Just so I can get an idea, what is “average” cost for a breeding soundness exam?
I’ve got several horses I’m considering - is there an age where you say you probably don’t need to do a BSE (say a 3 y.o.)?
Or is it always a good idea on a mare you are buying to breed, regardless of age?
I haven’t bought a horse is so long I have no idea what is “average” on a PPE either.
In Northern Virginia I would say $1,200.00 is average for a PPE. Not sure what a breeding soundness exam would cost but should be considerably less, like maybe in the $400.00 range?
I’ve paid anywhere from $200-$600 for breeding soundness exams.
I like them to include:
General palpation
Cytology/culture
Biopsy
The price is more than worth it to me. It’s a heck of a lot less than I would spend trying to breed an infertile mare.
IMO, it doesn’t matter how young the mare is (although I’ve never heard of one being done on a 2yo). I would have one done on a 3yo. Chances are that it’s fine, but you never know.
I have learned the hard way to do not just a culture/cytology on ALL mares, regardless of age, but also a uterine biopsy. I bought a 4 year old maiden and could not get her pregnant. Then we did a biopsy and she had a horrific biopsy score. Since then I’ve seen quite a few younger mares come into the clinic w/poor biopsy scores. Of course, I would also include an ultrasound to assess the reproductive tract. At our clinic an ultrasound would be $40. A culture/cytology would be $50 and a biopsy would be $115. But that is going to vary hugely depending upon what part of the country you are having it done in. I’ve paid a lot more when I’ve had mares worked up prior to shipping them here.
Both clinics by me are around $300 for everything (including biopsy) on a broodmare soundess exam.
Regular PPE–oh boy–that can really range. I think at a minimum $350-$400 last I checked, but that does not include any x-rays. I usually do hocks and front feet (balance views) as a baseline and anything else suggested based on flexions, etc. That’s assuming a young, sound horse currently in training.
I usually budget $750ish for a pretty basic PPE.
Thanks. I’ll contact the vet school near me to get a general idea. They are really the only game within 2 hours of me.
My current front-runner is an 11 y.o. mare that has had several foals and is green-broke but reportedly sound. She has been a career broodie at a respected breeding farm.
But a “breeding soundness” exam has no bearing on whether the mare is fertile or not, other than confirming there is at least one ovary 
So, here’s the deal from what I know from my limited experience:
If you culture/cytology/biopsy/all that stuff, and you find nothing now, that doesn’t mean you won’t find something in the Spring.
If you find something now, would it make or break the sale? It might if it was severe enough.
But if it was just a mild thing that would likely be easily cleared up, if you do it now, you’ll still want to check things again in the Spring.
If you don’t clear it up now, I think you’d still need to check again in the Spring to see if there were any new developments that might need to be treated differently.
[QUOTE=JB;5256050]
But a “breeding soundness” exam has no bearing on whether the mare is fertile or not, other than confirming there is at least one ovary :)[/QUOTE]
I know the point you are getting at, but a BSE will tell you a lot more than that. You can confirm that she is free of infection (or not), that she has healthy uterine tissue, that her reproductive conformation is within normal limits (or can be made to be so), that she is free of cysts, that her cervix is normal, that she does, indeed, have her ovaries :). But you are right in that the only true test of fertility is when the foal is on the ground. But you can vastly improve your odds of that by having a BSE done.
LOL, yes, I agree - just pointing out it has no bearing on true fertility.
Although, I do suspect Dressae_Diva really meant all the things you said. But, ya know…
Ditto this.
[QUOTE=JB;5256056]
So, here’s the deal from what I know from my limited experience:
If you culture/cytology/biopsy/all that stuff, and you find nothing now, that doesn’t mean you won’t find something in the Spring.
If you find something now, would it make or break the sale? It might if it was severe enough.
But if it was just a mild thing that would likely be easily cleared up, if you do it now, you’ll still want to check things again in the Spring.
If you don’t clear it up now, I think you’d still need to check again in the Spring to see if there were any new developments that might need to be treated differently.[/QUOTE]
So would you buy a broodmare w/out doing a pre-purchase BSE? Just curious. Of course I would advocate doing it now. For example, if the biopsy score is very poor, but there is no infection, then there is a good chance that you won’t be able to improve that score significantly. In that case, it could easily be a deal breaker and you wouldn’t want to wait until spring to find out that her uterus was shot. If she is infected now and you go through with the purchase then you can treat her now to prevent increasing damage to the uterine tissue. Letting an infection go untreated/undiagnosed until spring is not a good idea.
I suppose it depends on the age of the mare. If she’s had foals, especially in the current year, then no, because obviously she’s got all the right piece-parts, and it’s not likely a biopsy score would be that poor. COULD it be? I’m sure it could. Then it might come down to the cost of the mare and whether she could be a riding horse instead.
That would be a BSE before purchase. I may very well do one after purchase, depending on the time of year. If it was January and I was thinking of breeding in April, for example, I’d probably wait a month to have her as recently clean as possible before breeding
If there was something minor, and 6+ months before breeding, I would clear it up now, then check again in the Spring.
But I did buy my mare without a BSE - but she was a 3yo coming off the track with a Caslick. However, she was first a companion horse, 2nd a potential riding horse, and a close 3rd a potential broodmare (and she is pregnant now, everything was perfectly clean when checked in the Spring).
So it all does come down to what the options are and how much the mare is- for me
PPE can vary across the board depending on how “in depth” you want to go, how many x-rays you want, etc.
BSE, my last one was 4 years ago now and it cost approx. $250 I think. I bought one mare last year without an exam who had just weaned her first foal. She has value as a riding pony too and was priced very reasonably, so I took a chance on her. She is in training now. Ironically, out of three mares I own now, the one I did the BSE on has given me the most trouble getting in foal, but for reasons unrelated to anything they could have found on a BSE.
My bad - the mare is 14, not 11. I posted another thread about 14 y.o. broodies.
The mare had a 2010 colt by Rambo.
Very timely topic as I just had one done the other day. Total cost $150, very cheap in my opinon. In my case the mare is pregnant. The vets checked her vitals, eyes, heart, etc, checked that she moved sound at liberty and confirmed pregnancy.
Just went through the PPE (without breeding soundness exam) on a stud colt - boy was that an experience of sticker shock :lol: Horse was in AZ, vet clinic advised a “typical” vetting with x-rays runs between $1000 and $1200. I too was figuring the $700 range, but I wasn’t thinking about things such as x-raying stifles.
I had one done on a mare I sold. Total just under $250 for call fee, pregnancy check (yes, pregnant), vulvar conformation, soundness at liberty, vitals etc. Basically similar check to Forte’s (but done in Canada)
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
