In the Thoroughbred world, the process of vetting a potential purchase at public auction is filled with debate. For years, consignors have expressed frustration with the tendency of buyers to shrink away at even minor findings on pre-sale radiographs – a sentiment that's not too far off from complaints often aired by sellers of sport horses about the pre-purchase exam (PPE) process.
In a recent edition of the Cornell Equine Seminar Series, Dr. John Pigott tackled the topic of pre-purchase exams – what they're designed to do, and what they're not. Pigott is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and is clinical director of Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists in New York.
Here are a few of our takeaways:
–One of the most important things to understand about pre-purchase exams, according to Pigott, is that they are information-gathering for the potential buyer. A good clinician shouldn't be expected to either “pass” or “fail” a horse on pre-purchase, but simply to provide their observations for the buyer to filter through their lens of risk tolerance.
“The old adage of pass/fail on a pre-purchase is not really a thing — not anymore at least,” he said. “People used to think 'the vet failed my horse' or 'the vet passed my horse' and people buy lame horses all the time, or horses with very risky conditions. There's a variety of reasons for that. Maybe that horse has a several-year history of a proven performance or show record, or maybe it's the only horse that matches the rider's attitude or ability level, and the horse has serial x-rays over a period of years that show no progression.”
That also relates to temperament – Pigott considers that it's the buyer's coach or riding instructor who is tasked with deciding whether the horse is an appropriate match with the rider. If he sees any really unusual or dangerous behavior in the course of an exam he will pass that information along, but that's as far as his expertise can go.
–While there are people who are tolerant of some issues because they otherwise like the horse enough, Pigott said there are also people who have personal experience with a problem and become very averse to anything but perfection from a new horse.
“I've heard directly, 'I've had a horse with navicular [syndrome], therefore I want a horse with perfect navicular x-rays,' whatever the heck that means,” Pigott said.
While it's understandable that personal experience would change someone's view of a physical issue's importance, Pigott also has seen people talk themselves out of horses that probably were suitable because of this bias.
–Prior to the pre-purchase exam, the buyer should make clear to the veterinarian what job they expect the horse to do and how intense their workload will likely be. Pigott said there are plenty of exam findings he doesn't consider prohibitive for a horse that will walk on trail rides but would be a problem for a grand prix jumper.
The vet also needs clarity from the potential buyer on who's on the team and may want to hear about pre-purchase findings, as the buyer may be working with a trainer and/or a veterinarian at home (if the horse is located a long distance away) and may want their perspective.
–Disclosure of a horse's previous medical issues can be pretty spotty, and often isn't in play until the time the horse goes under contract, which means the veterinarian doing a pre-purchase examination may have limited information about a horse's history. Sometimes sellers are very forthright about any issues they've experienced with the horse, but there's nothing requiring them to volunteer information at this stage of the deal.
Pigott said this can be one advantage for buyers looking at older horses – they're more likely to have spent more time with their current owner, and if that person is willing to be transparent on their experience, it allows the buyer to learn more than they would in a high-turnover sales barn.
With older horses, he said, you sometimes have to be more forgiving of radiographic findings; horses that have been in consistent work for a long period of time are likely to have some kind of findings on imagery, but as with humans, don't necessarily experience pain as a result. Knowing the horse's workload and recent competition results (if any) may tell you more about how the horse feels day to day.
–Most pre-purchase examinations involve the examining veterinarian watching the horse walk and jog and doing a basic external examination of all body systems. Clients may request full sets of radiographs or just target certain areas of concern. Pigott usually pulls blood to do drug testing although not all clients request this. Some clients request testing for Lyme disease or EPM, but he doesn't suggest it, as in the absence of physical symptoms those test results often only indicate a horse may have been exposed to the disease, and exposure is pretty common.
The location and surface of the exam can also impact any lameness findings.
“I've gotten in a lot of arguments with friends of mine in the show world about circling horses on hard ground, especially horses that show a lot, work a lot, etc.” he said. “Frequently you can make those horses limp just because it's a tight circle on a very firm surface. I always give horses a little bit of a benefit of the doubt if they look great on soft ground and then there's a hint of unevenness on hard ground.”
–One thing that can be evasive on pre-purchase – old surgical scars. Recent ones are obvious, but if the hair isn't clipped, scars can hide on some parts of the body, especially the barrel, which can be a challenge if a buyer is wary of a horse with a history that includes colic surgery.
–One of the hot button diagnoses in the equestrian world right now is kissing spines, a term which refers to the tops of vertebrae that appear to touch on x-rays.
Read our previous reporting on kissing spines here and here.
Many veterinarians suspect that the diagnosis has come into popularity recently as imaging technology has made it easier to see a horse's back clearly on radiographs. It may be that horses who show abnormality on x-ray don't all experience physical symptoms as a result.
“There's way more that goes into it than how it appears on the x-ray,” said Pigott. “There are horses with very narrow spacing in their back that have great muscling, no soreness, and there's a lot of anatomic variation that can go into how this appears on an x-ray. The ones I pay attention to a little bit more are the ones that have bony resorption around the back combined with poor muscling. That tells me the horse maybe travels a little bit hollow in his back and it's putting a little bit more stress on its back and that could be a problem.”
–In the end, Pigott said pre-purchase examinations are a snapshot in time of how the horse is doing. Veterinarians can give their best analysis of any findings they see, but can't offer buyers any guarantees about what will or won't become a problem down the road.
The anxiety around the horse-buying process often results in significant pressure and sometimes communication issues. As a result, some veterinarians won't do pre-purchase examinations anymore because they can be too much of a headache.
“Can we predict the future on pre-purchase?” said Pigott. “Absolutely not. Buyers frequently want us to, and sometimes get very angry if something goes the wrong way despite the info that was provided and that's why a lot of vets don't do pre-purchase.”
See a full replay of the presentation on pre-purchase examinations here:
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