I’m looking at a horse who checks all my boxes, but of course there’s a caveat: he’s a heavy breather. According to my trainer and seller’s vet (I haven’t scheduled the PPE yet) it’s not roaring.
Does this affect his value? This is not an upper five-figure show horse. But I still want to know.
Can you give us more information in regards to what you mean by “heavy breather?” What exactly does the horse do? And is this a hunter or a jumper?
He does both, but more of a hunter. I don’t want to post video on the thread but I could PM you.
If it’s not roaring, what is it? That would be my question for the sellers. Or for my own vet if I liked the horse well enough to PPE it otherwise. I’d want to know under what conditions it occurs and if it’s a new(er) thing.
How loud is it? If judges are going to hear it across the hunter ring, that’s less than ideal, perception-wise. A noisy horse sounds like a fresh horse.
Send me a PM if you want to see video. I’d like some feedback.
IME hunter judges will penalize a roarer or one that sounds like it might have a roar. They won’t have access to your vet records to know that it isn’t. So if you want him for hunters, yes, it would affect his value, especially if your intent is to resell.
How much it affects his value would depend on what is causing the loud breathing, if it really isn’t a roar.
Heavy breather? Breathing problems.
I would not proceed.
Good luck in your search. 
There’s a reason for “heavy breathing”. If the seller hasn’t invested the funds and time into identifying the cause, I wouldn’t invest my time and resources into a PPE. If it’s audible in a video, I’d expect that it would be noticed by a judge in the hunter ring.
I’ve got one horse who has always been a loud breather. Not roaring, more like he forcefully exhales when he gets himself wound up. He’s never been penalized for it in the hunter ring, and in his prime would have sold for mid-low fives. It seems obvious when you’re riding, but isn’t that obvious to others. He’s now 18 and is still in work, no changes, we’ve owned him since he was four.
DM me the video if you like. I just sold one that had something similar come up on a scope on the PPE. Minor issue, but she definitely made a noise and now I know why.
I tried to DM you. Did it work?
NVM, it didn’t work on my phone so I sent it again.
Hunter rider here. How loud? In my experience if it’s the low rhythmic exhale of a quality canter it actually shows relaxation. Never lost a quality round because my horse softly rattled on exhale. I guess it matters how loud.
It’s pretty loud. I’m worried about it, and not from a hunter judge perspective, because I would only do schooling shows, maybe the TB shows. It’s more that I’m concerned about potential problems or surgery down the road. Other than that, he’s perfect for me in size, temperament, age, and experience.
Again, I don’t want to post links to the videos because they are from the seller’s account, but I’d appreciate input from anyone. Let me know and I can DM you links.
Ahhh. Understood. You can certainly DM me if you like. I’m guessing your gut is telling you it’s no bueno. Trust your gut.
Answered you on DM. He looks very honest and lovely. But that is loud. And it doesn’t sound gravelly like allergies … it sounds like constriction. If you really like him scope him on PPE. Perhaps that’s his normal … but it surely isn’t normal for most horses.
Replied!
Dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP). The mare was off the track and must have flipped her palate in one of her last races and then I suspect her performance deteriorated and that’s when they decided to get rid of her. I didn’t PPE before purchase and noticed she made a little noise at the canter but it never bothered her (or me). I knew her original connections on the track and they told me that when they had her, they had scoped her after every race and breeze and it had never happened before.
The vet was pretty unconcerned by it—she obviously wasn’t being sold as a racehorse and he didn’t feel that it would ever affect her ability to do her new job (lower-level hunters, some eventing). Regardless, the buyer wanted to know the cost to correct it and was quoted $1,200 by our pricy, top-tier clinic in NJ. It’s a very minor surgery. If it were my horse, I would try to treat with aloe and throat washes before doing surgery, based on my track connections’ advice, but I did negotiate on her price based on the finding.
Thank you for the history 
I know you don’t think it’s roaring but to share my experience with one with a wind issue. I have an event horse who is a roarer. She scoped clean when I bought her, and then two years later had a sudden paralysis of the right side flap and became a grade 4 roarer overnight.
After my experience with her I would not knowingly purchase one. Not because of the noise, or because it affects her ability to run and jump. She’s competing at preliminary now and will probably have no issues with wind or stamina moving up the levels.
I do however, think it has significantly affected her ability to connect and be through on the flat. Holding her head and neck in that flexed position seems to be something that now causes her stress and panic at the canter. When she is relaxed and quiet at home, it’s not as big a deal, but add in nerves and tension at the show and I think her airway becomes restricted when on the bridle and she has minor come aparts in the dressage because of this.
She’s had a cordodimy which has improved it some but not completely solved the issue.
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