Would you buy a horse that had had kissing spine surgery?

I bumped up a thread for you; if you search there are more I think.   

I am looking at one that has had the surgery as well and wondering the same. Is there any maintenance or chance that it comes back? Arthritis?

Yep ( guess depending on type of KS surgery) cause is back should be fixed just take xrays and compare to ones taken right after surgery. 

What kind of maintenance is usually used? Injections, previcox? Would additional surgery be needed later in life?

No, I personally wouldn't. My trainer has one, who use to be mine. He had the surgery done on him. Hes been going strong for over a year but now is presenting a few problems. I just think there are so many horses out there that dont have issues like that available,  why settle for 1 that has a major problem, even if it had surgery to repair it. But that's just my opinion.  I watch him constantly worry about this horses health every little twitch or wrong step is a big deal. 

Owning 3 that have it - (One thats controlled and maintained, its not gotten any worse since we did find out about it and it doesn't present any issues..) One that I retired because of it, and another that is actually having the surgery for it this week... 

I can't say that I would buy one thats had surgery - especially at a higher price point. Theres other horses out there for those higher prices with little to no issues. (In saying that, when we used to do vet checks, we'd never xray a horses back. I won't buy one without seeing their backs now.) I'm interested to see what ours is going to do when I start working on bringing him back. 

I've seen a lot of horses come back great, but they havent been back & going that long either. I'd like to see how they do in the long run, years from now. 

I wouldn't. When I was horse hunting earlier this year, I fell in love with a big black gelding. He was all I could dream of, I took him to Outlaw Equine for the PPE and they palpated his back and did x-rays. He had kissing spine in his withers and the middle of his back. I was heart broken.. but still hopeful, I went ahead and consulted 3 other exceptional vets for a second opinion. 

All three came back and told me do not buy this horse. All three told me that even WITH surgery, there is no guarantee of a comeback and also there is no guarantee that the surgery will hold.. and the bones will not move back to the place. I imagine that was not just with him, but with other horses that have it too. With a heavy heart I walked away from that horse, but honestly, to spend the money for surgery, plus rehab, and the time off to take to build them back up and then to have it all fail and have to retire anyway? Personally, it is not worth it. There are a lot of good horses out there with more manageable maintenance. I would sincerely pass. 

I purchased one with it unknowingly, my vet didn't think she had it. Had issues for 2 years & finally just got the x-rays done last friday and she has vertebrae touching in 2 places, plus they showed 3 vertebrae that at one point were fractured from trauma. The pieces that broke off have been absorbed by the body. Vet said I most likely bought her that way because I've been riding her with the only issue being she's not thrilled to lope, but will do it. Had they been broken when I purchased her she should have been bucking me off & the pieces wouldn't be absorbed like they were. Did mesotherapy on her and have surgery planned for next year. After discussing it with him I'm not as leery of KS as I was before. I had never thought to x-ray a 3 year old before purchasing, but I will x-ray everything in the future. 

She's a very mild case, could keep doing the mesotherapy or shockwave, but by the time you do that 1-2 times a year for $200 for mesotherapy or $450 for shockwave, makes more sense to just pay the $1,400 for surgery and be done with it. She's just 5 now & not even running yet.  I'd be more inclined to buy one that has had surgery vs one that's just being maintained by other methods. If it was a severe case I might opt out of being interested, but if it were mild & it was a horse that fit other criteria I'd consider it. If it were a nicely bred mare that ran nice that I could breed then I'd probbaly be ok, she could still be used. I'd prefer that over a gelding. We had a lengthy discussion about breeding mine in the future while I was there. I know several that have had surgery & have succesful careers right now. KS is way more common than most think it is, or at least than I thought it was. 

Nope