Why Do I Need a Prepurchase Examination?

A prepurchase examination is a detailed examination that is performed prior to the purchase of a horse and is specifically intended to present the potential buyer with information regarding the overall health and soundness of the horse. This examination is performed to help protect the buyer from problems that may or may not be obvious, to help identify conditions that will require management and for the examining veterinarian to provide an opinion, based upon the examination findings, as to the potential implications of the examination findings on the ability of the horse to perform its intended use. The examination findings may detect a manageable or treatable condition. If this is the case, BEPIM will describe the condition and the potential requirements to treat or to manage it. This can then be used to further negotiate the purchase price- should the condition be something the buyer is willing to address and/or manage.

What You Should Know

Before you commit to a prepurchase examination, it will be most helpful to you and to your veterinarian for you to educate yourself on the process. A common buyer misconception of the prepurchase examination is that it a warrranty on the horse. Although a thorough prepurchase examination will help reduce the likelihood of future health and lameness problems, it is not a warranty. There are inherent limitations to any prepurchase examination. The examination provides as much information as can be elicited by the finite period of the examination and given the modalities of examination agreed to by the buyer. Obviously, the more complete the examination, the more information there will be regarding the overall condition of the horse. However, it is also very important to remember that the examiniation is a single exam and is a "snapshot" in time of the overall condition of the horse. The buyer needs to recognize that conditions that exist may or may not be clinically apparent at the time of the examination. Chronic conditions in particular tend to wax and wane in their clinical appearance and severity. For this reason, in conjunction with the clinical examination, the veterinarian often offers several other tests to perform with the prepurchase examination in order to help detect some less clinically apparent conditions. The buyer is offered these tests and decides whether he/she feels that such testing is or is not worthwhile. These decisions are often heavily affected by the purchase price and intended use of the horse. Such tests often include; radiographic evaluation of the horse (which can be minimal or extensive), drug testing, endoscopic examination of the upper airway, blood work, ultrasound examination of areas of concern, reproductive evaluation and anything else of concern or deemed necessary relative to the overall evaluation. Finally, it is important to also recognize that it is not recommendable for a veterinarian to summarize the results of the prepurchase examination by "pass" or "fail". The final decision as to the action upon the examination report is made by the potential buyer and/or his/her agent or trainer. The veterinarian cannot and should not be involved in the decision to purchase or not to purchase the horse. Among other reasons, this is because he/she cannot account for the perceived potential of the horse in its intended use, the rider-horse "match" and the willingness of the owner and/or trainer to manage any conditions detected by the prepurchase examination. The veterinarian can and should provide some comment on the abnormal examination findings and his/her interpretation of the significance of those findings to the horse and its potential ability to perform its inteded use. These comments are an opinion, and are based on the individual veterinarian's experience and interpretation of the examination findings.

What is Included in a Prepurchase Examination perfomed by BEPIM

At BEPIM, we will tailor your prepurchase examination to your individual needs and concerns. It is not financially resonable to perform a $2000 prepurchase examination on a horse being purchased for $5000. Generally speaking, for horses that are being purchased for $10,000 or less, we generally try to control cost of the prepurchase examination to no more than 10% of the purchase price. Again, depending on the buyer needs, we can accomodate other arrangements to include or exclude components of the examination in order to address specific areas of concern and/or control the cost of the examination. Eliminating aspects of the prepurchase examination will affect the overall completeness of the exam and thereby affect the ability to accurately interpret the health and soundness of the horse. For most prepurchase examinations at BEPIM, we include the following elements:

Standard Clinical Examination

Buyer and Seller Information/ Location and date of exam

Description and identification

History- of work and show, surgery, vices, illnesses, vaccination, deworming, joint injections etc

Ophthalmic examination

Cardiac auscultation and evaluation at rest and after exercise

Respiratory evaluation at rest, with a rebreathing bag and after exercise

Evaluation of all other major organ systems (nervous, GI, skin, urogenital, ears/nose/throat etc)

Musculoskeletal palpation and hands-on evaluation

Hoof testing/ foot balance

Evaluation for lameness (walk, trot, canter)

Flexion tests

Evaluation of movement on lunge line (walk, trot, canter)

Evaluation of movement with rider (walk, trot, canter and lead changes)

Complete written report of the examination findings and comments regarding their significance (including interpretation of any radiogrphs taken)

We Offer the Following Ancillary Tests:

Radiographs of the limbs (any number of views possible, but for standard complete prepurchase examination we usually recommend at least 32 views. This includes 4 views of the front feet (includes navicular bone), 4 views of the front fetlocks, at least 1 view of the carpi (knees), 2 views of the stifles, at least 3 views of the hocks, and at least 2 views of each hind fetlock/pastern. (A total of 16 views for each side of the horse). The views are saved digitally and provided to you on a disc for your future use and records.

Drug testing

Endoscopic examination of the upper airway

Blood work testing/ coggins test

Neck radiographs

Other as requested or as indicated by clinical examination findings

So How Much Will This Cost?

At BEPIM, the answer to this question is entirely up to you. It may make sense for you to answer this question to yourself before you arrange for the examination. Then share that figure for discussion with the veterinarian who will be performing the examination. You and your veterinarian can then decide, based on the budget for the exam, what the best tests and examinations are to elicit the most useful information about the horse and given the individual needs and situations. As the standard clinical examination is described above, all the elements in the list are included at a fee of $500. However, if this is not practical for your situation, the examination can easily be modified and focused to include only the elements you wish to include and/or have deemed most important based on your experience and the conclusions you reach after discussing the examination with me.

Radiographs impart the large part of the expense for most prepurchase examinations. The standard set of 32 films is offered in the prepurchase examination package for a cost of $1000.00. This represents a cost savings of $280 relative to the normal $40 per view. Again, if this is impractical for your situation, you may opt to choose what joints you wish to radiograph and how many views you wish to have taken of each. The cost for "a la-carte" films will be the regular $40 per view. All radiographs are taken using CR technology and the digitial images are provided to you with the written report on a CD. You may decide that radiographs are unnecessary for your prepurchase exmination, but remember the exam conclusions are only as good and as complete as the prepurchase examination.

Ancillary diagnostic tests most often include complete drug testing. This includes evaluation for Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), tranquilizers, corticosteroids, bronchdilators and butorphanol. The complete testing as described above costs $350.00. This testing can be ordered "a la-carte" as well and can be modified to meet your individual needs and concerns. Endoscopic examination of the upper airway is also offered follwing exercise to evaluate the function of the upper airway and/or to investigate any detected upper airway noise. The examination cost is $75.00. Blood work evaluation can be performed to evaluate major organ function and screen for any current disease processes. A complete blood count, serum chemistry and fibrinogen will cost $60.00. A coggins test is $32.00. 

A Final Word

Remember that your prepurchase examination will only be as complete and informative as the examination is. If you need to curtail your expenses, be sure to discuss the examination at length before you decide on how it will be conducted. For example, no comments can be made about the presence of arthritis or boney change in the hocks if the examination did not include radiographic evaluation of the hocks. Furthermore, the prepurchase examination is a snapshot in time and cannot be used to predict the success of the horse in its intended use nor can it predict whether your horse will become sick or otherwise injured. It can only give you information about what was clinically apparent on that day of the examination and what was discovered with the other diagnostics performed during the examination. It is these findings that the veterinarian will interpret regarding the indication of any abnormal conditions that may or may not be present. The veterinarian's interpretation of these findings is an opinion, and not all veterinarians will have the same experiences and or the same opinions. Choose your veterinarina carefully and dont be afraid to request that the veterinarian who performs the examination send a copy of the written and signed report, with the results of any other diagnostic tests (eg Xrays), to another veterinarian of your choice for another opinion. Finally, I stongly recommend that the buyer does not pay for any horse until he/she has received the complete written and signed report of the examination with a copy of all the results of any ancillary testing performed (such as drug testing). Good Luck in your search for a horse!

BEPIM Prepurchase Examination Services

The costs above pertain to prepurchase examinations that I perform in my geographical practice areas. This includes much of the state of Florida, all of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and areas of Virginia. However, I also engage in prepurchase examinations elsewhere by arrangement with the buyer and/or agent. This includes most any other area or country. I have extensive experience in performing prepurchase examinations in European countries for horses to be brought back to the United States. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this if you are interested in having me represent you in any such capacity. The fees fo t he examination are individually negotiated. Travel, meals and lodging are separate.