Pre-purchase examinations (PPE)

A pre-purchase exam (PPE) is an in-depth examination done on a horse that you are interested in purchasing prior to the sale. These exams can include a variety of tests.  The goal of this exam is not to “pass” or “fail” the horse – rather it is an information-seeking process. No horse is perfect, and given enough time and diagnostic testing, your veterinarian will find weaknesses in any horse.  It is your veterinarian’s job to be thorough, find out as much about the horse from a medical standpoint as possible, and communicate their findings. 

A PPE is a great way to gain information and help you decide, based on those findings, if the horse you are looking at will be a good fit for you.

A pre-purchase exam is NOT a guarantee of long-term health or soundness.

A basic PPE will include a thorough physical examination looking over the whole horse – from their heart and lungs, to their eyes, to their neurological status and everything in between. From there, their soundness will be evaluated – from any blemishes or conformational defects at rest, to how they travel before and after flexions of different parts of their limbs.

Additional tests to be included in a PPE can commonly include bloodwork (including drug screening), radiographs, and ultrasound. If there are areas of concern on physical or dynamic exam, your veterinarian can help guide in what additional testing may be helpful.

There are a lot of factors that go into buying a horse. While it does not provide a guarantee for the future, a pre-purchase exam is an excellent way to go into a new partnership armed with as much information as possible to best care for your potential new horse. It may also reveal that the horse you are looking at is not actually what you are looking for or want to get into and may save you financially and emotionally in the long run.