Melanomas are the only issue with the breed, but that can happen with any older gray horse. I sold the Lipizzan cross to a local woman. He lived to be in his 30’s.
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This makes more sense then if the trainer isn’t actually the one selling the horse. The owner is eating the loss to get the horse off their payroll, and the trainer gets paid board and commission in the meantime. I would still do a PPE and a basic set of rads just to make sure there are no obvious issues, but that’s me.
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Thanks. You all are helping me change my mind. Like I said, I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with pre-purchase exams and sometimes I wonder how helpful they are.
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PPEs can only tell you the condition of the horse at that moment. They can go home and break a leg. Things can also be missed. There are poor vets, poor mechanics, etc. But a previous bad experience is no reason to skip it…unless you can take on a pasture pal or large vet bills…or worse! As others have said, it’s all about risk tolerance and life experience that guides us.
All true. Back in the “old” days, vet checks were unheard of. (Remember, I’m old.)
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Well, I am old too and will add to my prior story of the 2-yr old Hanoverian I bought with bad hock X-rays.
AFTER, I bought him, I showed X-rays to a vet who said, Do NOT buy this horse. Well, it was a done deal, so too late. I am not a fan of nixing a horse on “bad x rays.” As I said, horse never took a lame step.
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There are lots of stories like that. Some things others will pass over end up not being a problem. Of course, a horse can pass a basic pre-purchase and have issues. That’s happened to me three times. Two horses (ex-racers) had bone spurs in their hocks; a mare had a previously broken pelvis. None of them showed any sign of lameness. All flexed clean.
I wouldn’t skip the PPE…even if you do a basic one that covers the most important things. I vetted a horse once…he had a heart murmur. Breeder was as surprised as I was. I would have 100% bought the horse, but the murmur was enough of a potential issue to make me change my mind.
The last horse I bought was a weanling…I did the most basic of PPEs to make sure heart/lungs/eyes were all good. Didn’t bother with anything else…that was a risk (I also know that breeder well and own a sibling), so I was willing to assume the risk.
Good news (though bittersweet) is that my guy sold…person came out a rode him and it looks to be a great home/match. Going to miss him though:(
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Two experiences I’ve had vetting young horses. First was a 3 year old with about 10 rides. X-rays revealed a healed injury likely caused by overtrimming a somewhat clubby foot. May have been no problem, except I trim my own and didn’t want to start out with a.problem.
Current mare was 2 - PPE x-ray happened to catch an operable OCD in her coffin joint. I still took her, and had the surgery done before starting her. Much better outcome than if I’d been unaware and the OCD caused premature wear and tear.
Next time I will also do neck x-rays.
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I’m pretty sure that Scandia is closed.
For Morgans it’s just hard to find one going under saddle as a sport horse. I got somewhat lucky with Lola as she hadn’t spent a lot of time in a Morgan show barn; in fact she’d spent a fair amount of her 8 years turned out and on the back burner due to her owner’s health problems and her small size. But she had some issues even from the short time she was at a show barn. She’d been ridden mostly in draw reins and didn’t understand contact. The only thing she knew how to do on the longe line was trot like a terrorized bat out of hell. etc.
For those who could take a baby, Lola’s breeder Anne Wyland in Michigan has a weanling buttermilk buckskin colt (not sure he’s been gelded) that is definitely sport horse material. I visited last weekend, and he has a lovely, quiet personality, and has all the basic baby horse training and manners. He’ll follow you around because he loves people - just like Lola but he’s calmer. $8K the last time she put a price on him but she’d probably negotiate for the right home.
And Anne just got into the Morgan Breeders Hall of Fame!
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Hello everyone,
I’m a student of “Equine Sports and Business” from the Netherlands. I’m currently researching about how to improve the process of horse buying, so this thread comes in very handy. My goal is to create a solution that facilitates the whole process both for buyers and sellers, prioritising transparency.
I’ve created a survey that will help me understand what are the biggest issues for buyers. If you are a DRESSAGE or RECREATIONAL rider, would you be so kind to fill it up? I’m open to all kinds of ideas!
The survey only takes 3-4 minutes to complete.
Many thanks!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeha33J_1IfvmMFGWarmU_vTsRteXFtNYSjxS1K4bkF_TyP2g/viewform?usp=sf_link
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