Buy pony with hock injections?

[MrPickles73]

Is this an insane idea?
We viewed a pony today being sold by people we know so very straight. They told us the pony has had 1 course of hock injections 6 mths ago.
My child very much liked the pony. It is 17. It seems to have all the capabilities my child needs.
Are we mad to consider buying it?
My concern is, without sounding too cold, when my child grows out of it in eg 3 years time, what will we do with it then? Lawnmower?

One of mine had hock arthritis requiring regular injections - the first time it worked like magic and she was 100% sound after, but she needed them redoing within the year which didn't seem to work as well, and by the third time it barely helped at all. She was fundamentally a very unsound mare with poor conformation though so unsurprising that she broke. I know others do have much better long term outcomes. You may well find you get a good many years soundness from this pony yet - but I do think by the time the pony's 19/20 you're on dicey territory selling on at that age and having needed injections. If he stays sound you'll easily find a good loan home as a good first ridden or even second ridden child's pony is like gold dust, but if you absolutely couldn't afford to retire and keep as a field ornament I'd avoid as I don't think you could guarantee it. Contrary to others on here I have sold on kids ponies when outgrown but not in the late teens, that's getting on a bit and if not truly sound I think they've earned an honourable retirement...

If you can’t offer this pony a home for life then do not buy it

Would there be a possibility of loaning the pony? Essentially the family you’re considering buying from are outsourcing the problem … I don’t think it’s ethical to sell on a late teens horse/pony, let alone one with medical issues. Yes you might have a fabulous three years with this pony but then if you had to sell you’d be trying to find a home for a 20 year old with more advanced joint disease and that wouldn’t be easy. At our local pony club there were plenty of late teens ponies doing the rounds but they were all on loan and eventually went back to their original family to retire.

Irrelevant of hock injections, if you buy a 17yr old horse you should commit to keeping it through to its last days.
Personally I'm not a fan of injecting a horse just for our benefit and you can get complications with them.

My quote function seems to have vanished but completely agree with what @twistyizzy says. An older pony will be slowing down and will have “wear and tear.” And a 17 year old pony who’d needed some help along the way wouldn’t inherently concern me. This pony could last ten years, it could be completed unsound in 18 months

Re injections well, I think like most things they stop working eventually. My friend had a very smart dressage horse who needed hocks injecting when his age was still in single figures, they took their competition level down a notch or 2, and he carried on for a couple more years but he had to be PTS before he got to his teens as it was so degenerative.

pleasedontdothat I've been thinking about this and I think you're right loaning would be the way to go.
The pony is fab but we're not in a position to offer a retirement home as we don't have our own land and only have two ponies. The sellers have bags of space and 20+ horses.

What was he injected with? That would influence how long he’s likely to stay sound?

Steroids are the old fashioned option. They usually work for approximately 6/12months the first time, but then less and less, till they don’t work at all.

Arthramid is a much newer treatment. It’s a gel that’s injected into the joint and cushions it. It should last approximately 2 years. It doesn’t accelerate deterioration of the joint at all, unlike steroids.

Athramid can enable them to return to full fitness/comfort as if there are no issues at all. When it first came to the market it was eye wateringly expensive, but thankfully the price has fallen dramatically now. When I first had it injected in 2017/18 it was over £750 per vial (you need a vial in each hock joint so £1500 for both, plus all the other expenses of injecting it). It’s now down to less than £300 a vial.

I’d have less qualms about the pony if he’d had arthramid 6m ago and had returned to doing the level of work that you would wish to be doing with him.

However, if the family are willing to loan instead then that would be a less risky option for you?

We bought daughter’s pony at 19 and she is perfect, she will either be with us until the end or will go on loan when outgrown but she’s a lead rein/first ridden so won’t ever be asked to do much.

How old is your child and what do they plan to do? Lots of aged ponies in the first few years of PC.

I know a horse that did endurance for years with hock injections. Mature but well cared for.

My horse had hock arthritis and injections helped the first time but did nothing the second. I know every horse is different but my experience would make me wary in a child's pony... my horse initially appeared fine 95% of the time, not lame, no obvious stiffness although never a great mover...however every so often he would literally explode, and be an absolute psycho...it was terrifying and we stopped riding him as it wasn't safe. It took a while for me/vets/physio to work out it was his hocks causing it.. also once it progressed it went very fast and his whole personality changed. I ended up having him PTS as he was miserable, even just turned out and on bute, you could see the light go out of his eyes, so even a lawnmower may not be an option...