Chips in ankles

radrider · Postby **radrider** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 6:10 pm

I've never seen a horse with chips in the ankles. How can you tell if it is severe? Will the gait be severly noticable? Which is worse a big chip or small chip? I've heard that this is very common in racehorses but i have no idea how to tell if it is severe or not.

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:02 pm

I would invest some money in some radiographs to be read by a vet with a lot of experience with chips in ankles and knees of performance horses. If your horse is a racer I would look for a vet who really has experience with racehorses.

That said, reading a radiograph is an inexact science but at least you can make a decision based on experience and history rather than a simple guess.

majxmom · Postby **majxmom** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:42 pm

Sunday Silence had a chip in his ankle as a yearling, and didn't make his reserve. Everybody's sorry they didn't buy him now. But most of the time it promotes arthritis at the least. It can diminish flexibility and create real pain, making a horse not want to train. zinn's advice is good. You need a vet with extensive racetrack experience to judge.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:30 am

In my experience Everything Depends on the size and location of the chip or chips, whether it will be a floating annoying impediment like a stone in your shoe, is really a mini-fracture, or just actually dissolve on its own over time.

ckaye · Postby **ckaye** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:22 pm

I've had a couple OTTBs with fetlock chips.

IME, it ALL depends on how long the chip was left in the joint and what sort of condition the cartilage is in. Best case scenario: the chip is removed shortly after it forms and there is no/very little damage to the cartilage. Worst case scenario: horse is run on chips and injected to keep it sound enough to do so, resulting in major cartilage damage.

Cartilage does not grow back. Once it's gone, it's gone. Unfortunately, you can't visualize the cartilage without going into the joint...so unless you have the timeline, it's very difficult to say how much damage has occurred.

I would not buy another horse with chips.

radrider · Postby **radrider** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:44 pm

So in other words a horse that has chips in ankles are crippled and lame? Is that what you're saying? IS it taking a major risk in buying one?

justatrainer · Postby **justatrainer** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:41 pm

i bought a horse ott with a chip in the ankle and had it removed , sold him for 15,000 and he was sold for six figures last year. he is a hunter/jumper.

tbrace · Postby **tbrace** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:50 pm

It is a matter of percentages. MOST of the time, it is a very bad idea.

Once in a while, it works out ok.

I would want one very good deal if I bought a chipped horse.

radrider · Postby **radrider** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:55 pm

So a chipped horse is a crippled one? Or just plain lame? Would it be noticeable right away?