I’m not talking about horses who have minor issues come up on the PPE. I mean horses who fail the PPE badly… Not serviceable for even low-level jobs and not easy to sell anymore. Especially in cases where the owner/seller was unaware of the severity of lameness prior to the exam.
Has anyone ever seen this happen and know what ended up being done with the horse? I can only imagine the worst outcome. I have heard many stories of people who think they found the perfect horse, but PPE shows issues that are beyond repair. Never thought I’d experience it until I brought a horse in for a lease-to-buy situation. Fantastic horse but I had some suspicions of lameness. PPE confirmed the worst. Now I have to question, what happens to horses in this situation if the buyer does not move forward, and the seller can not sell?
I’m sure it varies a lot from one case to another, but I am curious if anyone could share any stories about the outcomes they’ve seen. Do they find a cushy retirement home or end up in an auction? Would love to hear some perspectives on this.
I’m going to make some assumptions here that may or may not be correct. Sounds like you care about this horse and what happens to it. If it was me, and the seller truly didn’t know the extent of the issues, I’d offer a really low offer with promise of a good forever home (I’m personally able to support that). If the horse is a kind type and can be treated/maintained in a way that allows it to have a lower level job (maybe even just trail riding), then maybe it can be of use to you instead of just a pasture puff?
I had a kind of similar experience with a client horse once that I was rehabbing and the vet said the horse would never return to his former level of work. The client put the horse up for sale to a non jumping home and I came so close to pulling the trigger because 1) I really liked the horse a lot, 2) he had probably the best mouth I’ve ever felt in a horse and was incredible to ride on the flat, 3) I had suspicions that the horse could in fact jump again but with much different management that I could provide (I have my own farm).
Anyway, like I said, I’m making lots of assumptions here and not really answering your question (sorry!) but thought my experience might be helpful.
Well, if it’s a mare breed it.
If it’s a gelding find someone else to buy it at a different price point.
I have in my life purchased two very nice, much above my pay grade, well trained and well bred horses at bargain basement prices because they were spectacular PPE fails for other people.
They were both sold to me with full disclosure by people who knew of me, and knew that whatever happened I would do right by the horse.
Both have required veterinary maintenance and thoughtful riding to stay sound and happy, but they have been totally worth it to me and I am so glad I took the gamble for both of them.
I would not have taken the risk on either of them at their full asking price, or frankly anywhere near.
Obtain a second opinion from another Vet. A PPE is only a snap shot on a single day and different people will see or discount different problems. Buying any horse is a big risk.
Sell without disclosure to someone who fails to do their homework. (Cf multiple law suits, often involving fraud and big commissions…).
Sell with full disclosure, sometimes at a reduced price, to someone who feels they can manage the issues or requires a horse to do a different job. The best option.
Sell via a public auction, when caveat emptor applies. Some public auctions are very about good disclosing vet records etc, particularly specialist horse sales. Others are a mechanism for moving livestock around and this route is often the end of the line for horses whose past owners have failed in their duty of care.
Consider the nature of the medical issues, the pedigree and conformation of a mare and breed her to an appropriate stallion.
Breed a mare and hope for the best. The cause of irresponsible over breeding.
If the horse has serious issues that can not be easily managed, turn the horse into a pasture ornament to gently decline over many years of financial obligations for the owner.
If serious issues that can not be managed, put to sleep by a responsible owner rather than risk it ever ends up in the kill pen.
I did a PPE on a horse and found a significant bone chip in the knee. Or so I recall, it was nearly 10 years ago now. Vet said he was a candidate for surgery. I declined to buy, he was fairly recently off the track and it wasn’t like he was an older guy who had been doing his job soundly forever. Sold the PPE findings to the owner at way less than I paid the vet so she knew what was going on.
She continued to advertise the horse. The horse community is small, a friend of a friend went to try the horse. The owner was saying that the chip was small and the horse would be fine. Totally different than what my vet report said. It’s quite possible the owner did more digging, had a second vets opinion etc… but gut feeling said she was just trying to offload the horse with a not-so-little white lie.
So, I guess in my experience, a failed PPE can result in the horse still being advertised and sold. In a perfect world, I would hope that those horses go to suitable jobs at a reduced price.
On a side note, what is considered the social norm for sharing PPE findings with the seller?
I think there are very few horses who are so lame, that is only noticed on a PPE, that they can not do some other job of some sort. I would doubt a horse that lame would manage to make it to the PPE phase of buying, because it is so obviously lame.
There are lots of horses who are doing a job, doing it well, and their PPE is ugly. The seller then has to find a buyer who is OK with that, likely lower the price, etc.
The truly lame horses, the cushy retirement home or auction question totally depends on the seller.
I know of a 5 year old that has NASTY xrays. Horse is a size that makes it hard to market to start with. The price on the horse is ridiculously low compared to what he’s been doing/proven at.
But horse is 5, with nasty xrays. The future soundness is so in question they can’t seem to sell.
Generally polite to non-judgementally share vet findings verbally with seller. Vet reports and imaging usually are exchanged for a fee. But it varies from situation to situation.
Yup. Especially given how expensive it is to do a full PPE these days.
I also think there is a TON of gray area when it comes to “failing” a PPE.
There are plenty of nice, well trained horses out there with ugly x-rays. If they are not symptomatic, there are definitely buyers out there for these horses… but the price has to be dropped and ethically, the seller should disclose what they know.
There are also plenty of nice, well trained horses out there who do need regular maintenance with joint injections, Adequan/Pentosan, and 4 shoes… otherwise they won’t flex 100% sound. Again… with disclosure and fair pricing, there are buyers for these horses.
If a horse is very quiet, and safe to hack and trail ride, then a low impact pleasure riding only home can be found for it… for the right price.
Depends on the seller.
I tried to buy a lesson horse who I had bonded with. I knew he was in pain and needed care, but I hoped it was something that could be improved with proper care. The results of the PPE were essentially that it was time to consider euthanasia.
They sold the horse to someone who didn’t get a PPE.
The more depressing part is that the horse wound up in this lesson program after being purchased at an inexpensive auction the same way (with a vague, cursory PPE) after serving as someone’s showjumper for a decade. They disposed of him at 14.
He had raced as a young horse and the owner gave him to the showjumper because he didn’t want the horse to get run down after he retired from racing. That’s exactly what wound up happening…run down and worked to death by a different discipline.
A seller can usually disclose the issues and sell the horse for a lower price, or they can stay quiet and wait for a buyer who skips the PPE.
They sell the horse to someone who doesn’t do a PPE, drug it so it passes a PPE, keep it, euthanize, or dump at a sale.
I think passing off to someone who doesn’t know better via a no PPE sale or auction is probably most common.
I had one badly fail a PPE. I passed. The seller kept him. He ended up having significant issues within the next year or two. Last I heard she still has him.
I have seen three horses I myself had PPEs done on eventually donated to colleges with equestrian programs. The owner gets a tax break for the contribution. I do not know the horses’ stories after the schools received them.
As so often happens here, I get all ready to reply to a post and then find that others have already said what I was going to say. @Virginia_Horse_Mom and @trubandloki have summed it up.
I’ll just add that I know two horses who are pretty spectacularly unsound and unfit for purpose for the owner, but who are, with routine maintenance and good farrier care, happily toting kids around on the flat and over cross rails. I also once knew a horse whose x-rays suggested that he shouldn’t even be pasture sound, but who was out there showing over fences and winning ribbons.
Also, I think, in general, it’s incorrect to say a horse “failed” a PPE. A PPE may reveal things that make the prospective buyer decide that the horse is not suitable for their intended use, but it’s not a pass-fail thing.
they find a cushy retirement home or end up in an auction
This is the spectrum and depends on the owner (seller).
I think more sellers should do their own PPE before trying to sell, if they’re ethical and truly want what’s best for the horse.
Alas, too few do, ime.
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THIS
I have 2 examples:
-My TB passed, but vet opined he’d never be more than a B Hunter.
Nothing outstandingly wrong - vet praised his legs/knees.
At the time I was fine with that.
Horse was 6, had ponied for track trainers (H/W) since failing his 2yo Speed test.
Caveat: vet was the barn vet, had a relationship w/barn trainer (also BO), so perhaps a vested interest in passing for sale?
Commission 
Joke on both, as 2yrs later, after in-house clinic with local BNT - where I couldn’t ride, but trainer’s very-novice sister borrowed him - I was offered 10X his purchase price by BNT.
Offer came through trainer, so I’m pretty sure she’d skimmed her 15% off before telling me 
I had him 20yrs & aside from the rare abcess, never a lame day.
Won me EOY Reserve AA our first season. 
-True OTTB - 3yo purchased in partnership with a Jr (now adult) I’d shown with.
She’d shareboarded my TB for a couple years.
Got him directly off the track, he’d raced the week before, but had a pitiful record.: 20 starts, a couple 3rds.
We had my vet post-PPE & a hint of OCD was found in hocks on rads.
Horse was never lame while we had him & proved to be a sweet baby anyone could get on.
Horse was sound while we had him & did show an aptitude for jumping.
Instead of reselling, she decided to keep him for herself & bought me out.
She sent him to stay with a friend of hers on friend’s farm. Where he went on trails & finished his 4yo year over the Summer.
Ex-partner thrn moved him to a show barn & within a year he was dead lame.
So bad that he was lying down when I visited around 3mos in.
I heard enough at that barn to make me suspect he’d been pushed too hard, too fast.
She ended up having him euthed less than a year after the move to this barn.
I posted about this on here, she saw the post & cut me off. 🤷
Sometimes people buy them anyway. We had a gelding be resold thru our barn awhile back. The owner had done a thorough PPE when she purchased him. When my BO was asked to resell for her, she gave the PPE report to my BO. I read it. I was horrified. KS, Navicular, and a few other things I don’t recall. At the time the horse was in a trainers barn, full work. Was he sound or injected every which way? That I don’t know. At any rate this gal bought him for a decent 5-figure sum. Took him home to her backyard set up, where he proceeded to fall apart at least in the manners department. Which is when she brought him to our barn to be sold.
My BO does not want blow-back to her reputation for selling an unsound horse, so she provided the PPE findings to any prospective buyer. Someone came from out of state, liked the horse, bought him (another 5 figures) and shipped him home. He’s now back up for sale, for about 1/4 of the price paid. Ouch.
My personal thoughts are if a horse is too lame to be ‘useful’, and you can’t maintain a pasture pet for whatever reason, you should PTS rather than take a chance on what might happen to them outside your own control.
In some parts of the county they become coyote bait or feed for farm dogs. Better to have a spa day and put them to sleep. You could call it a rural/ranch/western version of a soft landing.
In my experience, they get moved to trainer friends in other areas of the country and sold to someone who doesn’t do a PPE. Lots of people don’t.
The two I know of are nice young OT QHs, lightly restarted and not really working hard yet, who had terrible X-rays. Terrible as in, the vet said he doesn’t pass or fail based on X-rays, but buying this horse would be an expensive and heart-breaking experience.
I have had good luck leasing these out with a clause that I will take them back any time, for any reason. At that time it becomes my decision to retire or euthanize or whatever.
Unfortunately one of mine on this plan suffered a catastrophic leg break in the pasture and was put down, but he had a very successful low-level hunter career for a few years.
Another is blind now and a pasture puff for his leaser. They love him. I doubt I’ll ever get that one back either.
