Find a Vet
Once Try a Horse has helped to narrow down your ‘Wish List’ to ‘the chosen one’ we can’t recommend a pre-purchase veterinary examination highly enough, for the safety of both horse and rider. We suggest you choose a local, impartial vet, ideally not from the practice used by the seller. A vet will give you a professional opinion as to whether the horse is physically suitable for your intended purpose, they will identify and quantify the risks from their findings and guide you as to whether to proceed with the purchase. They will assess soundness, look for previous injury, signs of existing health issues and potential weakness on that day.
You will need to decide between a two or five stage vetting. Five stage is generally recommended, particularly for valuable horses and those intended for competition. For practical reasons a more economical two stage inspection may suffice for very green, unbacked or companion horses. If you intend to insure your new horse the insurance company may dictate the level of vetting you need to undertake and the time you have between the pre-purchase examination and taking out the policy.
All horses presented for a vetting must have a passport. A vet will obtain more accurate results from a horse in work than one turned away.
A two-stage vetting begins with observations at rest. Breathing rate, heart and eyes will be checked, followed by general appearance, limbs, skin and teeth (for ageing purpose only), the inspection will include palpation to check for abnormalities.
The horse will be walked and trotted in hand during the second stage, followed by flexion tests.
A five-stage inspection will continue and include the exercise phase, putting the heart and lungs under stress through strenuous work. The vet will also study the horse’s gaits and look for lameness (normally) under saddle. A potential purchaser is at liberty to ride the horse during the vetting.
Following fast work, the vet will assess the horse’s recovery during stage-four. Finally, the vet will examine the trot up again during the fifth stage of the vetting. They may repeat the flexion tests and/or lunge the horse in circles.
Buyers may wish to take x-rays of joints, neck and the back for further reassurance.
A blood sample should be taken and stored for six months in case of any future concerns. You may need to swab or take a blood sample for strangles if the horse is to be moved to a livery yard.