I have searched and read a bunch of threads, but still thought I’d get a sense of the collective COTH feeling towards “unexpected” kissing spines detected on a PPE. Horse in question is 7 years old and has fairly low miles. However, he was in consistent work from early spring last year to until the beginning of March of this year and was 100% sound throughout. Work was appropriate for his relative greenness (breeder starts them very slowly and carefully) - he was showing at 0.90m and was schooling up to 1.10m with a few grid jumps at 1.20m with no problems. He has now done basically nothing at all for nearly 4 months due to Covid19 and a soft tissue injury (which has no long term effects on soundness) and is just coming back into work. This makes him within my meager budget, otherwise I could never afford something so nice. He is at least an 8 mover both naturally and under saddle, has a solid/reliable and safe jump, a wonderful AA-friendly temperament, and an excellent work ethic. I have been shopping a fair bit and nothing else in my price range has come even close to capturing my interest the way he does.
I am looking to event up to Training level (1.0m) and dressage up to 3rd level but in no particular hurry to get to those levels!
In my 30 years of horse buying experience for me and my family, my general philosophy has been to not put a huge amount of weight to PPEs as they are just a moment in time. I have had horses pass with flying colors who then developed career ending navicular in a very short period of time and those that definitely didn’t pass with flying colors that were sound for many years. I did not do a PPE on my current horse - she was 4 and barely started when I bought her, but I am now having to semi-retire her for SI issues that wouldn’t have been caught on PPE.
Horse I am now vetting has clean basic x-rays from last fall and flexes perfectly all around. I chose not to do any additional leg or feet x-rays during the PPE as neither the vet nor I thought there was anything to be gained by doing so. I decided to have back and neck x-rays done just to have a baseline and in case something unexpected showed up…which, of course, it did! He has mild kissing spine with 4 thoracic vertebrae touching. The vet, breeder, and current trainer were all stunned - he shows no back sensitivity and nothing in his movement now or from videos spanning the last 18 months in work or his entire life would suggest a back issue or back pain. I know the breeder and trust her and the vet 100% so there is nothing being hidden here.
My gut instinct is to still buy him. My gut instinct is almost always correct, but horse-related emotions can cause “issues”, so…am I crazy?! Just read a fairly comprehensive research study showing 39% of horses who never showed signs of back pain or issues were found to have KS. I also lean towards “better the devil you know” - at least I know what I might be dealing with and can take steps to mitigate the issues in both riding and general management. But equally, I know 2 people (and have read multiple stories) of horses retiring at a young age from KS…so am I really stupid to “take on” that risk??
TIA for reading this epic novel and sharing anything thoughts you might have!