What is an ocelet ankle on a thoroughbred horse? an they jump 3ftish with an ocelet?

Question

there is a thoroughbred mare I wanna buy from a friend and he says she has an ocelet ankle. and I do 3'6 hunters right now and I wanna know if she could jump with an ocelet ankle. she doesnt look lame she looks perfectly fine and she is completly sound except for the ocelet that you cant tell she has. I just wanna know if it will holdup to atleast 3ft jumping..

Answer 1

The OTTB I used to ride had an ocelet ankle. When I leased her, she was 20, so couldn't do higher than 3'3 ft. This is the timeline of her life:

1-5 years old = race!

5-10 years old = retrain how to jump!

10-11 years old = compete! (a bit..)

11-17 years old = be ridden a couple of times a week, jump ocassionaly

17-21 years old = jump! (about 3'3 ft)

It was sad. My trainer said that if her owner had ridden her and competed her during the 10-17 years old period, she could of done jr. jumpers. ): (around 4'3 ft.)

Also, get a vet check. Hers might be worse, but ask the vet if they reccomend jumping or if they tell you not to jump her.

Answer 2

Osselets are fibrous and/or bony lumps that form on the fetlock joints, formed when horses race at speed.  

When they first form, the area is very sore, but once they've healed up just the callus remains.

Unless there's more wrong than just osselets, she should be fine.  Occasionally they develop arthritis, but if you can't even see them (they can make the joint huge), you're probably ok.