is to bad. I don't want to hurt her in the long run and i wont ride her again in till she back to full heath if i decide to get her. I only trail ride and go camping.I have heard bad things about roached back horses so im not sure what to do. I feel bad for her and the owner don't know much about horses so she don't know whats all wrong with her but i didn't say anything to make her feel bad.anyway is her back to bad or can it be worked with and wont hurt her to ride her in the future.Shes a TW ,10 years old
she is also skinnier now than she is in the pics.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Truthfully, that roach appears very slight to me. It just looks much worse because she's seriously out of condition and is rather skinny.

I think my bigger concern would be _why_ she's so thin. If she's a hard keeper or has health issues like ulcers that need medicated, then her keep may cost more than she's worth.

Also, her front legs are more concerning to me than the roach. She's pretty far back at the knee, but that shouldn't cause a problem for low-impact riding like trails and pleasure. If you were wanting her for jumping or barrel racing, then I'd say keep looking, but if she's sound (and be _sure_ to get a PPE for your own sake), then she should hold up to your type of riding fine.


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## NaeNae87 (Feb 26, 2013)

My TB has a roached back. You can sort of see it in this picture...







He has had no problems and does dressage, show horse events and a little jumping. 















Roach backed horses can find collection difficult and can have problems with the muscles in there hind end (due to conformation placing stress on their joints, skeleton and muscles in abnormal ways) As long as you help her by asking her to work correctly to make up for her bad posture. Also having someone out to treat her muscles (ie, bowen, equissage, physio etc) will help with the strain and wear & tear on her body. She should be fine.  Her roach does not look all that bad and you may find if her muscles are released that her roach gets smaller.


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## Haffieluver06 (Jul 3, 2013)

she also has weird back legs she clips when she walks both back feet hit together but her feet are not trimmed properly. her back legs bow a bit but her hind hoofs are longer on the inside then the outside are shorter.


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## Haffieluver06 (Jul 3, 2013)

She does have really sharp teeth and she could use a good worming.But the bad thing is she wants 800 for her and i don't think shes worth that much.Plus all the stuff she needs is going to cost alot.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

if you want to rescue her, that's one thing, but it sounds like you have more negative points, more problems than good things about her.


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