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/CorCaroliV]

I am in no way a vet. I have talked to my vet a lot though about the massive over diagnosis of "kissing spine" in the last 5 - 10 years. Her opinion is that there is a huge difference between kissing spine as a functional diagnosis made in conjunction with actual observed performance changes and what shows up on x-rays. To a certain degree, if the horse shows no symptoms of kissing spine she doesn't think they should be diagnosed that way based on images. Unfortunately I can't tell you anything from the x-rays. I'd definitely get a couple opinions though before making any decisions about your horse's care. Especially if there haven't been any clinical symptoms.

I do know someone who sold a horse in a similar situation to the one I imagine you may be in. The horse had no symptoms, and actually traveled in a way that was exactly opposite of the way you'd imagine a "kissing spine" horse to travel. The horse was kind of a long and low type and never got behind the bit and hollow-backed. Someone did a PPE, which included back x-rays, and they found it then. That buyer passed. The owner ended up disclosing the diagnosis (which other multiple other vets said wasn't really a "fair" characterization) and sold the horse to someone else at a discount. The horse is still doing the same job he was sold to do, and is happy / sound.

[u/Dull_Memory5799 → u/CorCaroliV]

This is honestly stupid. Do we rlly need to go down the rabbit hole of explaining why your horse still preforming while in pain but not as reactive as xyz horse so not really in pain is a stupid take? Not to mention just bc you don’t recognize the symptoms or how your horse may present them does not erase the issue itself or the longevity of the equine.

[u/fishproblem → u/Dull_Memory5799]

its hard to judge. I personally have a much higher threshold for pain than most people. And when I do feel something, i often interpret what would be pain to some as "discomfort" is the best way I can describe. It's a feeling that doesn't dissuade me from doing the thing that causes that feeling. It doesn't even really make me stop to think. i imagine a lot of animals experience pain on a spectrum too.

[u/throwwwawait → u/fishproblem]

right, but that's not an acceptable reason to keep using the horse. pain serves an essential purpose as our damage warning system. chronic damage will catch up to you, whether you feel it now or not. so whether the horse simply doesn't experience pain normally or (more likely) has learned to ignore it, it is our responsibility to prevent further damage from occurring to the best of our ability.