my horse has a roach back, we brought him for eventing and got him vet checked and the vet said it will be find, at a SJ school one of the instucters said that horses with roach backs are good for jumping, and then some people say that it makes there back stronger
Has anyone had any problems with horses that have roach backs or any storys or information they could share
I haven't had anything to do with competition horses with roach backs, but years ago when I was teaching at Koombahla Park we had an enormous standardbred gelding there who just a tad under 17hh. He was very roach backed and was generally not a nicely put together horse at all. His canter was pretty rough to sit to because there was so little 'give' in his back, but he could take the entire eventing course at Koombahla without batting an eyelid. And when it came to big heavy riders who'd come for a lesson, there were some who even the big clydie crosses found too much of a struggle to carry, but that was never the case with this big roach backed standardbred. In fact I never saw him have an ounce of trouble carrying anyone in the entire two years I worked there.
I knew a horse once called Mighty Crackerjack and his stable name was Camel because he had a roach back. He was an amazing jumping horse! There was no limit to his abilities. He was a successful eventer and ended up being sold o/s. He never had any back problems in the time I knew and worked with him.
So I wouldn't worry about it if the vet said not too! It is only an aesthetics thing which at the end of the day doesn't really matter if you aren't showing him and he is sound!Good luck with him!
PP
Edited to say: He was surprisingly comfortable to ride too!
We raced a roach backed thoroughbred, he was hard on the eye, with his back and twisted up fron legs. This horse was quite a successful racehorse with numerous wins and placings to his name, when he retired he went on and show jumped for many years. He never had any soundness issues, lord only knows why as his legs were aweful.
im going through the saddle fitting thing atm, soo aanoying i had a stubben dressage saddle, fitted him up until like 1 month ago when he started to muscle up and fill out, and now he has 4 pressure sore things on his back like white hair patches so im not riding him, im getting my bates dressage saddle and jumping saddle that was fitted for my old horse fitted to him soo then i can finaly start riding him again
his feet are pretty good his a tiny bit cow hocked but his now shod in his back feet and the farrier is trying to improve them as much as possible...
first ode on him since june in 3 weeks hopefully everything will be ok
I work on a lot of roach backed horses and it is caused by contraction of the psoas muscle. This is usually caused by long toes either from old founder damage or from the farrier not trimming correctly. I trimmed 2 horses yesterday with long toes one had a badly roached back due to his feet. The farrier had set the horse up with a straight hoof pastern axis as per what they are taught. Unfortunately the idea of H/P axis is wrong and causes the roached back, the shape of the hoof is more important than aligning an angle. The gelding had a sore back due to the farrier not realising he was creating the problem. The mare had a similar shaped feet but no back pain due to her hoof capsules slipping and making her toes look longer.
The psoas muscle is very slow to stretch back to normal as it is very deep. It is known as the fight or flight muscle and must be corrected asap. If the muscle is not fixed the lumbar processes may fuse together to compensate for the bad feet.
I have a horse with a roach back - although this is from injury rather than from a conformation issue. Previous to being sick and having 3 months off work she was fine - then one day therewas an obvious roaching. Through massage and osteopath work she is starting to (slowly) come good. It may be a good idea to get the horse looked over by an osteo/muscle therapist to see if this is a permanent thing or if it is able to be relieved( even just a little). Whilst my girl has major issues because this is not the way she should be, if the horse has grown that way because it is natural, then all the muscles have developed in line with it, and it should be a sound and happy horse. Maybe just a little bouncy to ride
I had a horse that I'd known as a young horse and it didn't have a roach back, then it came to me and it did have a roach back.
He was really "gutty" - didn't like water on his belly etc. etc. We treated him for ulcers (using Panacur) and withing 6 weeeks, he had no roach back and his gut was fine. His work and general health also improved out of sight.
I've since done the same to 2 other horses who were not very severe - just a little roachy - and same thing. The roach went away.
I don't know if it's a definative conclusion but that's been my experience.
If you're interested, you give Panacur-100 60mls for 5 days then repeat in 3-4 weeks.
One of the best horses to race in Vic was Century who had a very obvious one. He went on to be leading sire for many seasons with several of his progeny carrying the same trait so it was detrimental to neither he nor his offspring. Weight carrying & jumping ability are their forte as has been stated & we currently have a lovely roach backed mare whose dam is likewise. My only worry would be if they're 1/2 inclined to buck, I'd feel like I was on the way before it started
That's a really interesting thing to think about Shahron. It also makes a lot of sense. Maybe I should look into this one for my girl as I know that the roaching is not normal for her?
I've known a couple and neither had any soundness issues with it. Take particular care with saddle fitting. One horse can only be ridden in a treeless saddle as even a made to measure saddle caused problems.
<a href="http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i174/georgie_gordon4/?action=view¤t=cruise.jpg"; target="_blank"><img src="http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i174/georgie_gordon4/cruise.jpg";; border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> theres a pic of him his names cruier i dont have any with no saddle.. im going through the saddle fitting thing atm, soo aanoying i had a stubben dressage saddle, fitted him up until like 1 month ago when he started to muscle up and fill out, and now he has 4 pressure sore things on his back like white hair patches so im not riding him, im getting my bates dressage saddle and jumping saddle that was fitted for my old horse fitted to him soo then i can finaly start riding him again
his feet are pretty good his a tiny bit cow hocked but his now shod in his back feet and the farrier is trying to improve them as much as possible...
first ode on him since june in 3 weeks hopefully everything will be ok
My TB who I sold recently had a slight roach back. Fantastic jumper, fantastic weight carrier, absolutely no problems regarding his back. Saddle fitting him was no more difficult than any other horse. He's now on his way up the eventing levels being ridden by the new owner's trainer, a gold medallist, and she loves his jumping ability! Like any horse he would occasionally get a sore back, with therapy & rest he'd be fine again in a few days. I did find it hard to get a nice soft swing in his back for dressage though, but he generally scored well up to elementary.
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