Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Are pasterns important?

A good friend of mine bought her next endurance prospect on Dreamhorse.com this week. Arab/Appy, bay with a blanket, 15.1, big feet, smooth gaited trail horse, 8 years old, for $2,100. Cute, huh?

I wonder what you can find in Germany......I looked at 5 of Germany's horse sales websites. OMGOSH the price they put on Arabs! I searched and searched for a riding horse under 2000 Euros. (What is that in dollars, 2700?) The only time I saw an Arab or half Arab for under 2000 Euros, it was a baby, or a broodmare in her late teens. Is this the way the market was for Arabs in the early 80s? Like, Arabs are only for the rich? Sheesh.

Here's a poor little fugly I found for 2,700 Euros, the only horse I found in this price range that is both ridable, and under 15. But look, she has no pasterns! Aren't those important?

Good thing I'm not looking for a horse. When I eventually do, I'll probably just have to steal one.

1 comment:

Stacey Kimmel-Smith said...

Oh dear, he has no pastern joint! Unfortunately, I think that a) upright pasterns make for an uncomfortable ride (think jackhammer), b) you tend to see more stress on the structures inside the hoof, and c) I just read an article that long sloping pasterns -- even a bit on the extreme -- are actually preferred, vets are saying that the failure of suspensory mechanism on long sloping pasterns is exaggerated.

Riley, my youngster is just a tad upright. Oh well.