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Vetting a 24h foal? (+LF vet reccs in CO)

I’m expecting an in-utero foal in late Spring and have the opportunity to vet it before accepting ownership of it… but not entirely sure what to vet for!
I’ve done a lot of reading and there doesn’t seem to be much consensus around what’s even useful to vet for as far as xrays go. The only thing I’ve seen an agreement on is obviously no flexions.

The foal will 100% be getting a health check necessary for insurance which covers super basic things like checking for any deformities and its IgG reading. Is there anything else worth doing on top of that?
Goal would be to find anything that would be a dealbreaker or things that could be maintained and possibly solved with relative ease - saying that, though, I am concerned about finding something that may solve itself but has to be reported to (and thus excluded from) insurance…

Also would love to know of any vet clinics around Longmont, CO that would be good to use. TIA!!

I’m definitely not an expert, but I would not consider x-raying a foal that young. Your vet can certainly palpate and observe for any obvious issues, but I’m not sure that getting any xrays at that age would be possible or helpful.

Normally a “vet check” for a newborn foal is to check IgG as you mentioned and verify that there are no major abnormalities or minor issues that need immediate attention (like lax tendons). I would also advise pulling blood and getting a complete blood cell count just to verify all looks good there.

Unfortunately no recommendations from me on vets in CO since I’m not local to that area.

Good luck and congrats!

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I haven’t bought one that young, but last fall I did buy one a few months old, pre-weaning. Now, in my case, it was the 4th youngster I’ve bought from that breeder, so I have a lot of trust that she is up front about any concerns. Second, I own the half sister to the one I bought, so I am familiar with the mare and what she produces.

I did a vet check…which was basically a general health screening - a simple stall side check of heart, lungs, eyes…make sure there were no congenital deformities or tendon issues. That was it. Mine got her first set of shots as part of the vetting so that she was ready to switch barns once weaned. Not really worth doing xrays at that age.

Congrats!!

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I always had the vet out to go over any newborn foals my mare would have. Kind of the same thing as @Critter mentions , except I did my own vaccinations later on.

Maybe just get a health check and a contingency on another vet check and findings before sending it to you in case something is really wrong?

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I would check for any not so obvious defects like congenital heart murmor and eye defects. Something like a congenital heart murmor or cataracts or significant bite defects.

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