5 stage vetting and x-rays - advice please

Boxers

Boxers

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 April 2003
Messages
4,771
Location
Lincolnshire
Visit site
Earlier this month we were hoping to buy a pony which I had 5 stage vetted and which it failed. I didn't buy it. I didn't have x-rays done and when I booked the vetting the vet never suggested x-rays.

Last year I had a pony successfully 5 stage vetted and again no x-rays.

Now I am about to buy another pony and will have it 5 stage vetted. The owner asked if I was having x-rays and I am wondering if I should. He then said he didn't think it was worth it for a pony of this value (£7k).

Now I'm feeling suspicious about why he said not to have x-rays and I think maybe I should have them done in case he's conning me (so untrusting me).

I will discuss with the vet when I ring to book the 5 stage but what do you think?

The pony is 10 and will be used for PC, RC, HT, ODE and BSJA
 
i would because it could of had an inhury such as a broken leg, and whne it gets older 11+ might give way if your doin a big bsja
smile.gif
 
if this pony has already done bsja i would buy its printout and see if there is any gaps where they did not compete. i personally have only ever had a 5 stage. never x rays.
 
The general 'rule of thumb' that I've always been told is that you don't bother with Xrays for a horse below the value of £10k - unless there is something specific you want checked out.

I think that's what insurance companies work by as well.
 
When I had a horse vetted a couple of years ago the vet suggested that as I wanted to event (only up to Intro / PN - and horse was only for sale for around £5.5k) I should get x rays of the front legs. I took his advice, he did them with a portable x ray kit, result was that horse failed the vet as he found indications of potential navicular. Would have passed a normal 5 stage vetting no problem. However .. the boney changes he found could have been there all the horse's life & not have been related to navicular - without previous x rays of the horse there is no way of knowing.
It was a difficult decision but I had to walk away from the sale as why as for a vet's opinion if you don't take any notice of it? Have always wondered if I should have got a second opinion as since then I have heard that results from portable x ray machines are not always reliable ...

When I was getting my next horse vetted I asked the vet (different one) whether to get x rays & she did not think they were worth it unless something came up in the normal vetting that would merit further investigation.

Anyway ... in your case I'd discuss with the vet but I'm also suspicious like you so would wonder why the vendor is trying to persuade you against x rays ... could be that horse has already been vetted & failed on x rays ?
 
[ QUOTE ]
if this pony has already done bsja i would buy its printout and see if there is any gaps where they did not compete.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I've got it's printout and it had a bsja gap of 2 years which was when the seller bought it and his child was too novice for bsja and concentrated on unaffiliated and PC. I have found some evidence of this on the internet and rang the DC of the PC who said it had been on SJ and XC teams during those times. Then it competed bsja last year regularly
 
a lot of horses have changes visible on xrays which never cause them a problem - i dont think it's worth going fishing for something unless any worries come up on the vetting. even if you find something on the xrays it's nearly always impossible to know if it will be of any future clinical significance.
 
I would have anything over 5k Xrayed and the owner suggesting shows to me that they got nothing to hide.
My vet will always say"things on the xray to expect from an ie 10 year old"
7K is a lot of money hopefully they will only find things to expect from a 10 year old jumping pony !
 
I can well understand you being suspicious but in fact the seller brought the subject up first. Surely they would have kept their mouth shut if they thought there was a problem.

Also, you could get them to sign a disclaimer to say that the pony has not had any operations or broken anything that they are aware of in the past if you are concerned. I'm pretty sure my vet, as a matter of course, gets sellers to sign that the horse does not have allergies/vices, maybe your vet does too and can adapt it?
 
is there anyway of contacting the previous owners who did pc etc. i am very wary of people selling and do loads of detective work. i tend to talk myself out of buying it though by the end of the day. this is only because had bad experience with buying
 
unless you have something specific to xray you could be there all day and it would take a hell of a lot of xrays to cover all the joints in the leg.... I would be a tad suspicious if vendor tried to persuade against xrays...
 
I agree with Star, unless during the vetting , your vet is not 100% happy about something , then having x rays done can create more questions than answers.
I worked for 8 years as an Equine nurse and have seen horses with serious navicular and the like who have shown very few changes on x ray , and then again, I have seen many cases of x rays done for vettings where the pics have looked horrible but the horse has never shown a days lameness and went on to compete for years after with no problems.

the best thing is to discuss with your vet and see what happens at the vetting, if the vet is happy with the pony, the way it moves, flexion tests etc, and your insurance is not requesting this then I would not have these done.

Good luck , and let us know what the outcome is :-)
 
I have never had anything x-rayed as I am not sure what the value is. As CBFan says you would need a lot of x-rays to cover every possibility and without a hint of a problem where would you start? Why don't you get a 5 stage vetting, see if the vet is worried about anything and go from there? I also don't think x-rays are really good indicators. As GermanyJo says changes on x-rays do not always correspond with clinical signs of conditions like navicular, other problems don't show up on x-rays anyway and without earlier x-rays to compare for changes it can be difficult to tell anyway.

The problem overall is that a pony with a consistent record has proven itself which is what you want, but has also been worked which may create problems in the future. On the other hand a 'low milleage' pony may have less wear and tear but may be no good for the job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top