I bought a 3 week old mini last week. I can't take him home until he's weaned but the breeder had another adorable, yet neglected, palomino mini. I said he was adorable even though he was wild and jumping like a pogo stick in his stall. She said oh I don't like him, he's a gelding and useless to me. So if you want him you can have him. Even though I only planned on one mini I felt this guy may not have a great future so I took him. The first day I went to interact with him he would not even let me touch him. Well the next day I sat in his stall with shredded carrots and ignored him. He didn't ignore me and as soon as he found out I had finger nails that could scratch his itchy withers we were instant friends. The day I picked him up they warned me he would rear and buck on the lead line. He walked like a pro. Then they said be careful putting him in the trailer he won't like it. He hopped right in. This mini has turned out in 48 hours to be the sweetest guy in the whole world. He got his shots yesterday and was perfect. He got trimmed yesterday and was perfect. He hadn't been trimmed in probably a year. He is three years old.
Here is the clincher. I noticed when I got him out for a walk on Friday that his hocks pop when he is on soft footing. It is definitely his hocks and not his stifles. It is really apparent and loud on soft footing. You can see his hocks snapping with each step. I had the vet look at him yesterday and she said she has never seen this before. She said to keep an eye on him and we'd check back in a month. Her theory was that eventually this would cause severe arthritis but she didn't know if it would be in a year or ten years.
There seems to be no information on this on the internet. Has anyone seen this in mini's? Tomorrow I am going to call our big equine hospital in Phoenix to see if they are familiar with this. He is the sweetest mini so if there is something I can do to fix it I would be all for it. I am hoping now that he has a good hoof trim it will help. In his prior home, he literally had only come out of his stall two times in the last year. He was totally neglected.
I am chuckling to myself too because there is no such thing as a free horse : )
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
joAnn
Here is the clincher. I noticed when I got him out for a walk on Friday that his hocks pop when he is on soft footing. It is definitely his hocks and not his stifles. It is really apparent and loud on soft footing. You can see his hocks snapping with each step. I had the vet look at him yesterday and she said she has never seen this before. She said to keep an eye on him and we'd check back in a month. Her theory was that eventually this would cause severe arthritis but she didn't know if it would be in a year or ten years.
There seems to be no information on this on the internet. Has anyone seen this in mini's? Tomorrow I am going to call our big equine hospital in Phoenix to see if they are familiar with this. He is the sweetest mini so if there is something I can do to fix it I would be all for it. I am hoping now that he has a good hoof trim it will help. In his prior home, he literally had only come out of his stall two times in the last year. He was totally neglected.
I am chuckling to myself too because there is no such thing as a free horse : )
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
joAnn