Vetting/Radiology question

[wild_west]

I recently vetted a horse I really liked using a vet other than my own because of the distance. The horse had some behavioral issues which we believed to be from past training when he was imported. I was about to close on the same, and the radiology report came back with some red flags to me (and my home vet).

These are the findings:

RADIOGRAPHIC FINDINGS:

CERVICAL SPINE:

Eight lateral views of the cervical spine are available for review. There is mild flexion at
C3-4 that is in excess of the adjacent sites. There is mild dorsal tipping of C4 with respect
to C3. The inter-vertebral ratio is 0.50 and the intra-vertebral ratio in cranial C4 is 0.49 at
this site. The C6-7 articular processes are mildly enlarged but smoothly margined. The
intra-vertebral ratio in C6 is 0.49.

IMPRESSIONS:

Mild kyphosis (flexion) at C3-4 that is in excess of the adjacent sites. There are also
reduced sagittal ratios at this site. This combination of findings likely indicates increased
risk for stenotic myelopathy. Mild C6-7 articular process enlargement, consistent with anatomic variation. The reduced ratio in C6 also represents increased risk for but is not predictive of stenotic myelopathy.

My vet noticed in some of the lunging videos that the horses head carriage was inconsistent. Now that I think about it, in my videos of riding him, he was knocking his toes together a decent amount too.

My question is, was this an overreaction to bail, or did I make the right decision to pass. I really loved the horse despite some of his troubles, but was willing to give it time to work through it and do a proper restarting. The goal was to develop horse as a mid-upper level eventer.

[Bonnie2]

Did your vet review the images? Truthfully, if I don’t know the PPE vet I take their findings into account but not as gospel. Always video the physical exam and send the video and all imaging to someone you trust. It is worth the extra investment!

[Lusoluv]

If your home vet you trust also saw the red flags the PPE vet did, that would be enough for me. You can always get a third opinion by sending report to a top equine center like Hagyard or Rood & Riddle in KY, and it’s not terribly expensive. I know how hard bad news can be when your heart was set to buy him, but you have to trust the facts and the health pros.

[luvmyhackney]

@wild_west

Mild C6-7 articular process enlargement, consistent with anatomic variation

If I were going to pass on the horse, it would be due to this. That’s just a bad place for arthritis for a galloping cross country horse.

If the horse is already doing the job you want, go for it.

If it’s a prospect with behavioral issues, I’d personally pass. He’s telling you something doesn’t feel good.

[Amberley]

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[JB]

The findings, plus the fact that he’s already displayed behavioral issues, would be a hard pass for me unfortunately. It’s so easy to blame all behavior issues on “poor training” especially when you don’t really know the true history.

[Paint_Party]

@luvmyhackney

If it’s a prospect with behavioral issues, I’d personally pass. He’s telling you something doesn’t feel good.

Same here. Pass.

[IPEsq]

That would be a no from me, though you may want to have a radiologist or neuro specialist review the rads and see if they agree with the measurements. I don’t have tolerance for neck stuff in general, but suspected wobbler’s and I’m 1000% out.

[wild_west]

The horse is 8 years old, showing lower level jumpers and BN eventing. I think both the training as a young horse (which I’ve seen on video), and these red flags both might be factors to the behavior.

[cayuse]

Put me on the pass list as well. I had a friend with a horse that had C6-7 arthritis an it didn’t end well. It started with tripping and progressed rapidly.

[Simkie]

If you really love the horse, send the rads off to a boarded radiologist or other vet who looks at a bazillion neck films for an overread.

But yeah, I’d not sign up for a neck horse, especially one with “behavioral” issues. I’m sorry

[IPEsq]

To translate, this isn’t arthritis. The joints are smooth, although enlarged.

For info on the saggital ratios —

A value for sagittal ratio of ≤0.51 from C3-C6 inclusive and ≤0.54 at C7 predicts spinal cord compression with >95% sensitivity and specificity according to the original description Moore et al. 1994). In practice, cut-off values of 0.50 for C3-C6 and 0.52 for C7 are typically used.

There is some literature that shows that any given person analyzing the horse might have some variation in their measurements. Thus, it would be great for someone well versed in this to take measurements. There is a very small sort of gray area, but overall, if the ratios are bigger, then it’s super unlikely the horse has cord compression. But if they are actually in the range your PPE vet has measured, the risk of wobbler’s is very high.

The horse might be functioning ok at this moment (albeit with behavior problems), but this is a super dangerous risk to undertake. You don’t know for sure without a myelogram, but I have a friend that bought a young horse with much less clear of a report than this, and she’s lucky she didn’t lose her life in a rotational fall, only a tooth. Better radiographs followed by myelogram did confirm the worst.