Investment in a pre-purchase exam can reduce the possibility that the horse could cost much more down the line in vet bills and lost potential.
Pre-purchase exams starts with a thorough physical. The practitioner records vital signs – heart rate, respiration, temperature – checks vision, hearing and teeth, looks for defects such a parrot mouth, and evaluates conformation concerns. (Credit: Canva)
October 29, 2022 | |
Buying a horse – in a sense – is much like buying a house. Just as you would not buy a house after only looking at it from the exterior, you should not buy a horse without first undergoing a pre-purchase exam.
The pre-purchase examination starts with a thorough physical. The practitioner records vital signs – heart rate, respiration, temperature – checks vision, hearing and teeth, looks for defects such a parrot mouth, and evaluates conformation, identifying any concerns such as club feet or crooked legs. Hoof testers will be used to check for sensitivity in the feet, and leg flexion tests will be done to identify potential lameness. Blood and urine samples may also be collected for disease and genetic testing.
The seller, of course, can refuse any procedure that he feels is unduly invasive or risky. After all, it’s still his horse.
Pre-purchase exams can range from around $250 up to $2,000 or more. Yet that investment can reduce the possibility that the horse could cost much more down the line in vet bills and lost showing and breeding potential.
“A pre-purchase exam is an asset for the buyer, for sure,” says Dr. Tyler Troop, a partner and veterinarian at Performance Equine Associates in Thackerville, Oklahoma. “I think you have to justify the cost of the pre-purchase exam against the cost of the horse you intend to buy.”
The horse’s age, intended use and history will factor into how extensive that exam should be. A yearling that has yet to be ridden may not have as many potential soundness issues as an older horse that’s been shown a lot. A vet is not going to worry about reproduction in a show gelding, but he may be concerned with the swelling he sees around the fetlock joints or the thickening of the tendons at the back of the cannon bones.
A comprehensive pre-purchase exam may involve more than one vet, says Rick Ford, owner of Cinder Lakes Ranch in Valley View, Texas. For example, if a high-dollar prospect is intended to be both a competitive show horse and a breeding animal, the buyer might wish to confirm soundness on both fronts by vets who specialize in sports medicine and reproduction. What that exam will include is up to the buyer and his or her veterinarian.
A good set of radiographs that includes views of all the major bones and joints from hoof to knee in front, and hoof to stifle behind, provides another baseline of information about soundness.
Many horse auctions require radiographs as a standard for selling, with the X-rays taken within 45 days of the sale. This gives veterinarians an opportunity to review the images with their clients before the bidding starts.
Among the obvious things veterinarians are looking for in the radiographs, especially among young prospects, is osteochondritis dissecans. OCD is a relatively common developmental disease in which cartilage in a horse’s joints does not form normally, causing the cartilage and bone underneath to be irregular in thickness and weaker than that found in normal joints. On load-bearing joints, it can be serious.
While treatments to promote healthy cartilage are available, OCD is a condition buyers would want to be aware of in advance of a purchase.
Having a vet to turn to at a sale – whether by bringing your own or locating a trustworthy onsite practitioner – can make a big difference beyond just looking at a set of X-rays.
“You can pay a veterinarian at the sale to do a thorough physical examination of the horse,” says Dr. Troop. “X-rays don’t give you any idea of the horse’s soft-tissue issues. People can put too much trust on a clean set of X-rays.”
Of course, bringing your own vet to an auction may be cost-prohibitive for many horse buyers. But modern technology can help facilitate the pre-screening process. For example, a prospective buyer’s hometown vet can look at a sale horse’s X-rays online from the convenience of his own office and provide an opinion about what he sees on screen. Then an onsite veterinarian can do a thorough physical exam and take additional radiographs of the horse at the sale venue as needed. Soft-tissue concerns can usually be identified and addressed by the onsite vet.
During the physical exam, the practitioner will look for and palpate any thickening, swelling, heat or tenderness in joints, tendons and ligaments, as well as look for signs of pain, discomfort, scars, blemishes and injury.
The vet will likely do flexion tests as well, picking up and bending each of the horse’s legs and then having the handler immediately trot the horse off. The flexion of each leg lasts 30 to 60 seconds – longer in hind limbs. The vet watches to see whether the horse moves off promptly and soundly. It’s an inexact science, but flexion tests provide clues about potential lameness that might not be visible on screen.
In a small industry segment, equine vets are sometimes asked to evaluate a horse where the vet knows both parties in the transaction, and the appearance of a conflict of interest may exist.
But Dr. Carter – a veterinarian with Oklahoma Equine Hospital in Washington, Oklahoma – says that’s never been a problem for him.
“As the vet for the reining and (reined cow horse) futurities, we do hundreds of pre-purchase exams each year where we have the buyer and seller as clients. We always make it clear to the seller that we are working for the buyer,” Dr. Carter says.
“We also won’t do a pre-purchase exam in this circumstance unless the seller allows us full disclosure of the horse’s medical history.”
Dr. Carter notes that it is illegal to release the history of a horse without the permission of the person who paid for the examination. In other words, the prospective buyer owns the medical report on that horse even though the animal belongs to someone else. For this reason, the hottest prospects at prestigious performance horse sales may be submitted to several pre-purchase exams prior to auction.
Equine veterinarians have a powerful incentive to give the best input they can before the bidding starts, laying their reputation – and even license to practice – on the line with their pre-purchase exam reports and advice.
“Just like in human medicine, if malpractice was committed, they would have considerable liability,” adds Dr. Carter. “That’s why most equine vets carry very expensive malpractice insurance.”
And while there are instances of unscrupulous sellers who knowingly try to pass off defective horses at auction, experts agree that is the exception and not the rule.
No horse is perfect, of course, which is why a pre-purchase exam is so important. By providing an unbiased report, your vet will help decide whether a horse is a sound investment.
