I have a new mare in training, reports were she was being a bit ‘footy and ouchy’ Nothing major, but I was going to jump in and get diagnostics done…seeing as I didn’t do a PPE…I know my bad.
i was kind of shocked to be quoted $700 for farm call, work up and rads…as a ball park figure. I have no way of knowing if that is good or bad…
Thank goodness, the first reports I got seemed to be very pessimistic, panic has subsided, but wondering how much this usually costs.
Converting to US $s that estimate seems reasonable…sorry and hope things continue to improve!!
So many factors come in to play here. I’m in the MidWest US (for now) and my excellent vet charges (off my last bill- last night ba ha ha— sob)
-$50 farm call
$700 was the cost of my prepurchase which included:(not for above mentioned horse)
$300 prepurchase exam plus
11 xrays at $30 each plus a farm call
I knew the horse so didn’t do bloodwork etc.
When one of mine had her hocks done it was about 350, stifles were 550 (more xrays).
A pony get full xrays up front, sedated in Sep and it was hovering around 250-300.
Ask them for a break down:
-Farm call
-Lameness exam
And don’t be afraid to have a budget and stick to it. I basically have a price sheet now of what my vet charges by way of all my bills 
, if it is a bigger expense I ask.
Are there still vets that charge this way? It’s been years since I’ve seen anyone do anything but a digital x-ray, and IME with digital it’s always been per joint/area, so say $150 for feet that’s a flat rate for however many shots they take.
It really, really depends on what kind of exam/workup you’re getting for your money. Last winter, I had the vet out to take a look at one problem area and x-ray on my mare, and it was around $250. But we knew exactly where the issue was, and what he was looking for. It wasn’t a “horse is slightly off” guessing game that was going to require blocking, various x-rays and ultrasounds, etc. Trying to locate and diagnose is going to be a lot more expensive.
Ask for a breakdown, of farm call, lameness exam, joint/area x-ray cost, sedation, ultrasounds, etc. The vet should have a pricelist for all everything and be able to give you the smartest way to spend your money on figuring out what’s wrong.
My last farm call was $75 (and my vet is only 10 miles away, so this is pretty standard rate around here). Lameness exam was $120 in 2016, blocks were additional and I want to say rads of front feet were around $150? I’d have to dig out the bill to itemize, and I’m sure costs have gone up since. Depending on how many joints you want to see on film $700 may or may not be unreasonable.
My last lameness workup (in 2016) ran about $1200 total - exam w/ flexions, blocks, sedation, rads of front feet and hocks, and injecting both hocks (lower joint only). I hauled in so no farm call.
It’s definitely not cheap to explore.
X-rays of fronts might mean something different, depending on what you are looking for. I think a full set of x-rays like you might get on a PPE is 5 per foot isn’t it? I paid $45/x-ray for a horse last winter in New York, and that’s pretty similar to what my own vet here in WA would charge. So that is $450 (US) for fronts. Some do a discount on a series, like front feet x-rays for $x, just depends on the vet. Then there is sedation, the lameness exam, and call fee – I can guarantee that my vet in WA would be much more than $700 Canadian for all you are describing (but he’s expensive). Maybe call around in your area just to get an idea what is standard.
I’ve had it both ways in recent years, flat fee for a certain area or by the x-ray, My last two PPEs in 2018 and 2017, the vets charged so much per x-ray. One charged a minimal “set-up” fee as well. My own vet has done both, charged by the film or a flat fee per area.
That doesn’t seem too far off to me. I just spent $1500 on a PPE which was physical exam, a little sedation for x-rays, and multiple views of front feet/fetlocks, hocks and stifles. I’m in CA and it was a lameness specialist. It was kind of a shock and unfortunately the horse didn’t pass. Now I’ve lived and learned and will tell the vet to forget x-rays if anything is iffy on the clinical.
It is shocking to me how vague many of the vets I speak to are on cost. Basically no one offers cost up front unless you specifically demand to know.
Yes, the lameness specialist in my area charges $75 and change for the first x-ray and $36 and change for every image/view after that. This is INSANE to me - one foot (hoof) X-rays could easily top $225 for images alone. But maybe I’m just cheap?
Mine does (obviously) and it’s pretty standard around here. I was annoyed because I did 30 shots on prepurchase and some were holding errors by the assistant so I wasn’t thrilled. It’s digital, as well.
My vets typically charge by the Xray (sometimes they are lumped into a body part series on the bill), but I do not get charged for digital xrays that get deleted because it was poor quality / held at a bad angle/ whatever. That’s crazy.
I also haven’t been charged for the bad shots that needed retaking. I’d be pretty annoyed if I was!
This is exactly in line with what I just ran in SoCal. I skipped bloodwork as I had to had some of that pulled before she moved into state, but the PPE included a full exam, flexions, etc, as well as a dental check. Xrays were $30-50 depending on location.
Was quoted recently $200-250 for a farm call and a few back radiographs.
I paid 1200.00 for xrays on front feet and farm call, Lameness workup and 30 days of Prasend. I was shocked…last time I had xrays, lameness exam and farm call ( same xrays) I paid 550.00. in NC. NoVa prices are crazy.
In British Columbia, Canada I did a (rather extensive) PPE on my horse. General health and lameness exam, rads of stifles, hocks, front feet, pasterns, fetlocks, knees. Mind you, in BC is very expensive with this stuff compared to back home (Ontario) so I paid a grand total of $2,100.
This included:
-farm call
-general health exam
-flexions
-aprox. 20-25 radiographs
I don’t have in front of me what I paid for what, but I would say $700 is pretty accurate. Depending on where you are in Canada, however. Obviously my experience out west has shown me that things run a little higher opposed to other parts of Canada (rads noticeably more expensive, don’t have the dollar amount memorized), but for a general lameness exam + the rads that is probably an accurate and fair figure.
Best of luck, hope you soon see improvement!
Just had lameness exam, RF rads (4-5?), sedation, osphos and farm call come in at $1000. N California.
My most recent lamness exam, for just the exam and 4 x-rays(stifle), ran about $460. $140 farm call, $105 lameness exam, $40 set up fee, and $45 per view. We didn’t use sedation.
That sounds within reason, esp if you are in the GTA. I am not, but in a good sized city. I’ve had two vets out in the last few months to investigate an issue. Different horses, different vets from different clinics. Both cases only involved one joint (hock), but several views of the joint. Cost was just shy of $500 in both instances. So, if you are having a vet investigate two legs, rather than one…seem about right,.
I paid around $250 for complete lameness exam, blocks, and xrays of one front. Then paid $215 for follow up ultrasound on another day. Seemed like a good price. Back xrays on a previous visit were $150 for 5 views with farm call.
I paid $405 this summer for a lameness (follow-up) exam, nerve block, and 5 sets of rads, three on the lame foot and two on the other. This is western NY.
Is sedation common for x-rays? I’ve never had my horse sedated, but he’s a pretty mellow guy who mostly just wants to eat the lead apron in case it has carrots in it.
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