It’s not as good as in clinic rads but some machines and vets are able to get enough in the field that it can help during referrals.
Em
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BINGO! First off, I’ve had a horse with KS (TB) and we never got ahead of it. Second, the horse is not up to the level I want to go so if this guy was running 3 star and ready to step down and doing fine, I would not but he is a 6 year old OTTB that has 2 novice under his belt and I want to go T/M/P eventually. At the very least, I will have rads to compare with down the road.
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I would trust if YOU – Em – told me your KS horse had zero symptoms. You have a great eye for soundness and I consider you a true horsewoman. I would trust very few other people.
On the other side of the coin, I see clinically obvious symptoms of KS in horses that are advertised as 100% sound with KS rads. For now, it seems only super experienced horsemen such as yourself and some others can accurately rule out the KS isn’t bothering them. Even vets can totally ignore the glaring (IMO) signs. I’m reminded of a post that caused quite a stir in the big KS group on FB this summer. The poster was a vet who used her own UL eventer (4* IIRC) as an example of “horses who don’t read their x-rays”. She showed rads and they were objectively bad (several overlapping processes). There were videos of her horse’s recent dressage test[s] posted and he, to me, was a textbook clinically uncomfortable horse. So many people cannot see discomfort until it’s 3-legged.
There are pain-related symptoms of KS that are overlooked because they don’t manifest in the back. A lot of people can’t tell the horse is in pain unless it limps. A lot of KS horses won’t limp. There several big name resellers I put in this category and with anything else horses, it’s caveat emptor.
Having my own KS horse that is symptomatic but very subtle, I can say it’s a struggle. He never had the typical symptoms, but his pan has shown in other ways.
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And many people put those symptoms down to unjustified bad attitude and behavior on the part of the horse.
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Could I just do a PPE that doesn’t come up lame??!! First PPE was lame in all 4 legs and the entire neck had been injected. Second horse I loved, lame in 3 legs (had been hot nailed on the front but both hocks didn’t flex so I guess technically lame in 2 legs and sore on a 3rd!).
They didn’t disclose the neck injections before the ppe? Yikes.
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The owner was very nice and said she had did a bone scan so I asked for the report and saw there was nuchal calcifications and they injected the whole neck. Luckily I had not gotten to the PPE. But the horse was there for lameness (I didn’t realize that) and the vet noted all legs lame which may have been neck but still.
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Yikes. This is my worst fear, as I start thinking about another horse. That I’ll blow my entire purchase budget on PPE’s. Fingers crossed for a successful purchase for you Cindy!
I window shop ads all the time and good lord how many are clearly lame in the hind end, on the videos sellers CHOSE to post! I can make anything lame if I stare at it long enough but these are 10 seconds of video and I’m already scrolling away.
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As a semi-related update, my buyer opted to do “the whole shebang,” as the vet put it, of X-rays. He was glowing at the end, but vetted beautifully so one more kind, sound OTTB headed off to his forever home last week.
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Whatever one thinks about the necessity ofa whole-shebang PPE, it is nice to have a benchmark status on a whole lotta things. Especially for a forever home, some day some of it will be useful.
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Exactly, I don’t mind—and in this case, the buyer had big goals for this guy! I’ve been incredibly lucky in that I’ve never had a buyer pass on one of my TBs due to a PPE, so it’s also a good reassurance that my general eye and gut are trustworthy for these guys.
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Got anymore for sale?
Not at the moment, unfortunately! Did you have another unlucky vetting?! 
Just the 2 I vetted. First was lame in all 4 legs and the entire neck had been injected. Second was only lame in 3 legs so it’s getting better!
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100% agree! 
I have a question. Ok, many thoroughbred breeders I personally know prep their yearlings intensely eg lunging in reasonably tight side reins in order to ‘build muscle and topline’ for 5mths or so. Do you think practices like this and many others, at such a tender age might contribute to the rise in spinal issues?
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I have worked on the track and at breaking farms for a LONG time. Have never seen this in my time or currently.
Emily
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I was a yearling manager at a very large farm (100-150 yearlings annually) for 15+ years in Kentucky. I’ve seen far too much
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Revisiting this thread to see current thoughts on the market. I’ve been casually searching for a modified/prelim packer and I’m surprised that people are asking mid fives for horses that have a record littered with letters. Perhaps they would be good as a step down? I also see that TBs at the mid to lower levels are not bringing the prices as their warmblood counterparts. A TB going novice is 15k-20k where an Irish sport horse or a conny cross start at 50k. Is this a result of the pandemic where people bought TBs and now the market is flooded?
Breed bias. TBs still suffer from the misconception that they are lower quality, less sound, less competitive, or harder to ride than their (often mostly TB) WB counterparts. My experience in HJ tells me there are plenty of “warmblood x” horses out there with JC numbers lost to time or intention.
While there is some truth to “less competitive” in the hunters and dressage world, it makes no sense to me in eventing. A well built and trained TB can hold its own just fine, and often be easier to get fit.
In regard to the market, I think it has softened considerably. Horses are sitting for longer and/or selling for less (outside of the upper end of the market which never seems to budge). At the same time, sellers are still thinking in COVID prices when listing initially, and I see tons of horses advertised with significant price reductions.
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