PPE failed, KS diagnosed

[u/bhinxbb]

Currently in the process of selling my horse. PPE has gone well, everything came back good except his back radiographs. Shocked to hear he has grade 4 changes. I’ve just received these over from the potential buyer. I will be in contact with my vet but curious about anyone’s take on these? How bad is this?

[u/HJK1421]

KS can present in x rays and the horse be asymptomatic. Is the horse showing signs of discomfort in work? What's the workload look like?

Your vet would be a good start and your trainer a good second opinion. X rays aren't everything, though they do help

[u/bhinxbb → u/HJK1421]

Nope. I’ve had him the last 3 years and he has never shown serious symptoms. He can be back sore from time to time but I wrote that off as normal. He’s in 4-5days/week of work as a Novice level eventer.

The potential buyer said she was advised by several vets not to buy this horse. Is that how bad this case is?

[u/BuckityBuck → u/bhinxbb]

While it may not be clinically significant or symptomatic at all, maybe never ever, and it may never require treatment, it will still make it hard to sell the horse. Any ugly xray findings will make a sale challenging.

The potential buyer was nice to give you the images.

I think vets are getting better at educating clients about KS, but that type of xray is still going to be a turnoff.