What would you think if you were vetting a mid teenage horse, not in tough work, said to be sound without maintenance, and the vet found remnants of packing material in the front feet?
Whose vet, your vet? What did the PPE entail?
Really, likely nothing big about that.
Could be standard post ride procedure for that barn. I don’t think packing alone would hide anything big. Never hurts to pull blood to check for nsaids, etc though.
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Is it out of line to just ask the sellers why they needed to use packing material on the fronts?
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What kind of packing material?
There are things you might use in winter as a preventative for thrush, for instance.
If the horse passed a thorough PPE, but had some unremarkable packing material in the fronts, I’d take the horse!
No wonder horses are so hard to sell these days.
Plenty of barns pack as a preventative measure, especially at a horse show. Or maybe the horse just blew an abscess or had a bruise but he’s sound now so no big deal. You can shoot xrays if you’re worried about navicular.
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did you ask the owner / trainer / agent about the packing. Is it SOP for this barn during wet / dry/ hard weather?
if a teenaged horse passed PPE I would strongly consider it. You can certainly do radiographs if you wish, though I would assume most horses this age will show changes with or without symptoms.
If hoof packing is all that is needed to keep him sound in his teens, buy him
I would not consider that maintenence if I was asked. That is easily standard post jump school care.
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Honestly, it wouldn’t bother me at all.
I pack many SOUND horses feet……horses feet can get dry, my farrier recommends fiebings hoof packing and greasing the bulbs and cornet band….it’s not a fault on the horse that weather or living conditions make his feet dry.
But if it makes you feel better, ask the seller….”I noticed during Dobbin’s PPE that he had some packing in his feet? Why do you use it and what kind of packing do you use?”
The way the seller answers that question should conclude it for you.
And if you’re still worried, draw some blood and look for bute, banamine, dexamethasone, flumethasone, ketofin, block, equioxx, gabapentin, etc……however, if nothing came back suspicious on the initial PPE, like arthritis in a joint or something, he probably doesn’t have a reason to be on a pain reliever in the first place.
