What do you consider COSMETIC surgery?

[txminipinto]

I recently had a great discussion with my students and clinicians regarding some of the many surgical procedures we do in veterinary medicine. I brought up a rule that is in pretty much in all breed association rule books regarding having "cosmetic" surgery to enhance a horse for competition. It was such a good debate/discussion, I thought I would pose the same question here:

What do you consider COSMETIC surgery in horses?

Obviously, ear trimming and wiring are. But can otherwise "medical" procedures have a cosmetic outcome for a horse in competition?

Castration is obviously not, but if you had a cryptochid and you had a false testicle implanted that would be cosmetic.

But what about others: collapsing trachea repairs, check ligaments on club footed horses, arthroscopies on lame horses with injuries, correcting congential defects for the well being of the horse medically, airway procedures to increase air flow to the lungs, etc.

The discussion that resulted during rounds put me in a perplexed situation. There are many things that we do for the well being of the animal at hand, but also has benefits that could possibly be seen in the show ring. Are these procedures cosmetic then? Can a medical procedure also be cosmetic? Could a horse that had a medical procedure done for it's well being, then be banned from competition because now it had a surgically induced advantage? Should these "corrections" be considered faults and be a part of our evaluations on our own herds for breeding?

 

[Jill]

I consider something to be COSMETIC surgery when it serves no practical health purpose and is soley for the sake of enhancing or altering appearance.

 

[Katiean]

I heard of someone adding a testicle and the original one showing up.

oops! But then those are the chances you are taking if you are willing to cheat. I would think anything to change the horse from it's original state for to better the chances of winning a class. There is also cutting tendons or nerves to change the way a horse carries it's tail (not sure what they do but it didn't look nice).

 

[Alex]

Cosmetic would be fixing blemishes, not messing with soundness.

 

[txminipinto]

What about hereditary defects that are corrected surgically? Say, a club footed foal has a check ligament done and then is shown. You can't tell a check ligament has been done if it's been done correctly - would you want offspring from that individual if they proved to be a stellar show animal?

 

[Alex]

I wouldnt want a foal from said horse. IMO the horse is still club footed, just surgically altered to win in the ring.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

Karen, that is such a hard one for me to answer. I bristle, and have for years, when a pinhooker buys a horse, hides it away for a while, then has it stripped, knees worked on, all kinds of things, brings it back out after all healing, and evidence of surgery is done. Then sticks it in a sale, makes a lot of bucks, and never bothers to tell anyone about all the surgical procedures. I wonder how all this "cosmetic" surgery will affect his/her racing career. Of course, this has nothing to do with minis, but doesn't it? If the same were done to minis, what about their jumping/driving career? What about if they go to stud, and start passing on the club footed, bad legged problems? Now, I thoroughly agree that if you are doing it for the horse's health, it would be a good thing, but just to make money, not so good. See, I told you it was a hard one for me to answer. If it were not a genetic thing, then I think it would be okay, but when the possibilities of passing said problems on by breeding, or make the horse face lameness problems because of muscles, tendons, and etc. being rearranged for cosmetic reasons, then I have to say no. And no, I don't like the idea of breaking a horse's tail, because it leaves it "dead", so to speak.

 

[outlawridge]

Technically wouldn't cosmetic surgery be anything that surgically affects the natural appearance of the horse? Surgically correcting deformities or injuries might be labeled something else because they also affect the performance of the horse? I really don't know but am kind of comparing this to human cosmetic surgery in definition.

 

[Chilli's Mum]

Obviously, ear trimming and wiring are. But can otherwise "medical" procedures have a cosmetic outcome for a horse in competition?

I must be living under a rock because I have never heard of anyone having their horse's ears trimmed surgically and what on earth is "wiring"? I can't imagine doing anything like that to one of my horses just for a show ribbon or a sale. Even the best horses have "something" you have to forgive them for but that is what makes them an individual surely?

I would agree with the other posters who have said that if the procedure needs to be done for the horse's welfare, then it not cosmetic. Having said that I would ALWAYS tell a buyer what had been done and why. I can't conceive of a good reason to subject my horse to a procedure for any other purpose because if it's not for the horse's benefit then it is just vanity or greed on the owner's part.

 

[wildoak]

Good questions with no easy answers lol. I agree that anything surgical done purely for appearance sake is cosmetic. Soundness related issues become much less black and white. I don't think I have a problem with a surgical procedure (like the club foot issue you mentioned) to return a horse to soundness and to the show ring. What I do have a problem with is potentially the ethics of the owner/handler who then sells the horse as sound, or breeds said animal with heritable traits that aren't disclosed.

Jan

 

[ruffian]

"Wiring" is surgically implanting wires to make the ears stand up all the time.

 

[outlawridge]

"Wiring" is surgically implanting wires to make the ears stand up all the time.

You know, this procedure truly is the epitamy of human arrogance in their own superiority over God's creatures, and their quest for being top dog in any arena. I am sure this does not fall under what God meant when He placed us as stewards over His creation. It rates right down there with the old and evil practice of slitting Walkers fetlocks and pouring kerosene in so they have to step higher and "fancier"

hmmmm, there are lots of descriptive words for arrogant practices like this such as.. heartless, unconscionable, cheat, uncompassionate, selfish pride..... sorry, better stop now before I get myself sick.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

OMG!!!!

I can not even understand why someone would ever put a horse through pain just to make them look or show better. I could never do that to my kids. I feel guilty when I have to scold them.

Unfortunately, the horses don't get a vote in what we do to them. Would some of these people do this to their young children, just to make them look better (unless they have a TRUE birth defect). Maybe I am too much of an animal lover, I never want to see an animal in pain for any reason. I guess that is the reason I never went to vet school.

 

[MiniHunterHorseFan]

I heard from a friend that she knew a lady who bought a high stepping Tennessee Walker, I think it was. It had special shoes with pads over them. When it came time for the lady to bring a farrier over to reshoe her horse, he took the pads off and found that someone had carved into the horse's frog and put a golf ball in it, and put the pad over it.

No one would see that. Wouldn't that be painful to the poor horse?

 

[maestoso]

"I consider something to be COSMETIC surgery when it serves no practical health purpose and is soley for the sake of enhancing or altering appearance."

I agree with Jill here.

I have never heard of testicle implants, and it gave me a chuckle when I read about it, what a joke! Would it fool a in an exam to check for testicles??

I think the minis with wired ears look foolish and completely unnatural.

 

[txminipinto]

The testicle implants (called neuticals) would not pass a vet check as they are much firmer.

Thanks for the answers guys! It's definately not black and white, especially when you start getting into hereditary conditions but it was something I had never thought about until recently. It makes you think that's for sure!

 

[lyn_j]

Something not mentioned here yet at least I dont think so is liposuction of the throatlatch and neck. In arabs not too long ago, a prominent trainer was video taped doing lipo on a stallions neck and was thrown out of the breed. I have also heard of it being done in some minis. I hope that rumor was false. To me any surgery that is not related to improving the health of the horse is cosmetic. And, as far as doing stifles on a horse, I have one that had his done, I do show him but he is also now a gelding because of that. He is now sound AND NOT REPRODUCING nor has he ever.

Lyn

 

[txminipinto]

Very good point Lyn! Locking Stifles can be hereditary, and yes there are procedures that can be done to correct this UNSOUNDNESS. I commend you for gelding!

I can't imagine doing liposuction on a horse! I couldn't do it to myself either!

An unsoundness can be just as cosmetic!