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Location: Texas | Do you have a price range when you will have one done? Example I'm looking for a step up horse for my daughter. We came across a one that is only $3500 that we are considering.
We have had one done on everything else we have but they were a lot more than this....other than her pony we bought years ago.
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
 
| I do pre purchase exams in that price range, but just flexing and general soundness exam, no films unless something shows up and we still want to proceed. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
 
Location: North Dakota | I bought my last horse for $3,500. Didn't do a pre-purchase exam.
I am having soundness problems with him now, but none of it would have showed up on a PPE if I had done one anyway.
Kinda just depends what you, personally, are comfortable with on a price range for PPE or not. I guess I have a figure of $5,000 in my mind (although I"ve never bought a horse that expensive) but I suppose that would vary on what I'm buying (ex: an aged horse for a child that has a lower price tag) where I would want to know what I am getting into. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| rodeomom3 - 2014-01-16 2:05 PM
I do pre purchase exams in that price range, but just flexing and general soundness exam, no films unless something shows up and we still want to proceed.
This is what I would do.
It is expensive to keep and feed a pasture ornament that has a problem that would have been detected for a few hundred bucks. |
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Pig-Bear Dog Lover
| I would do one when buying anything... it's not much. |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | I've honestly never had one done & it's never been a problem.
But I do wish I would have encouraged a gal that bought one of our ranch horses to get one. The horse was SOUND the entire time I owned him, never a lame step. She has him all summer & then calls that he's navicular & her vet says it's a was a "pre existing" condition that I should have known was there. Had she done a pre purchase odds are she'd have found the slight changes on his navicular bone & probably not bought him. But at least then I wouldn't have ended up as the bad guy for selling her a horse that her farrier apparently can't keep sound. |
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 Pork Fat is my Favorite
Posts: 3791
Location: The Oklahoma plains. | I have a price that I cant afford to lose. Otherwise I only look if there is something obvious. |
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| i do one on every horse i buy, cause in a few months or years i dont want to come on here and ask why i am having soundness issues. For an extra $300 its better to be safe than sorry |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 927
Location: Iowa | Anything over 2500 is where I would do it. |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | I don't do them. Every vet will have a different opinion of a horse and NONE of them are 100% sound. If they look hard enough, they will find something if the horse is being competed on. Now, with that said, I want to tell you a little story. I bought a 3 yr old and paid quite a bit of money for him. Did a $500 ppe on him, X rayed him from head to toe and nose to tail. Didn't find anything. When I started competing on him, he would get sore and I would turn him out. Come back and he would run good for a little while and then get sore again. All this time, I was taking him to my good lameness vet. Had him tested for EPM, biopsied for PSSM, injected everything that could be injected, but if he was competed on for 3 months or so, he got sore. Finally, my vet referred me to Elgin Vet Hospital (about a 10 hour drive away) as he thought it was in his stifles and they are known for being good with stifle issues, so I went there, and they thought he had a chip in one stifle. I left him for surgery, and when they got in there, he had OCD lesions that he'd had since he was probably a yearling. They fixed those and he came back sounder than he'd ever been. Now when I asked them why the lesions didn't show up on that $500 vet check I had, they said it was because they were too far back in the joint to be seen without an arthroscope....so I could have saved that $500 and used it toward his surgery to correct what was wrong with him when I bought him. The vet check did absolutely no good for me, so I look at it like a used car. I figure there will be something I have to fix, and luckily, I have an awesome team of vet, equine body work man, teeth man and farrier, and they can fix most anything I drag in, so I save my vet check money for them. If the horse is traveling sound and you are sure she's not drugged to cover up a problem (you might want to invest in a blood test to see what she's got in her system), I wouldn't worry about a vet check, personally....but I'm a little different than most. |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I agree all barrel horses need maintenance and that is what a vet check also does for me, helps me decide how much am I willing to do. Vet checks have kept us from buying 3 different horses. One seemed sound, was an OTT and the vet trotted him in the round pen longer then I have ever seen him do. I asked why and he said because he was OTT and wanted to check his knees. Sure enough, the horse went almost head bobbing lame on his front after the trotting. The other 2 showed issues that could lead to a shortened career. Another reason I vet checked our low priced step up horses was because I was buying for my girls. We knew they needed maintenace, but didn't want my girls to fall in love with the horse and just a few months later the horse have issues that kept them from competing. I know things can happen at any time but if I can prevent some heartache, I am going to try. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 393
| I don't think you can buy a horse that will/should pass a PPE 100%, and if they do the vet isn't looking very hard and you wasted your money!
And realistically what is a pass or fail?
I guess it all depends if you can afford to loose that money if there turns up to be something you can't fix. A basic flexion etc test might give you some peace of mind but there can always be underlining issues so where do you stop.
I have only ever done a vet check on 1 of my horses I have purchased. The rest I didn't bother with. Is this right or wrong, I don't know but it worked for me. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 209
| Personally I will always vet check now. I bought one horse with an old injury, they had him vetted a couple months after the injury and vetted sound, spoke with the vet and all so I opted not to vet check, 6mo later he could hardly walk, got a vet out did x-rays and showed substantial arthritis, a bone spur, and cartilage damage. Tried to maintain him but ended up selling him because even with maintenance he couldn't compete as often as I wanted. Vet checked 2 potential horses found one to be navicular (4yr old), and the other to have serious arthritis and bone spurs in the hocks (5yr old). I'm glad I vet checked because I am all for maintaining a horse but I don't want to start out fighting a losing battle on such a young horse and maintaining a big issue that is just going to get worse. Vet checked a 3rd horse and everything went smoothly. That being said though vet checks aren't perfect, there are some things you can't always see on x-rays ect but for the most part it will give you a good idea of whats going on.
Edited by Lyric203 2014-01-16 4:33 PM
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 Veteran
Posts: 151
| What a coincidence! I had PPE done today on a horse at the track. They flexed...he was fine. They x-rayed and some minor things showed up. Things I am fine with.
The last horse I bought was $7500, I did not vet. The entire time I owned him, I regretted that decision. It just gives me some peace of mind. When I went to sell him, I was worried someone would vet him and he wouldn't pass. He never was lame, I am just a worrier.
That said, I have always vetted everything. Flexions and general soundness are cheap. I will do x-rays on anything over $5000.
On a side note, I once vetted a $35K horse that was 4. Full pre-purchase. His hocks were ruined, vet said they looked like spaghetti. This horse passed a flex! The owners were shocked and heartbroken. The think the futurity trainer ran him into the ground. |
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Member
Posts: 11
| I did one this summer on a horse I paid $7500 for. Vet called, said "he passes everything looks great". I SPECIFICALLY asked "Any signs of navicular". No, looks clear is what I was told. I said he is sound to barrel, yep.
Get the horse shipped home then get the WRITTEN vet report. Says mild vascular flow issues and recommends corrective shoeing for pleasure riding to prevent further navicular issues. Ummmmm, what the heck. I am still fighting with the seller and the vets insurance company from JULY on that one. I was able to resell the horse and disclosed issues. When my vet looked at the x-rays she saw a bone chip. ARGHHHHHHHHH.
SO IF you do films, get them sent to YOUR vet for them to look at.
My new mare paid a lot for, no solid vet check. Bought her from a friend and I know her history. When I got her home had my vet do baseline films for future reference and she is clean and clear. |
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