Hello everyone! I hope this is the right forum for this kind of post. Recently I found a horse that I love and want to buy. Now comes the vet check haha. The owner says she has recent X-rays and that they’re clean, but I obviously know nothing about X-rays. :lol:Normally I would call my regular vet to do the vet check, but this horse is out of state and pretty far away. I could try to call him out but it’d be a pretty hefty cost. Should I just find a vet nearby to the horse I want to buy and ask them to do it? I want them to do flexions and heart and lungs and check over all that stuff. Can I just show them the X-rays and have them look at those and tell me what they see? The horse is in Aiken, SC if anyone knows any good vets out there that I could use! Also, I plan on hiring someone to trailer this horse back if everything works out. Do you need any paperwork to pass into another state with a horse? Somebody once told me you have to show coggins at stations before you leave the state. I’m very clueless I’m sorry!! I just want to be prepared and know what to expect.
As far as the vet check goes, I think it would be best if you trust your vet to ask him/her to make a recommendation for a clinic near to the horse. They should hopefully be able to direct you towards someone who can do the PPE for you. I also think it’s important to have a vet go out to actually see the horse in case something is NQR and they can catch that there, lots of issues won’t show up on X-rays.
If it were me, I would want someone who is paid by me, to take X-rays for me, who has no conflict of interest so that I KNOW for sure that said X-rays belong to this horse and are absolutely current and not potentially out-dated. I am a worrywart, some people may say it’s just fine to have your vet look at their X-rays.
As for crossing state borders- I’m not in the US so I can’t comment, but I’m sure someone else will chime in. 
Definitely call and pay a vet yourself. Either ask your current vet for a recommendation or I’m sure someone here can recommend someone.
Travelling across state lines just requires a negative coggins and a health certificate. The horse should already have a negative coggins and the vet that does the PPE can provide a health certificate. I know a lot of people who travel and not a single one has ever been stopped for an Ag stop. But you should have the paperwork on hand just in case. There’s nowhere that you have to show the papers to cross the border that I know of. But the troopers are allowed to stop any trailer and ask to see the paperwork. Always better safe than sorry.
