Help!!! I’ve found the perfect horse. I’ve already fallen in love but the vet check was less then stellar. 4 year old (will be 5 in February) with no history of lamness had positive feltlock flexions on both front legs. He corrected after about 5-8 strides but was obviously lame for the first 5 strides. Is this a deal breaker? He’s otherwise perfect. We’re calling out a second vet to see if the results are repeatable and are considering x-rays (the owners aren’t willing to do anything bc they don’t think it’s real). If the x-rays arent clear I know we’re done but what if they’re normal? I buying him as a hunter ( never over 3) trail and cross country
I would get a different vet out to start over and if they are positive again absolutely take x-rays.
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That said I’ll also say I got a 7 yr old Belgian Warmblood that had been for sale for low 5 figures. On ppe they found pastern arthritis that at the time was not causing a problem but would down the road. They gave him away. I got 2 years our of him before I had to retire him at age 9. I just put him to sleep this summeat age 13 because he was unable to get around the pasture without significant pain.
Flexions don’t tell you what might be wrong, they just point to an area that might be a problem. There is no way to determine if it’s suitable for the intended job or not without x rays. I would pass without x rays if I didn’t love horse and he was average talent wise. Why bother spending several hundred to investigate what’s wrong with somebody else’s horse and likely more treating it.
If he seemed perfectly trained for the job and was proven sound in that work and working soundly that day, I might x ray instead of just walking but No way, absolutely no way, would I buy one with questionable flexions without x rays. Just a variation on the should I buy a lame horse question. Let seller investigate and get him sound disclosing the info to you before writing any checks.
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It is possible to make virtually any horse respond positively to flexions if you crank hard enough.
That said, if the 2nd exam shows up “positive”, I absolutely wouldn’t buy him w/o clean radiographs (though even those wouldn’t completely r/o a problem.)
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I would hesitate in a 4 yo. Like above if you crank really hard you can make them sore but very obvious head bobbing lame on both fronts after a flexion would make me cautious. And no history of lameness doesnt mean much in a 4 yo who isnt consistently doing the job you’re going to be asking of him. Fetlocks are also high motion joints which are a pia when they develop arthritis.
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I have a story–I was selling a horse for client; horse was a three year old. It flexed positive in all four legs–the buyers backed out. The owner was panicked–the horse had clean xrays and prepurchase 6 months before, but the owner was certain that they couldn’t be accurate if he was now flexing positive in all four. I told him that there was nothing wrong, but he directed me to drop the price to any offer and move the horse. Another buyer came in, made a ridiculously low offer, got the horse (they didn’t bother with a PPE), and the horse is now in its 20’s and still sound. Horse never had a problem, and the buyers keep asking me to find another like that!
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I had this happen, made me wince how hard that vet flexed. Turned out that vet ended up selling that buyer one of their own horses.
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If it’s the perfect horse radiograph it.
Flexions should be a guideline, not a deal breaker.
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I had a 6 yr old Homebred Tb that I bought many eons ago. He had not raced nor race trained ever. He was at the training eventing/ light prelim level when I tried and vetted him. That horse was positive on all 4 legs with flexions. Not all joints, but all legs. I owned him for 3 years. We made it to Intermediate and were kicking along well but decided to sell him to be a Young Riders horse as you could tell he wasn’t going to go beyond Intermediate. At his vetting for the people who bought him, he was prefect on flexions on all 4 legs. It really goes to show that a flexion is a moment in time snippet. It does not predict that the same things will stay forever. Which is a fallacy I see repeated often. As many will attest 2 different vets in 2 different days can get 2 different sets of results on the same flexions.
Em
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What was the score (usually a score out of 5 is assigned, with 1 being the least lame)?
If he’s otherwise the perfect horse, I would have done Xrays of the fetlocks to see what the problem is. It could be as simple as a shoeing angle that needs to be corrected that’s putting strain on his fetlocks, or perhaps the vet was too aggressive with the flexion, or perhaps he played hard in the pasture that day and was a little sore, or perhaps he has a serious issue you need to walk away from.
Flexions in an of themselves aren’t a diagnostic tool; they instead point to a place that may have an issue so that we can do further diagnostics on that spot. The results and accuracy are incredibly variable.
None of us can tell you whether he’s suitable for your intended purpose. Your vet should have enough information and experience to say “I think this horse will/will not be serviceably sound for your intended purpose.” But no one over the internet with a single data point of positive flexions can tell you that. You need to do more diagnostics and then ask your vet for the educated opinion for which you’re paying.
Frankly I think a vet check without at least a simple set of xrays is relatively useless. Without going deeper, the vet is only able to assess whether the horse presents as sound on that given day and has no indication of future soundness or underlying problems.
I was selling a 3 year old quite a while back before X-rays were really a thing. Came up dead lame on flexions but they bought him anyway. Resold him later and he had quite a show career as a large junior. Got him back when he retired from showing and had him until he was put down at age 25 due to complications of colic and Cushings. Never took a lame step. Probably one of the soundest horses I’ve ever known. I don’t really think of flexions as a useful tool anymore. I’d rather see X-rays and know what the horse is currently doing to make up my mind.
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Let me also point out that if said horse had passed flexions with flying colors, that does NOT mean there ISN’T a possible problem that could surface down the road. As an example, my own horse flexed just fine on his hocks that were advanced in fusion. I pushed for x-rays and I’m glad I did. But his flexions didn’t let on that he had an issue there.
Flexions are just one piece of the puzzle; take them with a grain of salt. If you really like the horse, do x-rays of the front feet and go from there. If the horse rides good and moves well, I would give less weight to the flexions.
A positive flexion doesn’t mean there is a problem; and a negative flexion doesn’t mean there’s not a problem. It’s just another piece of information to interpret.
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Flexion tests are rather unreliable. False positives are definitely possible if you crank too hard, and just because the joint X-rays clean doesn’t mean there isn’t a soft tissue injury.
My mare flexed positive in her right hind. I thought it was her stifle, vet agreed. X-ray came back clean, maybe one tiny change. Vet injected and she went back to work. A month later still thought she was nqr. Second vet exam, flexed positive, stifle, clean X-ray, this vet does ultrasound and we find holes in 2 patellar ligaments. Horse was never lame, just getting quick after fences.
The moral if this his story is horses are complicated, delicate, and flipping expensive. It’s definitely not safe to buy one, but what choice do we have? If you want this horse, get to the bottom of this before you buy. Good luck!!
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The usefulness of flexions is directly related to the talent and training of the person doing the flexions.
This. And to a point, the level of pain tolerance of the horse being flexed. I’ve seen horses that look 3 legged lame for days over a bug bite, and ones with giant chips in their knee joint that look dead sound.
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Most horses in work will vet off on at least one flexion. Definitely get radiographs and go from there.
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I agree with Jonem404. Xrays do not show soft tissue problems. I am not sure whether flexion are very accurate. We all know of sound horses that maybe flexed off. I would worry more about nqr on the lunge or trot in hand.
I rode a mare that for was for sale for years. She was another who couldn’t pass a flexion on one her front legs, and I think xrays showed a bit of arthritis. I rode/ and competed her for about 10 years and rarely had any issues with her being sound. She was a great horse didn’t require any pro rides / prep or schooling before a class - just a couple of warm-up fences. I bought a horse that failed a flexion on 1 hind leg, vet passed him with reservations. I didn’t listen. Ended up a lawn ornament. So you never know. I agree on getting another vet to check the horse out if you really like him but if horse fails with the 2nd vet, I’d walk away. I’d feel different if the horse was older -as you might expect a little something and with proper maintenance and program would be fine. A 4 year old IMO too young to have something going on. There are a lot of horses out there, don’t burn your purpose budget on PPEs
You might want to do a google search on equine flexion tests. They aren’t terribly great predictors of future lameness or even radiographic abnormalities. And as other posters noted, it is possible to generate a positive flexion test when enough pressure is applied.
Prospective-Evaluation-of-Forelimb-Flexion-Tests.pdf (53.9 KB)
