[missy06]

Hi friends! I'm sitting at a Starbucks an hour and a half from home, and Luke's PPE is onsite at a vet in less than 1.5 hours! I'm so nervous - I had crazy dreams about it last night.

I'm solo, so while I'll obviously be listening to all of the vet's observations, I'm the one who needs to decide what does and doesn't work for me to manage and live with.

As a reminder:

• I need a hardy horse who can live out in an unlimited grass pasture in a herd setting
• I will primarily be trail riding with arena work and natural horsemanship clinics

I am already planning on the basic exam, metabolic testing and front hoof x-rays. I already know he has eye allergies and needs sedation for sheath cleaning. I would just love experienced

I'll start posting to the thread based on what I see / learn starting at noon Pacific.

Picture because he's so cute.

 

[ClearDonkey]

Dental exam, too!

Good luck!!!

 

[Horse & Dog Mom]

Hi... It's a very exciting time and can be nerve-wracking as well.

I don't know what time frame the current owner expects you to commit or not to them. One of the things I was advised to do, when I put our deposit down & committed to the vet check, was to make sure that the horse was not being riden by somebody else in the meantime. I could not stop the owner from riding the horse, but anybody else who might be looking at the horse could potentially cause an issue. The owners were okay with that, but I think you're past that point already.

On my pre-purchases, I got a full written report and that was a good thing because I could not remember everything the vet said because my mind was going 5 million miles an hour. I still have the notes I took but it wasn't even close to being as comprehensive as the document I got from the vet. The blood work might take a little bit to get back to you as far as results go. You may want to remember to ask for a copy of the x-rays for your records if you do wind up getting the horse.

🤞🐎

 

[missy06]

Dental exam, too!

Good luck!!!

That's part of the standard!

 

[missy06]

Hi... It's a very exciting time and can be nerve-wracking as well.

I don't know what time frame the current owner expects you to commit or not to them. One of the things I was advised to do, when I put our deposit down & committed to the vet check, was to make sure that the horse was not being riden by somebody else in the meantime. I could not stop the owner from riding the horse, but anybody else who might be looking at the horse could potentially cause an issue. The owners were okay with that, but I think you're past that point already.

On my pre-purchases, I got a full written report and that was a good thing because I could not remember everything the vet said because my mind was going 5 million miles an hour. I still have the notes I took but it wasn't even close to being as comprehensive as the document I got from the vet. The blood work might take a little bit to get back to you as far as results go. You may want to remember to ask for a copy of the x-rays for your records if you do wind up getting the horse.

🤞🐎

I'm likely going to ask the owner for at least the rest of the day to digest everything - is that fair?

Yes, we're past that point and I hadn't put down a deposit nor asked for the horse not to be ridden, but I know she hasn't shown him to anyone else. She may have ridden him or her students but she's gotten him some proactive body work and I know is trying to keep him in one piece before today

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

Have you got a list of things that are automatic "stop the exam, no point in continuing past this point" items? Those can save you a bunch of money on the PPE and save you heart ache on the purchase.
Certain things for me are:
Cribbing
Laminitis
Weaving
Certain maintenance issues


Get better definition of the eye allergy thing for Luke and find out what kinds of treatments are available for him

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

Watch the vet and how long and how tight he holds the horses legs/feet during the lameness portion of the exam. Depending on how long and how tightly he holds the joints flexed, then asks the horse to trot off, the horse will trot off "lame" but it may or may not be good indication of problems.

 

[egrogan]

Lots of good advice here.

In addition to the "hard stop" decision...The only other thing that came to mind for me based on my prior experience is what to do if the vet throws something at you you've never heard of before or don't really know how to assess. For example, in one PPE I did the vet said- we've got some early signs of high ringbone here- do you want extra images? And I really had no background knowledge for how to answer that, so just said yes. Another example, my current mare absolutely refused the dental exam in the PPE. It was sort of awkward when vet was asking owner if this was a typical behavior ("of course not!" was owner's answer 😉), and asking both me and the owner if she should sedate to do a more complete exam. I ended up taking the chance and not having her sedated to do the dental exam, but that surely could have come back to bite me (luckily it didn't).

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

Lots of good advice here.

In addition to the "hard stop" decision...The only other thing that came to mind for me based on my prior experience is what to do if the vet throws something at you you've never heard of before or don't really know how to assess. For example, in one PPE I did the vet said- we've got some early signs of high ringbone here- do you want extra images? And I really had no background knowledge for how to answer that, so just said yes. Another example, my current mare absolutely refused the dental exam in the PPE. It was sort of awkward when vet was asking owner if this was a typical behavior ("of course not!" was owner's answer 😉), and asking both me and the owner if she should sedate to do a more complete exam. I ended up taking the chance and not having her sedated to do the dental exam, but that surely could have come back to bite me (luckily it didn't).

Good points here. I'd add Ringbone to things in a young horse that I'd put a hard stop on, at least in a $10K horse, I would. For $2500 I'd do Xrays and think about it. But as young as he is, it would be a hard no, for me. Dental, I'd sedate and see why the horse was being so adamant about not being examined. And if that ended up being the case, I'd go ahead and have the sheath cleaned while the vet was out there. Do you have copies of the Coggins and last Vaccinations so you can see when everything was done last? Not just owner's word?

 

[missy06]

Have you got a list of things that are automatic "stop the exam, no point in continuing past this point" items? Those can save you a bunch of money on the PPE and save you heart ache on the purchase.
Certain things for me are:
Cribbing
Laminitis
Weaving
Certain maintenance issues


Get better definition of the eye allergy thing for Luke and find out what kinds of treatments are available for him

Gosh good question.

• Laminitis
• Navicular
• Any maintenance related to feed management
• Arthritis (at his age that would concerning as he hasn't been heavily used)
• Ringbone
• Metabolic concerns (which I know they probably can't tell me onsite)
• Dental that would indicate that he would have a challenge if he continued to live at pasture (i.e needed regular/daily soft mashes, etc)

@egrogan are you happy you did the extra ringbone xrays?

 

[egrogan]

@egrogan are you happy you did the extra ringbone xrays?

I didn't end up with the horse, but it was not for that reason. Since I was fairly inexperienced at the time, I was glad to have the extra x-rays and would have gotten my personal vet's opinion about what he saw before moving forward.

 

[missy06]

I didn't end up with the horse, but it was not for that reason. Since I was fairly inexperienced at the time, I was glad to have the extra x-rays and would have gotten my personal vet's opinion about what he saw before moving forward.

I don’t have a personal equine vet but I do have another vet I used for a previous PPE and liked.

 

[tinyliny]

may I suggest you video the exam with your cell phone?

 

[missy06]

I should have have thought of videoing it. But he’s doing great so far. A cosmetic only issue on a tendon. A slight something in one eye that could maybe someday lead to a vision issue but that is highly rare and unlikely per vet.

Hooves looked great on test, should I x ray regardless?

 

[PoptartShop]

I didn't get a PPE for my horse, so I'm not much help there, but by cosmetic issue what is it, and what is the slight something in one eye, was the vet specific?
Of course PPE's don't guarantee everything for the future though.

X-rays wouldn't hurt, they never do. Just depends on how much you are willing to spend before getting the horse (if you do decide to get him after all). He's cute, how old is he?

 

[missy06]

He’s 8.

It’s the extensor tendon. The vet couldn’t even define the eye. It isn’t even a spot, just like barely a whisper of anything. I’ll have the report in a few minutes.

his X-rays looked great. He has (I cannot remember the name) some calcification (vs carteledge) around the top of his hoof wall but it’s nothing to worry about.

Vet said it’s the cleanest and best PPE she’s done in a long time, and that she never says that. 😳😍

Bloodwork should be back by Wednesday!

 

[stevenson]

was this your Vet that did the ppe ? If not send the info to your Vet to get your Vets opinion ! I would wonder about the calcification in the hoof, what exactly was in the eye, and the blood work. Did the horses heart and lungs sound good ?

 

[boatagor]

Has the seller asked for a deposit at this point?

 

[Luna’s rider]

Bodes well.

 

[missy06]

No deposit requested.

Heart, lungs, flexion and movement all looked great. So did X-rays of hooves.