At 8 one of my horses was diagnosed with navicular. Xrays looked bad.
He is 20 now and still competing in jumpers. If the horse is in work I wouldn’t be too concerned. Navicular can be managed pretty easily; equioxx, barefoot, glue on shoes, PEMF, etc. And if it gets bad enough, nerving is always an option; it’s not the scary thing it used to be, and you can still show and compete the horse just fine.
How much do you trust the seller? It’s not uncommon for the less scrupulous types to use vet A for all basics stuff and vet B is their meds/injections vet. That lets them release “full records” on vet A while no one even knows to ask about vet B.
I’d have new x-rays evaluated by your vet and at least one additional vet. Some have a higher tolerance for ugly navicular bones but at the end of the day, they aren’t the ones paying the bill if you purchase a lame horse.
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This. Does bloodwork show use of pain killers? If so - pull that too.
I’m not sure if you mentioned this, but what is your plan if the horse is only sound for a year or two? Do you have retirement facilities? I can only afford to board one horse - so my answer would be different if that is the scenario versus you having your own farm where you could retire him on the cheap.
My advice is ALWAYS buy the soundest horse you can find. Mine passed a PPE with flying colors. Doesn’t mean we haven’t had our issues, but for my situation with only being able to board one horse - it was important to me to have a clean PPE.
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Listen to your vet. I have two horses that had “career-ending” problems. I rehabbed them both and ride them both. One was free and the other was dirt cheap. One of them is now a 6-figure sale, but NFS. Both are talented and athletic, intelligent horses. Gorgeous, too. But I went in knowing that I was taking a calculated risk.
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It sounds like you’re planning to do your due diligence in doing a complete PPE, including comparative x-rays. The only thing I’ll add that you didn’t mention is to get your farrier’s opinion on the x-rays (pre- and post-) as well. If there’s something there to maintain, you’ll want your farrier’s judgment on what that might look like, so that you can factor that into your considerations also.
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Along that line, I used to know anexcellent equine bodyworker, and had more than one client ask him to assess a potential purchase. His observations were quite helpful.
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I would get new films and do a complete pre-purchase. Films are only as good as the person taking them, their equipment and their ability and experience in making interpretation.
You can also seek the opinion of a certified Radiologist to look at old and new films together. That is the route I would take, It is not a slam against your current vet, just the reasonable thing to do when making a major $$ decision
It sounds like your have found a good horse, I wish you every good thing
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It’s a struggle in my price point for dressage- I’ve looked lots of tb’s (impossible to find one with gaits for dressage, they aren’t really built for it) , draft crosses, green as grass 3 yo’s cross-bred that aren’t backed yet…this is the first horse that I could get on and show and be competitive on. If he was very inexpensive it would b a much easier choice. But owner wants high four figures. I haven’t been able to find a WB my budget.
my previous horse was a nice WB - unfortunately career limiting neck arthritis so I took a huge bath selling her as a trail horse. She had perfect leg xrays, lol. I was going to have to move to a cheaper boarding barn , put her and “new horse” on pasture board to afford 2 horses. But I was lucky to find a home for her, so I’m horseless right now.
Other option is to down grade my goals to what I can afford, but I really don’t want to do that yet
It seems extremely unlikely that you’ll find a better deal than high four figures for a 3rd Level 9-year-old that you could be competitive on. I’ve been shopping and I see people asking high 4s and low 5s for TBs less than two months off the track! If the horse is currently sound and your vet signs off on it, I’d say go for it. Sidebone and “navicular changes” are hardly the scariest X-ray findings.
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Exactly why I am so interested in this guy! Did I meant he’s “wow”?!
Does that make you nervous at all that something else is going on in addition to the bad xrays? In thinking about it more, they don’t sound “bad enough” to me to justify such a low price if the horse is truly competitive at 3rd. And is he truly schooling 3rd Level collection or is he really doing 1st Level and can pop a change? Does he have a show record? Do you know how long he’s been on the market? You don’t have to answer all these questions here but they’re what I’d be asking in your position.
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Libby2563 - I sent you a PM.
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Agree with all of these questions…
Sidebone generally wouldn’t bother me. If you live somewhere with super hard footing maybe I would hesitate a little but probably not a lot, depending on the vet records. The navicular–I’d get an opinion from a radiologist maybe. A lot of WBs show some changes that often are not clinically significant. And then you weigh in the fact that the horse is and has been doing the job you want and presumably doing it well. Look at how he’s shod. Also you might want to hoof test to make sure he’s not nerved or something as part of your PPE. If they disclose medical records, that should tell you if they’ve been giving Osphos/Tildren.
In any event, from your description, there are a whole lot of other things that I’d put in the “scary” X-ray category for a dressage horse, and these things aren’t high on that list unless going along with that you suspect DDFT problems or the horse appears to be high maintenance. The low price would be more likely to make me question other factors like temperament and whether he actually has been doing the job you want to do for any meaningful amount of time.
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I might also consider pulling blood or urine samples to determine if the horse is legitimately sound, or drugged. I once had a client purchase a lovely mare who turned into a monster several days later. To this day I swear she was drugged with some sort of long-lasting tranquilizer. We had vets, chiro, everything out to check her but it seemed she was just a nasty horse. The previous owner had declined a 1 month trial because she was going to be moving away - turns out she never moved. I later learned she came from a poorly bred line that had a reputation for firecrackers. Fortunately, my client had a heart of gold and gave that nasty mare a lovely life as a pasture ornament.
High four figures is quite inexpensive if the horse is competent at third level, much less a “wow” type. As you are doing a PPE, assuming the vet understands what you want to do with this horse, you should be able to get a solid opinion on his suitability. One thing I would consider under the circumstances is whether you want to take on the maintenance that may be required to keep this horse sound and happy - special shoeing, medication, etc.
Good, you are doing PPE. Fresh perspective from your vet. Please pull blood, as others have suggested. You’ll make a better decision.
