What is a deal breaker in a vet check for you?

[DollyDoll]

So I posted a while ago on this forum about a horse I liked while horse shopping, decided I was decided on him so I went ahead with the vet check. Now, I’m no vet and since the horse is far away I got an independent vet recommended to me by my vet to go check him and x ray him and everything was great in the initial check up, problems came when it got to the x rays. For context the horse is 10 (checked his passport and he was actually born 2011) but already has a bit of articular degeneration (sorry if I butcher these anomalies, all of it is translated from Spanish), an slight over bone (Sobrehueso in Spanish, though I think its actually called spavin in English), and signs of podotrochlear syndrome that has’t devolped yet. According to the vet he moves well and shows no sign of lameness or any issues which is why he was surprised when he x rayed and saw what he saw since otherwise the horse is super healthy for his age and he’s never even been medicated for anything (besides vaccines).

My question is, what is a deal-breaker health-wise? Do you compromise when looking for the perfect horse when it comes to the vet and how much do you compromise?

[paw]

What are your plans for the horse? Compete at the level he’s at? Move higher? Resell? All of these can factor in to your decision about what a deal-breaker might be.

For me, if the horse is performing now at or above the level I expect to be doing, without serious medicaton, I really don’t much care about xrays, unless the conformation is really bad. OTOH, if this is a resale prospect, folks can be picky, so I’d be more concerned. But I’ve had many horses who didn’t have great films and never took a bad step, and some that looked perfect and then coliced.

I’d certainly be wary of a navicular horse, or one that was on “maintenance” injections at 10. But that aside, if it was a horse for me (and not for resale) and I really liked him, I’d buy him.

There is no “perfect” in horses.

[BITSA]

There is no perfect horse. How old is it, is it currently doing its job, what do you need it for, what are you paying for it, is it your only horse? All of these factors weigh in. I recently bought a horse that’s been doing her job for a few years 1.35-1.45; her xrays weren’t perfect but nothing glaring. A small OCD lesion in an okay place is fine.

[Smiles]

Splints aren’t generally a problem and lots of horses have them. If your looking for a confirmation hunter pass as looks matter. And arthritic changes in a 10 y/o I’d expect. I’m guessing this horse has been showing and has miles so why wouldn’t they have changes at 10? My question is what do you want to do with the horse? Resale or keep? If the horse is currently sound doing its job and it’s a horse for me I’d dicker on price a little and bring it home.

[eclipse]

After dealing with glandular, non glandular and pyloric ulcers in my horse for the past 5 years…ulcers are my deal breaker! Never again!!

[hoopoe]

Articular changes on a horse for jumping is a firm NO. Splints not an issue if cold , navicular remodeling alone commonly found, but with joints changes elsewhere, a deal breaker. This is a 10 yo already showing wear and tear, and you wish to go higher. You may have to reevaluate getting a horse that has milage at a higher level and select one that has potential for the higher level without the wear and tear.

Take it to that level yourself. If you don’t feel confident venturing there at same rate as your horse, you may need to compromise on the clean exam for a horse that has the show ring experience

[DollyDoll]

My plan for him was to compete at a higher level than he currently is at and then resell him in a couple years, can’t afford to keep him after I’ve outgrown him and want another horse (don’t have the funds sadly).

[DollyDoll]

Oooohhh thank you, I had no idea XD

Apparently its very light the splint, just barely visible in the x ray, but its still there and would need to be taken care off so it doesn’t get worse and its only on his right fetlock so luckily it isn’t due to conformation. And the articular degeneration was also light but still present, but according to my trainer he said its pretty normal for horses at the age of 10 start to present a bit of wear and tear on their joints.

The navicular thing was based only on the x rays and the vet was quite surprised since he got to see the horse worked and everything and he presented no problem or issues. He also had no history of colic or any other illness so he was close to perfection.

[DollyDoll]

Yeah, thats something my trainer warned me about looking for an older horse to go up, that almost all the time they will present some sort of wear on their joints because of the demand of the job. That as long as it doesn’t hurt them and can be prevented or kept at bay that its a pretty good deal. He hasn’t had any other problem, he’s never even coliced according to his medical record, but the arthritis worries me as well as the splint

[Moneypitt]

Splints are on the cannon bones not fetlocks. They rarely pose a problem (unless they bother the suspensory ligaments) and frequently go away with time.

Must be something else in or near a fetlock? Sesamoid?

[Clover5]

Yes splints are from the splint bones, not fetlocks. If you look up ‘sobrehueso caballo’ almost all of the images are of popped splints, and an article titled ‘Los sobrehuesos’ was about splints as well, so I figured that was the translation. Maybe it’s fetlock osselets or a bone chip?

[DollyDoll]

I don’t really know much, I just saw the x ray image marked right back fetlock, like the leg, and that’s what I guessed.

He did have something called sesamoiditis but not sure if that poses a problem or not

[DollyDoll]

Maybe, I’ll try to look it up. I have only ever really heard what a sobrehueso can cause in horses more than how or where it happens

[joiedevie99]

Have the x-rays sent to your vet, or the best local sport horse clinic. Don’t rely on the interpretation of the x-rays from a foreign vet. Standards are different.

[Halternatively]

I think if your plan is to move up in height and to eventually resell this horse, you need to pass. You mention sesamoiditis, which can involve injury to the attachment of the suspensory, and that is an area, if potentially weak, I would not want to over-stress on a jumper. Just my two cents.

[Moneypitt]

Yes that can be an issue. Commonly effects race horses.

[DollyDoll]

Well apparently also dutch warmbloods Damn, guess I’m gonna have to keep looking and it took me so long to find him ;-;

[Moneypitt]

Yeah. Splints usually no big deal. Hock arthritis very common and usually easy to maintain. Ok.

Navicular hard pass. Arthritis or other issues with front feet/fetlocks/knees hard pass. Except for things like side bone which rarely causes lameness issues…

[Amy3996]

Everyone’s risk tolerance is different. Definitely agree with everyone who’s said that tolerance on a horse you hope to resell is going to be very different than one you intend to keep.

That said, a thorough neuro exam is a must for me, prior to doing any imaging at all. Any suspicious findings and I walk. I had the misfortune of having one of the rare horses for whom sidebones encroached and caused irreversible lameness. So side bones are a hard pass for me. Ditto what others have said about feet, knees, etc. Hocks can be managed as long as it’s not terribly severe, so that just depends on your willingness and the extent of the findings.

[IPEsq]

Hmm it’s hard to tell from things being lost in translation about how serious the arthritis or bone issue is (bone oedema? Or an osselet? I suppose it could be also called a spavin depending on location…usually a bone spur type thing).

As for navicular questions in a 10yo Dutch WB, that wouldn’t bother me much. Very common X-ray finding without a super high likelihood of becoming clinical if it’s just mild changes. If this were a quarter horse, different opinion.