I’m afraid of ECVM. And KS (one of mine is absolutely wrecked by this, and I was also emotionally traumatized in the process), EDM, OCD, pasture accident, whatever else can go wrong that I’m maybe not even informed about. So many unknowns and fears.
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Yearlings can and should be radiographed, with conclusions to be drawn.
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Why would a breeder not allow x-rays on a weanling/yearling? That is just a strange thing to proclaim.
Looking at all those other things is important too. They are not exclusive of each other, one can look at all those important things and do x-rays too.
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I’ve never had a breeder say “no” when I’ve arranged a vetting, to include x-rays on a weaning or yearling. Sure, there are a few things at that age that can be a bit inconclusive, but some images can certainly tell you something(s).
When I last bought a horse it was a yearling. I actually went there to look at his siblings and not him. He wasn’t on my “of interest” list at all. When I got there I looked at 2 of the colts I was there for and instantly felt “no” about them. I felt so so on the filly, and “meh” on a younger gelding, but was drawn to him. The one I didn’t come for 
The breeder was more than happy to make the babies move around the field a bit, or put one in the arena in the case of the older (3) one. I was able to see them in their everyday living situations, and she was more than willing to discuss their keeping and feeding. I also personally knew/know 2 half siblings of my horse, and was able to meet his dam, sire, and other siblings while at the breeders place. It was a neat experience. I often buy sight unseen, but this is was worth the travel.
I liked my horse as a yearling because he was bold, willing to come up to me, and also just gave zero f*cks in a sensible way. His breeder was also more than willing to board him after purchase for his first few years of life/as long as I needed. This was handy, and I did do that for a few months before import.
A good breeder will be open, transparent, and let you vet/x-ray. I didn’t seek out his pedigree, but I had already seen numerous horses by his sire, and was able to judge their dispositions. What’s on his papers don’t matter to me so much, it was seeing his siblings, sire, and dam in action that was more worthwhile. Plus, I knew 2 stallions by his sire personally (friend owns them). So while what’s on the papers can be important, the living examples are very valuable. You do still have individuals and variables, so they’re not all going to be carbon copies, but generally you should notice some trends.
So vet the baby as you want to, ask the breeder questions, see the horse move, and look at other similarly bred horses to try to get an idea of what you might have one day.
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Jut adding here that connection on the ground and riding partner can be two different things once they are adults. I’ve bought yearlings for the last several horses. I have one now who I bought in large part for the personality and connection as a yearling…he is adorable, though cheeky! He is now 6 and while an awesome horse, I’ve just come to the conclusion that he and I are not a riding match and I am sending him out to the trainer who started him to be sold. Breaks my heart…as I often keep them for life too. But neither he nor I am happy…even though I totally adore him in many ways.
So there is a lot more uncertainty when you start with buying them that young.
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This is quite true. I’ve found connections between their behaviors and dispositions on the ground as a baby and what they’re like under saddle in many cases. It’s still not the same as buying a ridden or finished horse though.
I do try to buy marketable babies. So that way if once they’re backed, and they’re not my type, I can easily sell on to a good home. I’ve only had to do that once, fortunately.
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We were stabled next to Fabregas this summer at a show. He’s lovely with a great temperament.
I don’t think you can really tell that much about how they will ride as babies, though. I’ve had difficult babies who were great under saddle, and vice versa. Of course you can find some similarity, but the differences can be substantial.
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If you are looking at babies, look at the dam. What was she like under saddle? How does she move and look right now? If she is older how was her riding career? You can google most stallions but mares, not so much. You want parents that have been in work into their late teens minimum (IMO).
ECVM seems to be in just about every modern WB line. Your best bet may be something other than a WB if that’s something that worries you. I wish I could say “oh yeah, certain lines have it and certain lines don’t” but I’m seeing so many discouraging diagnoses in my circle, across every spectrum of WB lines.
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Dressage: I bought a yearling filly by Banter out of a Lessing mare. I had gone to look at a different filly but when I saw this one’s suspension I bought her instead. She was one of the best horses I’ve ever had. I also had a gelding by Futuro (Furioso) who was a grand prix horse and he was also amazing. So that’s my experience with B and F lines. In 2016 I bought a 3-day old Zonik filly out of a Quaterback mare bred by Mo Swanson and she is turning out to be amazing as well. I bought her after seeing a video of her running with her dam in a field, and of course I had seen video of Zonik. Do a prepurchase, raise them well with lots of turnout, start them carefully and not too young, and find a good teacher to help you along. Pay attention to their feet and learn about balance, NPA, barefoot vs. steel shoes vs. frog support glue ons. My Zonik filly competes barefoot now and she’s 8.
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I am ASSuming it takes quite a bit of sedative to radiograph the spine. I do know we had to sedate my mare multiple times to get good x-rays of her stifles because she had to hold still for a while to get good films. And she was not a foal. So if a breeder does not want their foal sedated just for films they are not necessarily hiding anything. They just don’t want their foal subjected to that for something that might not tell you anything. What you see at six months may not even be there when the horse is two years old. And a foal might look great at 6 months and have problems later on due to epiphytis because of poor or excessive nutrition after it is weaned, might injure itself or be injured by poor handling. There is no magic looking glass into the future.
I would examine the foal carefully - are there signs of puffy joints? Does it look unthrifty or is it overweight? Is it sound? What are the siblings doing undersaddle? I would worry about a foal not raised on green grass in a pasture big enough to get out and run around. I would be very wary of anything raised in a “pen”.
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In the latest peer-reviewed protocol on radiographing the C/T junction, Ros et Al 2023 recommend no sedation, actually.
“… Sedated horses may also rotate in the thorax so that it becomes difficult to obtain the correct straight projections. Avoiding sedation during the X-ray procedure of the lower neck may help, because sedated horses can drop their thorax quite dramatically, so in this study, no sedation was administered to horses during the radiographic examination.”
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I’ve had numerous horses x-rayed, and this includes hooves, knees, stifles, hocks, spine, neck, and a few other things. None have required sedation. They’ve been horses ages 1 to 8 years of age.
I guess it just depends.
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Same. It’s such a toss up, and why I like to be present for the PPE if at all possible (or any rads for my own horses). Lots of horses stand just fine for them, if you take your time. Some don’t, and those need sedation, but I try to avoid sedation whenever possible.
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It took quite a bit of sedation to radiograph the problem child’s stifles when she was three. They had to take her into a dark, isolated room and she had to hold still to get good films. That took a lot of time. The room was not open because of the radiation and I wondered what was going on in there. The vet however was happy to show me her “beautiful” stifle joints when they got done. Like I could tell. I cannot imagine doing her neck or back. I have never had that done and she has never given me any reason to think there are problems there. Not sure I would go through that unless I had some reason to suspect there was a problem and in which case I would not purchase anyway.
I have spine rads pulled somewhat regularly for my gelding that has KS and c-spine arthritis. We x-ray every other year as a baseline. It has been a mix of sedated and non-sedated. It really seems to depend on the vet.
I haven’t read this entire thread. I would add that I think who is breeding the horse is important. Good breeders are striving to produce good horses. They know their particular studbook, they know which lines mix well, they know what the temperament is likely to be, they know how to raise their foals to produce healthy adults, often they a producing for a specific discipline, it is likely they have performance records for a few generations available. Going to a good breeder cuts down on a lot of the uncertainty of purchasing a weanling. It is likely they have a few horses of different ages for sale or know of other weanlings by their stallion that are for sale.
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I absolutely adore the F-line horses I have known. Nice movers, nice trainability, great characters maybe a little slow legged behind.
Fàbregas himself was trained to Grand Prix and has lots of nice offspring out there. De Niro is one of my favorite sires of all time however, some of this offspring have OCD so it is worth x-raying for that. De Niro adds power, work ethic and a quicker hind leg and I think is a great cross for the F line.
I have trained two from B line. They have nice movement and big presence. They are fairly willing and brave, but are not worker bees like the De Niro’s.
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I have to say if I had dropped that kind of change on equipment, I’d want them sedated. I’m sure the company who insures the equipment would too. 
One of the most talented horses I have ever owned, ridden and trained was a B line Han. Older breeding with a good amount of substance…unfortunately not on the best of feet. One of the most correct movers in my life as well-elastic, with a lovely hind leg. Not extreme up front but lovely.
He was out of a somewhat quirky TB mare and was a little quirky himself, and was not always easy, but I did grow to love him. I do have a cousin through Grande, who is also lovely and a nice individual, but not quite as conformationally balanced.
I have heard the F lines make great partners.
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I posted above and really like Fabregas. I will not touch anything with Furstenball, so not all F line is the same IMO. Too much DSLD. I haven’t seen a Fabregas with that problem yet.
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