I bought my horse in June 2020, and I laid her to rest on 9/10/20. Her name was Gallant K Eveready, aka Firefly. She was a beautiful sorrel paint mare who arrived via transport to me in the Sacramento area. She was footsore, and her hooves were left barefoot and natural. I had my farrier check her, and they opted to put on front shoes only to support her legs. She was slightly lame, but with proper farrier care, she improved. My trainer gave her a good tune-up, and we had a half dozen rides between my son and I on her. About a month later, she became very footsore, and a few days later, she was in so much pain she couldn't walk and needed urgent vet care. Many thousands of dollars later, I found she had Cushing's and a host of other issues, including:
Bilateral forelimb lameness
Pastern arthritis
Scar and fluid build up over the right semimembranosus muscle.
Rotational laminitis/founder on both forefeet with RF/LF. Chronic coffin bone changes present. Right fore pastern osteoarthritis and suspected chronic/old lateral collateral ligament
I recommend you have any horse x-rayed and tested before purchase. The Knapps have refused to refund the purchase price and said she was always sound. They said they would only refund me if I returned her, which I couldn't do because she was suffering so much, and I wouldn't submit her to further pain.
Firefly was a sweet dear soul, and I loved her more than anything. Putting her down was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Please have your horses tested before purchase, so you don't have to go through what I did. read more