Understanding the Pre-purchase Exam

The search is over: You have finally found the horse of your dreams. Before you sign the sales contract and load him onto the first trailer headed home, protect yourself with a pre-purchase exam. Granted, there is no magic crystal ball there to guarantee a horse that looks great on exam day will carry you to reach all of your equestrian goals. However, a pre-purchase exam, also known simply as a veterinarian check, can give you insights to help ensure you are making a smart, informed decision before money changes hands.
Your veterinarian will need your participation to customize the exam for your needs. There are numerous diagnostic tools that modern veterinary technology has made available giving you more ways than ever to gain information on a horse’s health. Yet, taking advantage of them all would send your veterinary bill skyrocketing from a couple of hundred dollars to a thousand or more. For this reason, be prepared to discuss your goals with your veterinarian before he or she starts the exam. Understanding what to expect from the exam and getting an upfront idea of what tests you might be willing to spring for will prepare you for the veterinarian’s visit, and help you make the right choices for your needs, your pocketbook, and your dreams.

What’s the Point?
If a pre-purchase exam cannot guarantee that a horse will be your perfect mount, why bother? For one thing, it could prove that a particular animal will not be suitable, saving you from heartache and financial loss. Plus, it can expose health concerns not apparent to the naked or untrained eye that could present management issues now or later. Discovering these concerns will give you an opportunity to decide if you want to take on those issues.
The true purpose of a pre-purchase exam is “to help provide the buyer with enough information to make an informed decision as to whether a horse will meet their needs,” says Wendy Schofield, DVM, a practitioner with the Sport Horse Program at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky. The doctor is there to assess general health, conformation, soundness for intended use, and the horse’s behavior and attitude.
Another goal of the pre-purchase exam is to try and uncover any pre-existing conditions a horse might have. Says David Celella, DVM, of Rockwall Equine Center in Terrell, Texas, “Any horse is salable and every horse has problems. We’re trying to identify those problems and see if the buyer is willing to deal with them.” What a pre-purchase exam is not, is a pass-fail test or a guarantee of long-term health and soundness. Rather, it is a snapshot of a moment in time.

Elements of the Exam
In general, a pre-purchase exam will include 3 phases:
--Basic health evaluation
--Lameness assessment
--Ancillary diagnostics-if warranted, possibilities include x-rays,
ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), bloodwork, etc.

Each phase in the process can include multiple steps. How you intend to use the horse determines the extent and content of the exam and how you assess the results.

Starting with the Basics
Many veterinarians will start with the basic physical evaluation including listening to heart, lung and the GI tract sounds, examining the eyes, ears, and teeth, taking pulse, temperature, and respiration readings, and assessing the overall body condition. The veterinarian will also evaluate the horse’s conformation. This can be a tip-off to issues that might surface later in the lameness exam or could indicate areas of concern, given a horse’s intended use. As part of this evaluation, the veterinarian will pay attention to the horse’s hooves and how the animal is shod. Deviations in the foot can be indicative of deviations in the bone, which can lead to lameness issues down the line. Hoof testers will be used to apply focal pressure to different areas on the foot. Sensitivity or reaction can indicate inflammation, soreness due to hoof imbalance, sole bruising, poor shoeing, or heel pain.

Evaluating Movement
The lameness evaluation is often the key portion of a pre-purchase exam. The results can point out the need for additional diagnostics, and frequently, are a deciding factor in whether a buyer proceeds with the purchase. This evaluation allows the veterinarian to see:
--How the horse’s feet land.
--Alterations in limb movement.
--Abnormalities in the footfalls or the pattern of the footfalls.
--Obvious signs of lameness, pain, or weight shifting when the foot lands.
--Asymmetry with the way the body or pelvis moves.

The next step in the lameness evaluation is to watch the horse go both directions in a round pen or on a lunge line. This setup can:
--Highlight a shortness of stride, particularly in the hind end.
--Allow the horse to move more freely at faster speeds than traveling in-
hand allows.
--Show the horse’s movement at the canter, including any difficulty in
picking up a particular lead.
--Demonstrate fluidity (or lack thereof) in transitions.
--Accentuate lameness, because the circle puts more pressure on the inside
legs.
--Uncover potential respiratory issues, such as if a horse makes noise while
traveling at speed, gets out of breath easily, or recovers slowly.

Flexion Tests
Joint flexions are considered by many buyers to be the central, even pivotal, element of the soundness assessment. The test itself is meant to simulate stress on a particular region or joint. To do this, the veterinarian will flex a single leg joint tightly and hold it in place for a set period of time; usually 30-90 seconds. As the veterinarian releases the joint, the handler immediately trots the horse off. The veterinarian looks for any signs of lameness and then, rates the lameness on a scale of 0-5, with 0 being totally sound. What number signals cause for concern? Be sure to discuss this with your veterinarian before the flexion tests start. Most importantly, make sure you consider the big picture, not solely the results of the flexion tests. “Flexion tests backed up by clinical impressions backed up with X-rays---they all go hand-in-hand,” says Schofield.

The Final Phase
A typical pre-purchase exam also includes thorough palpation of the horse’s soft tissues. Here, the veterinarian is primarily feeling for any evidence of current or past injury such as heat, tenderness, swelling, or unexpected thickness. Many pre-purchase exams end there, after the basic physical evaluation and soundness assessment. At that point, the buyer might have enough information to make a decision. People who move forward with additional diagnostics usually do so for one of two reasons:
--A red flag has popped up during the initial exam. It is enough of a concern
to warrant further investigation, but not enough to be an automatic deal-
breaker in the buyer’s eyes.
--The buyer wants to obtain as much information on the horse’s health as
possible, even if the exam so far has yielded satisfactory results.

Take Home Message
By the time a pre-purchase exam is done—whether you opted for just the basics or the deluxe version—the veterinarian should have had their hands on every inch of the horse. As a buyer, it is then your job to listen with an open mind to your veterinarian’s findings. On the one hand, you should know you want the horse before you get to a pre-purchase exam. On the other hand, do not be so attached that no matter what the veterinarian tells you, you will not listen. We call that a ‘post-purchase’ exam!
Preparing yourself in advance means you will know going in what to expect from the experience, and what you are willing to deal with as a horse owner. Communicating openly and honestly with your veterinarian ensures that everyone is on the same page, and lets you make the most of the vet check. Together, these two steps will help you to make a wise buying decision—and that means giving you the best shot at truly taking home the horse of your dreams.

Prepping for the Pre-purchase

To Do List:
--Request the horse’s health history (including vaccination, deworming, and
farrier records) from the seller, as well as any previous x-rays.
--Get the seller’s permission for the horse’s current veterinarian to release
information on the horse to you and/or your veterinarian.
--Talk to your veterinarian about what will be included in the basic exam
and what he/she will charge. Ask about costs for additional diagnostics
that you might consider.
Ask yourself…..
-What do I want to use the horse for?
-How long do I expect to own/use the horse?
-Have I spotted any issues of concern during earlier visits with the horse?
-What management issues, if any, am I willing to deal with?
-What are “deal-breaker” issues for me?
-What is my budget for the pre-purchase exam?
-What additional diagnostics am I willing to pay for?