Hi there! I’m doing a pre-purchase exam on a lovely Warmblood mare that I am buying most likely for resale. The vet doing the check does a PPE special bundle price for 16 x-ray views. What views would you think would be most useful, especially for showing to buyers down the road that might be interested in the mare? She is coming 4, has lived in a field her whole life up to a few months ago when the trainer started her. Thanks in advance for any input!
I always do all feet, knees, stifles and hocks. That’s more than 16 rads.
Prioritize based on weaknesses in the horse’s conformation.
Front feet, hocks, stifles. Other things might depend on the findings of the vet exam.
Knees are usually optional but certainly most important if buying TB’s from the track. I always do the navicular foot shots as well as the regular foot rad’s too. Hocks, stifles and all 4 feet is normal. We always take a base line set of these radiographs for all our 3 year old’s before they go into full work. Nice to have them for reference in the future and for any questions on a PPE down the line.
Awesome, thanks for your replies. I will aim to do all four feet and hocks and stifles. Hopefully they will be able to do these in 16 views!
If I was making choices, stifles over back feet (alwaysalwaysalways front feet and hocks). Back feet are not exactly the hot spot for trouble like front feet, hocks and strifles (<- typo, but such an AWESOME typo, so I’m leaving it) Caveat - unless there is something wonky about that back foot!
I would also choose based on conformation, flexion tests and how things palpate. But for most 4 yr old WBs : front feet, hocks, stifles, and I am surprised that no one has mentioned BACK (thoracic and lumbar).
After having a horse with a compressive myelopathy, I now do neck X-rays as part of my PPEs.
And I’ve since had one with back issues, so will likely add the back to my collection.
If you’re buying for resale, I’d X-ray as much as you can afford. Sixteen is not very many X-rays considering each joint is usually done from a couple of different angles.
I would definitely decide based on conformation and vet recommendation.
My gelding is toed-out in front, so I had x-rays done of the fronts. This helped immensely, as my vet worked with my farrier on shoeing. 6 years later, and he only has very slight bony changes in his fetlocks, which for me is a huge win.
I do x-rays of the front feet every year, so we can track problems and how the hoof looks.
Here’s the list of views I had done on the last pre-purchase I did:
A) 4 views of each front foot:
- 65 degree D-V view
- Flexor view of the navicular bone
- Lateral view of forefoot
- A/P view of forefoot
B) 4 views of each hock (don’t have names written down but they are standard)
C) 2 views of each stifle
That’s only 18 shots, so pretty close to the deal you’re getting. The way mine were done, the fetlocks were viewable in some of the hoof rads, if they had not been, my vet felt that 2-3 views of each front fetlock were pretty basic.
If budget were no concern, I’d have done neck and back as well.
All good advice here I would just add… I’d ask the vet to do a neuro evaluation, especially if neck and back xrays are out of your budget.
Good luck and how exciting!
Thanks so much for the replies. Neck and back I’ve never considered…How many views do you have to do for those to be worthwhile? I’d really like to stay at the 16 views…I vetted another horse quite extensively which did not work out so don’t want to spend a ton more than I have to on this girl if everything looks good with the 16 rads.
[QUOTE=horsenic;9013893]
Thanks so much for the replies. Neck and back I’ve never considered…How many views do you have to do for those to be worthwhile? I’d really like to stay at the 16 views…I vetted another horse quite extensively which did not work out so don’t want to spend a ton more than I have to on this girl if everything looks good with the 16 rads.[/QUOTE]
16 views is fairly limited, because of the number of views you need to get a full look at each joint. I would ask the vet what the charge for additional views is, and not be so wedded to 16 just because it is the package deal, particularly on something for resale. You have to weigh your personal budget against the risk of not finding something that would kill the resale potential. If I had not done a very thorough set of PPE radiographs, I would currently own a horse with what the vet described as “prominent bone spurs” in both stifles, which you could only see on a particular view that would not have been caught in a limited set of views. So while that PPE was expensive, it was also highly informative.
Front Feed, Fetlocks, Stifles, Hocks. Knees if a TB. I also always have them scoped, measured if I haven’t seen them in person,
For resale I’d spring for the extra views. Penny wise and pound foolish to save a few hundred dollars now to find out in a year you have a horse you can’t sell because she’s five with terrible rads.
Front feet and hocks for sure. Ankles and knees if the horse is off the track. I will radiograph the stifles and the back as well if it’s for resale. If you have a limited budget do the front feet and hocks and then go by what the flexions tell you.
I would say that fetlocks are more important to me in any horse for or who has been jumping. Concussive energy can do more than you realize and I for one was caught dealing with an OCD on the saggital ridge in one of my horses that I bought for next to nothing but it cost me dearly in trying to sell him. After the discovery we disclosed it but it was a big learning experience in what to xray on future sale horses. Especially considering the wide range of vet opinions with folks just looking at the rads and determining the horse’s future abilities. What helped was that when we sold him this past fall we had 4 sets of rads to show that area over 4 years. Minimal change and now it’s largely believed to have been there since his youth. But man initially a vet was ‘positive’ he wouldn’t hold up to any serious jumping, and he has in spades without any injections or maintenance.
Emily
Also piping in to include back x rays! I feel like this is such a handy thing to have because :
- if back x rays turn up to have issues, you dodged a bullet
- if back x rays appear clean and no issues then you have a set to look upon if horse develops back soreness, etc
My mare got extreme back soreness April 2016. I took her to the clinic to get a basic lameness exam and then see what the vet recommended. She did the exam and then looked at me and said “Either you can take her home and mess around with her for the next few months or we can go inside and get back radiographs taken.” The x rays were clean so we easily figured out saddle was issue.
For a young warmblood, I’d definitely do hocks, stifles as those are the most prone to ocd/cysts. Front feet to know what youre working with. So 4 for each hock (lateral, dp, then both obliques), at least 2 of each stifle (lateral, dp), at least 2 of each foot (lateral and dp). That’s 16 there. More views of each foot may be warranted. I prefer to get a navicular shot as well. Back is generally 2 (double check with your ppe vet, not every machine has the ability to get good ones depending on the horse). If you can’t sedate it, I wouldn’t bother with neck rads since they for the most part aren’t diagnostic without the horse being super straight. Neck issues are becoming more well known and diagnosed but small lesions are difficult to see on radiographs particularly if you aren’t a radiologist or used to looking at them. They are a b*tch to read.
