Horse people: need advice about vetting

Hi Everybody

My offer was accepted the other day on a young Appendix quarter horse gelding. He is exceptionally well bred (his full brother is the top quarter horse circuit green working hunter in the nation) and he seems like a nice sensible boy with the type of movement I'm looking for. I hope to show the quarter horse breed circuit and some local hunter shows. He will not be old enough to jump for quite awhile, but someday I would like to do low hunters with him--2"6 --3ft at the highest.
Here are the details--he will be 3yrs old in March. He is about 16.1h He had about 60 days of training last summer and can walk trot canter-- has nice halts and stands like a dream. He was started a little young for my tastes but does not seem to have been pushed hard at all. He had not been ridden since maybe August until I tried him out last weekend (except for the trainer rode him the day before).
He is located about 6 hours from me and a local vet in the area is going to vet him for me tomorrow morning. It will be $50 for the barn call and $150 for the exam. The part I'm torn on is Xrays---sooooo expensive to run a full series. It will be $100 per foot and $80 per hock. The vet said he would call me after the exam--tell me the results so far and then ask about X-Rays. If everything comes out fine with every other test and this horse seems extremely healthy and sound--are the full set of Xrays necessary? I know that it is good to have a set for future comparison if anything goes wrong years down the line, but I'm not sure how helpful they would really be...I've been getting very mixed opinions on this. I know this is a decision only I can make, but I'm curious about what others think and what others would do or have done in this situation. Thanks! Here is a pic of him from last summer:

I've never done x rays-but I also never planned on jumping or any thing mroe serioues than some lazy trail riding. So maybe its a good idea-sorry I'm not much help Mostly wanted to say congrats and hope he's healthy!

first off what do you plan to do with him?
second are you sure you want a horse with that little training when you are new to horses?

I tend to be overly cautious, but I would never purchase a horse without the x-rays. My horse was about the same age/work level when I bought him (3 years old, had 30 days undersaddle), and I had all the x-rays done. We did find OCD lesions in both hocks, and had three different vets look at them before deciding to buy him. The lesions have never bothered him, and about 3 years later, I had to worse hock re-x-rayed before he started doing much jumping; there was no change. It gave me a lot of peace of mind to have them checked. I think we did feet/fetlocks, hocks and possible stifles. It's been a long time, so I don't really remember.

With a quarter horse, I would at minimum have the front feet done. Perhaps you could decide on the rest based upon the results of his flexion exams; I know people who have done that.

It is expensive to fully vet them, but a whole lot cheaper than future vet bills. I'm glad they accepted your offer! Good luck with the vetting, and let us know how it goes.

Hi Joce--thanks for the well-wishes, I appreciate it!

Hi Darkchild16---in the beginning of my post, I did mention that when he is old enough, I would like this horse to be a low level hunter and I intend to show the quarter horse breed circuit in hunter under saddle classes. Also I am in no way new to horses:lol-sign: . Its just I have mixed feelings about the necessity of X-rays on a very young, very lightly worked horse. On a more mature, heavily shown and worked horse, I would absolutely demand recent X-Rays or have them taken--especially on a Quarter Horse. My other horse, Bull's Eye, that I got for extensive trail riding was even younger than this horse and I did all his training myself when he was old enough. I did not X-Ray him and he has been healthy and perfectly sound for all the 5 years I have had him so far. Very few people I know have done X-Rays or in many instances even vetted a horse--and it usually works out just fine. In fact I have only X-rayed one horse for a pre-purchase exam many years ago. He was young at the time, but the X-Rays did reveal some possible weaknesses-I bought him anyway and we did well together, but he did have some soundness issues years later, but I think is still going ok for the people who own him now.
So I can undertsand the good points of both options---I have talked to trainers and vets and other owners and everyone has different feelings about it. I know it can't HURT to have X-Rays, but there are also plenty of things I could put that substantial amount of money towards as well. I like chatting with the horse loving people here on Chaz so figured I would gather more thoughts on the matter as I ponder my decision for tomorrow..

oh ok sorry missed the hunter part lmao. and usually ppl who ask stuff bout vets are new so i jsut assumed im sorry. but with a QH definatly the back at least since they push off with their back legs. I didnt mean to sound mean if i did by the way. i jsut get very blunt sometimes lol.

Money spent now may save you from heartbreak and high vet bills down the road...

Hi Bostonbanker
I was writing that last post as you were typing yours LOL! Thank you for sharing about when you bought your horse as a 3yr old-- I do like the idea of having comparative X rays---the vet said exactly what you are suggesting--he will call me after all flexion etc is complete and then ask about X-Rays. I think I definitely want front feet and hocks--I don't think navicular is really a back foot problem, so I might be able to save a bit on the back foot screens. The vet did not mention stifle--guess that will depend a lot on the flexion test. I guess the more I think about it, any kind of health test is not the area to skimp on--if for nothing else than peace of mind......I'm sure my regular vet will appreciate having X-rays for the future too.....

seniorpetlover--you are absolutely right-----I'm not going to skimp on this ( I think I was letting my one friend's opinion on this confuse me--she was making feel like an idiot even for vetting--but I KNOW better!) I would feel like a bigger idiot if I didn't vet him to the fullest and something was seriously wrong that could have been discovered-- the peace of mind is worth it---I'm starting to see that more clearly now...

Oh and darkchild16, you didn't sound mean or blunt at all LOL! --I might have thought the same thing if someone was asking about a vet...

ok thanks i was worried. he is a gorgeous boy tho. i just get defensive about people buying horses if they dont have a clue lol. i see tom any around here and have some where i work that they thought they wanted a horse and then they got one that wasnt worked witha nd yea its sad all around

Thanks darkchild16, I thought he was pretty cute too

Well now, I'm most likely going to get at least some X-Rays done when the vet calls-- then the nervous wait for the results begins I hope that nothing that will require lots of opinions or interpretation shows up! Like BostonBanker noted in her story--sometimes things show up and you have to make a decision about what you can live with, are willing to take a chance on etc.....maybe deep down one of the other reasons I was hesitating a bit on X-Rays is I'm afraid of having to make one of those judgement calls, afraid I'll make the wrong decision...either too conservative, or not conservative enough....well I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well and I won't be fretting or on the phone with vets for the next few days!!!

I just wanted to say he's beautiful. Good luck with him! I hope all goes well.

What you are saying makes sense to me. Hocks and front feet would be my biggest concerns. I know a lot of people don't do the stifle; I think we actually did it after we did the others; stifle is another fairly common place for OCD, and a much more difficult place to operate on if the lesions do need to be removed. Let the flexions tell you the rest. Is your regular vet doing the vetting? If not, I would suggest having him/her take a look at the x-rays as well before you make a decision. The vet who did Tristan's vetting in Canada actually didn't mention the lesions; my vet here found them.

Congrats on the purchase!

I would think with the sizeable prices you were looking at on horses before that it would definitely be worth it. On a $1200 horse, I wouldn't bother, but if I do recall the prices that were mentioned when you were asking before, I would go with it. Better safe than sorry, IMHO, especially when you're investing any amount of money.

What are you doing?! Get that boy into Western Pleasure lmao! j/k j/k.. i"m just a Western rider.. hehe

Honestly though if you are into jumping get BOTH hocks Xrayed no matter what else you do. Hocks are essential for a jumper. I'd also get the front legs done as well.. the rest of the back are optional IMO..

I knew of a horse that was as young and had just as much training on him as this guy and he was vetted with Xrays and they found he wasn't sound enough for the work they wanted to do with him (Reining).

Thanks again for the well wishes and the good advice everybody!

Definitely no Western pleasure classes in this boy's future Summeriot LOL! His trot is HUGE --I don't know if he could pitter patter those legs of his if he tried!---and yes, I have heard of very young horses showing problems only visible by X-Ray--so I'm defintely doing at least front feet and of course hocks. I don't know for sure if he will be an over fences hunter, but I'm hoping he shows some ability for it down the line--but for know we will be concetrating on getting good basics and eventually some undersaddle classes. I'm so nervous something will go wrong tomorrow!

Did he get vetted today?

Yep and it seems so far all went really well. All flexion, breathing, heart, and hoof tester stuff was fine--vet said he has nice feet. He only noted that he does toe out slightly on one foot---overall he didn't seem to have any significant findings. I then requested the navicular series of X-rays--5 screens of each front foot and the hock series--2 screens of each hock. He said he would have the results late tonight or early tomorrow morning. He is then going to Fed-ex them to my regular vet. So....I'll know more tomorrow--still holding my breath a bit, but so far so good!

Sounds like a promising start! Good luck with the x-rays!

OMG I'm getting so nervous...its 3:15pm and I still have not heard from the vet...I guess he just got busy. I left him a message about an hour ago. I mean even if its bad news I still would think he would call...so I guess I shouldn't be nervous.....I'll post as soon as hear.....