Would you Xray when buying a horse

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pootler

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On what basis would you Xray when buying a horse?

Would it be over a certain price, based on competition record or just because your vet recommends.

Is there some kind of rule of thumb in these circumstances? A friend of mine had the hocks xrayed on a dressage horse she bought for 7 grand. I think it was because the vet recommended if I remember correctly.
 
I think the usual rule of thumb is if you want to insure the horse for over 10k then you need x rays done. I had a cheaper horses feet x rayed as my vet was unhappy with the shape and the x rays did indeed throw up issues. As I never reach the 10k mark I would only have it done if I was specifically worried about something or the vet recommended it.
 
The problem with x rays done on a sound horse is, you never know what is relevant or not... for example, you can x ray a sound horse and it may show what look like lesions on the navicular bone, but that horse may go on to never been lame in its life... another can have a 'clean' set of x rays and be a cripple 6 months later... that is the reason vets normally do an extensive work up if you have a lameness problem and then x ray when they have pin pointed where the problem lies...... not the other way round.

Having said that , if I was paying over 7-8 grand (which has never happened.. and unless I win the lottery is never likely to happen) I would think about it ... but probably take the vets advice, unless as stated above, I needed to in order to get insurance.
 
I was surprised when I moved here that people DIDN'T x-ray for vettings as a matter of course. Even quite inexpensive horses are x-rayed in North America, the only question is which parts, how many views, and what else - ultrasound etc. - might get done is there is cause for concern. Front feet and hocks are virtually standard, followed by knees and stifles.
 
only if required by insurance company - usually over 10k

So basically no - as I wouldn't buy a horse for that!

Bought a Dutch horse a few years ago who came with his own X-rays from when he was imported 3 years previously - not sure how much use they were!
 
I had Bailey's front feet and hocks x-rayed when I purchased him, purely for piece of mind after a lot of bad luck with my old mare..

They were clean as a whistle, but it was total waste of time and money- 4 years later he has a list of joint problems, with the main issues in his front feet!
 
If we are paying more than 6 grand we have x-rays done
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absolutely. But it does depend on what xrays and who is reading them. basics would be navicular area, coffin joints, hocks and stifles. Fetlocks next, then neck, back, etc, etc. However it can get very expensive. If buying a young horse to sell on as complete a set as one can afford is vital.
 
not for myself no, i never spend enough money to warrant it!
i haven't even vetted my last 5 horses.

i would if buying a horse to bring on and sell for £8k + as most people will x-ray at that price.
 
Actually I disagree, I find the more expensive the horse the less people do in regard to vets, they know what they are looking for, and proper proffesional people will buy expensive horses with out even a basic vetting. I think this is also because if you have a lot of horses you don't tend to insure anyway, or you insure for a low amount to just cover vets vets fee's. With mine I think if they die they die, i've lost the money but another will come along.
 
I always would have x-rays done, my friends horse she bought for £6K passed a 5 stage vetting and she bought and within a month of buying its hopping lame, turns out it has nevicular (sp?) now which would have shown up on the x-rays when she bought. Plus i wouldnt have been able to insure my current horse without them!
 
Maybe that's the difference then -- you can't insure for vet expenses in Germany or Italy (it's probably done in the UK only!!), only for death or loss of use in certain cases, so when you buy something you want to be 100% sure you are not getting something which is going to cost you the world in vet expenses.

For this reason, nodoby here would dream of purchasing a horse without x-rays (even very cheap horses... the horse might be cheap in the first place, but it's going to cost the same amount of money in maintenance and vet fees as a £100k one!!)
 
I'm a vet, and usually pay around the 10K mark for my horses always in full work, and no - I wouldn't X-ray. Waste of money. Radiography is rather insensitive. Generally, if a pathology is severe enough to show up on X-ray, the horse would have clinical evidence of this (eg. lameness) and should be flagged up on a standard vetting. Radiography doesn't pick up the early stages of disease at all, and this is the only type of disease that I'm interested in.

There's always the odd exception - a sound horse that turns out to have a bone spur or something - but I would suggest that if it wasn't causing the horse problems at this stage then it never would. I might also make an exception for horse that has been out of work for a while (but I wouldn't personally buy such as a horse as it can be hiding a multitude of sins!)

It makes me despair when I see people looking at competition horses with awful conformation, getting them X-rayed and when it shows up clear, buying the horse thinking that all is well. If kept in work, the horse WILL end up lame sooner or later. Xrays or no xrays!

X-rays just show a snapshot in time of what is going on in the joints, they are not sensitive enough to pick up on the early changes that signify disease that may occur in the future. The best chance anyone has to ensure the long-term soundness of a potential purchase is to only buy horses with excellent conformation, a good history of soundness, low milage, well-managed, and a 5-stage vetting.
 
Knew someone who bought a very expensive dressage horse, had full set of xrays - vetting itself cost £800 - and then 9 months later the horse was lame on 3 legs, was sent to Newmarket for full workup and in the end had to be PTS as had extensive arthritic change in fetlocks and hocks which surprisingly didn't show up in the vetting xrays.
 
Up until now I have only ever had a horse xrayed when there was a problem.

However, having just bought a 3 year old potential competition horse, she is having a full set (including knees and stifles) done this week despite the fact she has a full set taken as a 2 year old.
 
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