Necessity of Prepurchase Exams
When a rich and famous guy like Tom Sellick gets duped buying a horse it’s a wake up call for all of us to take every precaution we can. I’m Susan Allen and I’ll be back with more on vetting a horse. Tom Selleck recently made news when he went to court to battle a horse transaction gone bad and the fact that he paid a lot of money for a lame horse. When buying a horse emotions get in the way causing folks to forgo or even worse, ignore pre- purchase exams. Having a horse examined by a veterinarian before buying it isn’t a new phenomenon, back in 1800’s the word “sound” implied “an absence of disease” we still use sound today in regards to a horses ability to perform.The standardized exam came from Britain in the 1960’s and can be as simple as flexion testing or as thorough as advanced imaging, ultrasound and drug testing. For a fee the veterinarian acts as a facilitator representing the buyers and should disclose any conflict of interest or connections to the seller. At the recent Association of Equine Practitioners Convention Veterinarian Steve Soule explained that the vet should neither pass or fail a horse but rather determine what might be wrong and how it would affect the the use the buyer intends for the horse. Remember since the buyer pays for the exam the medical records are exclusively the buyers and if the exam turns up some negative information and you still really like the horse it can provide a good tool to renegioate the price. Pre-purchase exams are worth every penny. I’m Susan Allen