Vetting went well for a 3yr old (warmblood with 3 months of training including jumping) except for the back rads. She palpates well and is sound. Vet has no issues with her conformation. The diagnosis was that 2 vertebrae have dynamically come into contact with evidence of change to the bone, but not a deal breaker. Horse will event so more work than what she’s been doing. My follow on question for the vet: likelihood of worsening especially considering age. Ive researched this topic and it looks like there is a wide range of opinions, but this horses back does not seem to be that bad.
IMO- the back has a lot of options for therapies to help this horse. That plus correct riding, hopefully this one will do great. The questions I’d be asking myself are
1.) is this horse (including import) priced acceptably for you to invest the money that might be required to maintain him?
2.) do I intend to sell him and/ or is this horse potentially ever going to be for sale? If the answer is yes, unfortunately I would not take the risk. I have seen dozens upon dozens of buyers walk away simply because of these radiographic findings. Not taking in to account the horses physical exam findings, etc.
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To me, these back X-rays are not that bad - I don’t see anything actually touching here, though I do see where there is some slight remodeling.
I too think it comes down to resale, with the caveat that if down the road she’s fine and performing consistently without issue at the level you want to sell her for, most buyers wouldn’t be turned off from these X-rays.
If she’s a quick flip, that would be more difficult.
Personally, this wouldn’t turn me off from the horse if I intended to keep her long term and she checked off all of my other boxes. There will always be something on a PPE and vets estimate that up to 35% of ALL sport horses probably have clinical KS.
I would also add that I would be making peace with the POSSIBILITY that she might not compete at the level I intend and/or would be a pasture ornament and I would need to be AOK with that. But I also feel like that’s the attitude you need to take with any horse, even ones that have perfect vettings.
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I don’t mess around with backs. This would be a deal breaker for me.
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At 3 years of age, showing remodeling before any real work has begun, I would be careful. She is not even done growing yet - who knows how it will look once her spinal growth plates close and real estate between processes becomes even more limited.
My experience is that KS progresses with age because the remodeling causes inflammation and osteoarthritis in the joint spaces. Keep in mind that KS is not just a back disease, it often causes soreness in other parts of the body.
It’s one thing to buy an older horse with clinical findings who is already doing the job.
I do not believe there are truly asymptomatic KS horses – but you can manage the pain, and have a nice riding partner out of some of them. I am not saying don’t buy the horse. I have the horse of a lifetime who has KS. But ask yourself if you can subsidize this horse the rest of her life if she doesn’t work out, or will you have to put your competitive goals on hold because you can’t bankroll more than one?
For every KS success story there are many not so lucky. KS is a hard disease to live with, for horse and owner.
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OP you might find the discussion on this recent similar thread helpful:
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