Osteopath visits...and is a bit too honest!

It had been suggested that I got an osteopath to look at Red due to him compensating for the lameness in his off fore. Looking at Red from the front you can see that his whole right leg is held very slightly higher. He is uncomfortable in the girth area behind his right elbow. Trotting on a hard surface in a straight line he looks slightly lame in his off hind, swinging the leg out and round rather that forwards and underneath himself- could be due to scar tissue from when he cut his hock. Once on the lunge in the school he looks slightly lame in his left hind, when I ride him on a circle on the left rein his left hind feels weak. The outcome was that he had several problems and she would be reluctant to treat him without having a vet look at his hind end as if she did straighten out any issues with the cause still being there it would all come back again.

Honest opinion!

I she could treat Red for 10 weeks costing lots of money, but with his other issues he still might not do the job I want. I could spend thousands of pounds and a long time trying to get him right but would still have a lame horse. Even if I could sort out his issues I would probably only get 4 years of use out of him and I should have a good think as to weather I want to try or if I should just cut my losses and find him a quiet hacking home!

I felt gutted! I appreciate her honesty and don't want her to take my money and give me false hope but I don't think I am ready to hear that I should give up.

I know we want to have our animals as comfortable as they can be, but if someone assessed me they would probably say that I was uneven and had areas of tightness, but I feel ok and can live my every day life just fine.

Now it is a few days after her visit I have started to try to think about this with a bit more distance. If I took him to the vets for his back end what are the out comes?

If he has scar tissue/arthritic changes to his hock would/could I treat it?

If it is treatable and can be sorted out he still has the issue with his off fore, am I just throwing good money after bad?

Should I just look into building up his strength again? Look into straightness training and see how he is once he is feeling a bit stronger.

Do I just need to face the fact that he wont be able to do more than hacking and move on?!

I feel that if I have listened to the 'experts' Bliss wouldn't be here and so maybe they have it wrong and he will be able to do more than they think.

Meanwhile, Red is looking well and is happy!