The best dressage horse I ever had was the last one you'd pick by looking at him. He had terrible conformation. He looked like a ragged Mr Potatohead. Cowhocked, sway backed, long backed, I could go on. (He did have a pretty face, though )

But when he collected to work, be was beautiful, and he would perform 4th level and most prix st george movements.

So my personal answer is that I tend to forego aesthetics over function and long term health. If a fault impacts function, that's a problem. If it impacts aesthetics, that's my ego. That is what has worked for me, but I do understand that aesthetics are more important to other folks than to me.

That all said, I still very much appreciate a pretty horse.

What kinds of imperfections are you talking about?

 

Depends on the budget, under 10k I don't mind if the horse is going to need some maintenance. Such as joint injections, Adequan, and things like that. I don't put much stock in x rays since some of the soundest horses I've ever seen had some of the gnarliest x rays, yet they've never taken a lame step. Even my vet will tell people x rays don't mean much. Unfortunately horses in general are a gamble, something on an x ray can not have any effect for years or will never bother the horse, but a horse with clean x rays may need to be retired in a few years. You just never know. Though I will not under any circumstances take a horse that shows signs of navicular or other degenerative diseases (besides arthritis).

 

For us it's been mostly soundness issues. Every horse we've been serious about has been unsound to some extent at time of PPE. One was only off a bit but he was over budget and so I couldn't justify it. The latest horse has some unsoundness and cloudiness on the eye, which doesn't seem to cause any impairment but could at some point. Kind of a tough call.

 

What KINDS of unsoundness are you finding? Any vet doing a PPE can make a horse limp off after a flexion test and if you're failing them at that point, I feel you're doing the horse and yourselves a disservice. I certainly would want to see the horse work a lot after they got over the flexion, and depending on how long the lameness lasted after that test, I'd want some xrays and maybe an ultrasound, depending on how much and what was lame. If the horse is lame out of the gate before flexion, then yeah, I'd probably give him a miss, again depending on how much and what and where the lameness was.

Sorry, I guess I've got more questions than answers for you.

 

There are so many variables in this.... it's really a case by case basis. A BIG question for me is (and I'm assuming bad xrays), how bad is it progressing? I know horses that have questionable xrays from 5 or even 7 years ago that haven't changed at all. If they are serviceably sound and not progressing, I wouldn't be as worried. Now if a horse's xrays have changed considerably in just a year or two, no, I'll generally pass. Although... One of my students tried a $35,000 horse that was a perfect match, everything that we were looking for, great flexions, but had terrible xrays. Like, going fine today but could fall apart tomorrow... they went ahead and bought him for $4000. The thing is there's no way we could even find a lease for close to $4000 for the quality of this horse so they took a chance. He is a ticking time bomb really but she's been showing him for the past 3 years with no issues so I'd still say she lucked out. Your budget will be a big factor in how big of a risk you can take. And how many years you think the horse might be able to do its job. And if you have a plan for the future of this horse if you need to retire him.

 

I agree case by case. Remember, it is the JOB of the vet doing the PPE to find any imperfections, and no horse, just as no person, is perfect. What you have to be able to do is sort the "red herrings" from the real issues based on what the vet tells you, what your purpose is, price, etc. Any PPE I have done, I talk very frankly to the vet doing it.

 

All that we have turned down had some sign of unevenness prior to flex tests. One didn't really show any until she got on hard ground and then it was not at all subtle. One was just off a little, barely noticeable and it got worse w/flex test, and one was looking quite tender from the start and had a positive result on her flex. The vet and seller think shoeing will solve the problem.

I'm finding that some sellers can be in denial and do not like hearing anything negative. One even disagreed with the vets findings and was not at all happy with our decision to not go ahead with the purchase. I just cannot get myself to buy a horse that is not sound.

It's so discouraging, we just want a sound horse with a good temperament! I wish we had $25k to throw at this but we don't so we just need to patient.

 

All that we have turned down had some sign of unevenness prior to flex tests. One didn't really show any until she got on hard ground and then it was not at all subtle. One was just off a little, barely noticeable and it got worse w/flex test, and one was looking quite tender from the start and had a positive result on her flex. The vet and seller think shoeing will solve the problem.

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I'd look more at #2 & or 3, depending on what the vet felt the problem was. The fact that she got tender on hard ground may or may not mean anything. Think shin splints on a human. Then #3 got flexed and trotted off lame........not so impressive to me. Think about why she was possibly off a little, uneven ground, bare feet, tender soles, who knows? and then flexed, and since I wasn't there and couldn't see, I don't know if this vet did the flexion tests correctly. If every horse he flexed trotted off lame, I have to wonder if he held too tightly and too long. Not a horse alive will trot sound after that. Think about it, sit on your foot for 30 mins and then get up and try to run....you'll be off at the very least and might fall on your face.

 

Take a vets oppinion with a grain of salt. They are there to nit pick for you, you have to sift through and pick whats a deal breaker for you.

I once had a vet do a ppe on a mare that I had competed on in ctr(25 mile) trail competitions, so she had been vetted many times in the last year, always 100% sound. She went for her vet check and it was the biggest mess. lame on all 4 legs, tender soles(told him that, she'd just had her shoes pulled and he wanted to trot her on rocky ground) and apparently not suitable around children, although she had spent years packing them through 4h. 4+ ctr vets would have laughed at his diagnosis, yet it was enough to drive the buyer off(looking for a horse for light riding only).

Vets can make mistakes just as much as owners can be blind. Its safer for a vet to be overly picky than leave something out and have an unhappy customer with a lame horse.

 

If the horse has a blip on the X-rays or in one flexion, but has otherwise been in a comparable level of work to what you are expecting the horse to do for a considerable amount of time (ie over 2 years), then it is likely that the horse will remain acceptably sound for your use.

Unacceptable things (to me) are side to side imbalances, old soft tissue injuries and any major changes in x-rays or major findings when the horse has been in only light work. As well I will not look at a horse who has not been in work. Ride it w/t/c for 3 months and then call me.

Also, choose your PPE vet well. Some are total realists who will help you to decide what is manageable with maintenance and what is not. Some are complete sticks in the mud who will provide you a list of every lump bump and scar on the horse with no prognosis. I personally prefer a realist. Every horse on planet Earth has some findable issue on a PPE. Every horse in a performance career will have an injection, Adequan, Legend, etc.. at some point. If the horse has been in steady work and remained sound - it is likely that will remain the case. Even the most perfect horse can run through the fence tomorrow and break a leg.

Good luck!

 

I don't trust bettongs and perticularly flex ion tests.
3 exAmples for you;
When we bough my Arab he passed flex ion tests and was not expensive enough to warent X-rays. He was retired 6 months later as lame on all 4!

When we bought Stan he failed flexion tests but we bought him anyway, he went 8 yrs with never a day lame!

Reeco was taken to the vets for a full lameness work up, which includes a full 5 stage vetting, work on hard and soft surfaces and X-rays of hocks, knees and spine. He was declared as totaly sound but the vets were suspicious as they couldn't make him lame (even they said they can normaly very easily lame a horse in a flex ion test if they want to) so we got a bone scan done! Poor lad had a fractured pelvis
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