Sickle hocks 101

[Nojacketrequired]

6 year old Appendix QH mare. I would be doing low level dressage and pleasure riding on her.
Would these hocks be a deal-breaker? Yes? No? Maybe?

Any info appreciated.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/beautifulbrowbands/DSCF0042-1-1.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/beautifulbrowbands/DSCF0040-1-1.jpg

[JSwan]

The horse will be predisposed to curbs. You can manage the horse's training and management to mitigate.

I've seen worse. For a lower level pleasure mount I don't think it's a deal breaker but you should consider having the horse vetted. A vetting is never a waste of money.

[Nojacketrequired]

I will definitely have her vetted, no question.

She has a badly under-run heel in the front on one side that will be looked at closely, as well.

What type of management are you thinking of? She is currently in steady work and is sound and pretty fit.

Thanks

[BornToRide]

The horse's pelvis may be rotated too much posteriorly, making the hindlegs appear sickle hocked. I would investigate that further with the help of a bodyworker.

[JSwan]

What type of management are you thinking of? She is currently in steady work and is sound and pretty fit.

Thanks

mmmm from what I remember it was that the collection required in dressage would place greater stress on the hocks in a sickle hocked horse. To me, lower level dressage is 1st and 2nd level if that helps put it into context.

If you had questions about the trim there are some trimmers that post here that could help you on that - I think they'll agree that the correct trim can be a factor in hind limb soundness. Try Daydream Believer and LMH and I think JB for starters - there are other folks but those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Check with your vet but management to me would be starting with a good balanced trim, and not drilling. No endless 20m circles, no drilling over jumps - work in gridwork, canter poles or other exercises. Work with a good trainer/coach that is aware of the horse's conformational weaknesses and keeps those in mind.

Just common sense stuff. Any horse can go lame, and though he's predisposed to curbs he might be alive and kicking, and sound, when he's 30. Or not.

I'd not kick him out of my barn with those hocks - mostly because I've got a horse with worse hocks in there already. :lol: Good luck.

[LarkspurCO]

Frankly, I wouldn't call that horse sickle-hocked. I would call that post-legged. There's a difference, although both of these conditions are problematic.

I am blessed to own both a sickle-hocked horse and a (somewhat) post-legged horse. By the way, the horse pictured looks very similar to a QH I knew that was used for lessons and lower level dressage. That horse developed hock arthritis early on.

My sickle-hocked horse is a loooooog-legged Thoroughbred. He also has curbs (rescued ottb and he came with them). My somewhat post-legged horse has issues with his the stifles, and he also has mild hock arthritis. However, in spite of these problems he is quite a willing hack, and he does well schooling 2nd level dressage, dabbling here and there in 3rd, when he feels like it.

Here are a couple of photos of the sickle-hocked horse. These were very early in his rehabilitation and it's easy to see the curbs as well as the sickled conformation. Did I mention he has very long legs?

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Desert%20Spark/ProfileRt3.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Desert%20Spark/DS_20061104.jpg


For comparison, here's a picture of him today. See how long his hind legs are?
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Tanager/Saddle/Other-saddle-Des.jpg

He is perfectly sound for the life of leisure I afford him. He's still very green, and I school him about three days a week on average. He spends much of his free time running gallop sets in the pasture. Still, I don't consider him sound for jumping or the sport horse lifestyle -- which is just as well because he's afraid of ground poles:lol: I plan to use him as a trail horse one day...

If it's just for a fun trail horse with occasional arena schooling, I would not worry much about this conformation. I agree with J Swan on the vetting. If you anticipate competition at anything beyond training level, I would look for a better hind end.

[JB]

The horse's pelvis may be rotated too much posteriorly, making the hindlegs appear sickle hocked. I would investigate that further with the help of a bodyworker.

Absolutely agree- that looks like a horse who is very uncomfortable behind.

You cannot diagnose sickle hocks if the hock is under the body and not directly under the point of the butt.

The first picture shows him very cramped behind, making it impossible to really judge ANYTHING about his conformation (not just in his back end). The 2nd picture does indeed make him look more post-legged but it's also not the same angle, so hard to tell.

Reglardless, he either needs to be made to stand up for a proper conformation shot to get any real idea, or you need to assume he's not comfortable back there for whatever reason(s).

Larkspur, your boy is camped out behind ;)

[pines4equines]

Yeah, I wouldn't call this horse sickle hocked, maybe camped under. I've seen some really sickle hocked QHs. Curious to see this horse standing slightly differently in a photo.

[JSwan]

I was trying to figure out how to let y'all see a photo of my 4 year old who is truly sickle hocked. He's a Fugly blog poster boy if ever there was one.

But I don't have any free accounts and my premium membership expired. So I googled and came up with this link. Perhaps this will help?

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=picture+of+a+sickle+hocked+horse&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[BornToRide]

I agree with JB on Larkspur's horse as well - he's out behind because he has long gaskins. Boy he looks so much better now - great job rehabbing him :)

[betsyk]

Not sure what you can generalize from this, but here goes. I have a 26-y-o Arab who's been one of the soundest horses I've known. He's never had a joint injected, including hocks, and has evented through BN and solid training level dressage and lots and lots of trails over the years -- so not a terribly demanding career, but has been reliably sound throughout. He has textbook sickle hocks - looks like his hind legs belong to a taller horse! My two TB's have had all the classic hock problems you could imagine middle aged eventers to have - and neither is remotely sickle hocked. Did sickle hocks keep my Arab sound, or was it the more moderate workload? who knows. But depending on what career you want for your horse, I wouldn't make it a deal breaker. Besides, that old Hilda Gurney video on selecting dressage horses actually says sickle hocks are ok!

[JB]

Slight sickle hocks can be ok. Drastic, no.

Reiners and cutting people like to see a bit of sickle hock on their horses because it helps the horse sit more. Same principle would hold for a dressage horse.

Slight conformation faults in general are NBD. But the more you deviate, the more other structures have to compensate, and that's when you get into trouble.

[LarkspurCO]

You cannot diagnose sickle hocks if the hock is under the body and not directly under the point of the butt.

My chestnut horse is sickle-hocked by this definition. See below:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Desert%20Spark/sicklehocks.jpg

Yes, he often stands camped out as well.;)