Guidance on Pre-Purchase Veterinary Examinations (‘Vet Checks’)
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A vet won't say if the horse has passed or failed. The vet will report their observations on the day and assess the seriousness of any issues on the spectrum of low to high risk. You, the prospective purchaser, can then assess the horse you are buying, what you want to do with it, and what you are paying for it, against this risk profile.
Horses will nearly always present with imperfections which may need monitoring or special care. It is up to you, the purchaser, to decide on your risk profile in the knowledge that the perfect horse is yet to be born.
Plus, and this is the real gold, the information the seller writes in the Owner’s Statement for the vet, from their knowledge, about disease, lameness, accidents, vices, abnormalities, staggers and headshaking is a very clear, legally enforceable, representation about the horse. Most of the previous things said by the seller about the horse do not have this legally enforceable status but when the purchaser has committed her/himself to a vet check and the seller knows what they say in the Owner’s Statement is being relied upon by the purchaser, then it is more likely a seller will be bound by what they say.
Below I will trot you clearly through the process . . .
Horses will nearly always present with imperfections which may need monitoring or special care. It is up to you, the purchaser, to decide on your risk profile in the knowledge that the perfect horse is yet to be born.
Plus, and this is the real gold, the information the seller writes in the Owner’s Statement for the vet, from their knowledge, about disease, lameness, accidents, vices, abnormalities, staggers and headshaking is a very clear, legally enforceable, representation about the horse. Most of the previous things said by the seller about the horse do not have this legally enforceable status but when the purchaser has committed her/himself to a vet check and the seller knows what they say in the Owner’s Statement is being relied upon by the purchaser, then it is more likely a seller will be bound by what they say.
Below I will trot you clearly through the process . . .
Purchase my simple + vet check sale and purchase agreement.
This should be signed before you even start. The agreement will be conditional on the vet check being satisfactory to the purchaser, but it will give you certainty in 3 areas-
If you want to withdraw from the purchase after the vet check, make sure you tell the seller in writing (text, messenger or email will do) that you are cancelling the sale (keep a screen shot). If you don’t, with some contracts including mine, the sale goes ahead if you don’t pull out in writing before the due date. That’s what happens with house purchases too with, for example, a building report condition. Do not overlook the need to cancel in writing. |
Decide who the vet will be – the seller’s vet or an independent vet?
Vets are very qualified professionals governed by the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. They are bound by a Code of Conduct to act impartially and to high standards. They are bound to act professionally for the party instructing them and paying their fee, and not put the interests of their previous client, the seller, ahead of the purchaser’s interests. Therefore, a prospective purchaser should be confident that the vet would act in their best interests, even if they are the seller’s usual vet. If you opt for the seller’s usual vet (who therefore has a relationship with the horse’s owner), that vet will have the seller sign a ‘Waiver of Information’ form which authorises the usual vet to reveal all previous issues with the horse, to the purchaser. By this ‘Waiver’, the usual confidentiality of the vet/client relationship is put aside. So, there is a significant benefit in having the horses usual vet do the examination because the horses’ previous history with that vet can be obtained by doing so. However, an experienced independent vet with fresh eyes may also be of real value. Maybe the seller’s vet isn’t the most qualified? Maybe there is a vet in your area or out of town that has a very good reputation for pre-purchase exams? Their fresh eyes on the job could well be helpful to you. Another concern is timing- you need to find a vet that can do the examination and report back in the timeframe you have agreed with the owner. Vets are generally very busy people, especially in the July to November period (if they also work with cows and sheep) so keep their availability in mind. What’s the best choice of vet? This is the crunch. If you choose the horses usual vet, you will get the Owner’s Statement PLUS the horse’s vet history. If you choose another vet, you will get the Owner’s Statement and a fresh, possibly more experienced eye, but won’t get the horses history. It’s a trade-off but I would generally recommend instructing the horses usual vet because you will obtain a lot more information about the horse that way. |
The purchaser contacts the vet and completes a Buyers Statement.
The vet clinic will generally respond very promptly to your request. They will email out a Buyer’s Statement. Depending on whether you have chosen to go with the owner’s usual vet or with an independent vet, the forms will be different. These forms are standard forms produced by the Veterinary Council and most vets will use them printed on their letterhead. If you read the fine print, you will get a clear understanding of what the vet is doing and who they are liable to. Version one of the Buyer’s Statement is “to be used where the horse to be examined or the horse-owner is not a client of the veterinary practice performing the PPE”. Version two is used where the owner is a client. |
The vet sends the owner an Owners Statement.
The vet clinic will generally contact the owner and send them an ‘Owner or Owner’s Agent Statement’. This form requires the owner to disclose their knowledge of any past or present disease, lameness, accidents, vices and various other key issues which the purchaser would like to know. The answers will guide the vet in their examination. Vets don’t accept liability for the lack of information or any inaccuracy of information. The purchaser will receive a copy of the Owner’s Statement after the vet check is done, along with the written vet report. You may wonder what happens if the owner does not answer the form honestly and the vet realises this when they look over the Owner’s Statement. It is a difficult predicament for the vet. The vet should contact the owner and discuss the matter. If it can’t be resolved with the owner, then the vet will decline to proceed any further with the exam. |
The purchaser decides what level of vet check is required.
The Full Exam is the same as the Partial except in the Full Exam the horse is strenuously exercised and examined during, and again after, exercise. With the Full Exam, you will get a much better idea of any respiratory or heart problems that may exist. Then there is the decision to be made about whether the horse should be scoped (endoscopy), blood tested, x-rayed (radiographed), heart tested (electrocardiographed-ECG) or examined for reproductive purposes. Scoping of the larynx and pharynx (upper respiratory tract) is performed to assess ‘soundness of wind’ (to be sure the horse doesn’t have breathing problems). Blood tests on the standard Buyer’s Statement form are for anti-inflammatories only. This is usually always for a substance called phenylbutazone or ‘bute’. Bute is given to horses, just like ibuprofen is given to humans, to reduce inflammation and mask pain. It can cause lame horses to appear sound. Blood tests are recommended if there are any questions about the horses’ soundness or general health, and also to check they aren't doped for the exam. Radiography is commonly called ‘x-rays’ and will be done where the purchaser wants to be very certain the horse is not arthritic, carrying a fracture or bearing some other problem associated with bones. If you are intending to do x-rays, you should decide what parts will be radiographed bearing in mind that there is a fee for each image and more than one image needed for each part of the leg. You should ask about the fees to understand the overall potential cost of the radiography. Remember that the images are one thing-the vet then provides their opinion on the likely risks of what they have found in the images. An ECG can be done to diagnose and classify dysrhythmias (unusual heart rhythm). If dysrhythmia is found, the vet will call on his or her overall clinical assessment of the horse, his or her experience of many other horses with similar issues and take account of what the horse is to be used for in arriving at a risk assessment for the horse. |
The purchaser should make any concerns known to the vet.
If you are knowledgeable about horses and observe something about the horse that you want checked out, then you need to make this known to the vet. You can do this verbally when the exam is happening, or you can write it in on the form in the space saying ‘Other ancillary examinations…” |
The vet check itself.
On vet check day, try your best to be present or at the very least have an experienced person there looking out for your interests. The vet check can be quite a dynamic process. It may be that you have requested just a Partial Exam but part way through the process, the vet recommends that a Full be done because something doesn’t seem quite right. Or, and this is quite common, the vet notices something which they recommend should be radiographed or tested further in some other way. So, you need to be prepared for more decisions to be made on the day. If you have ordered radiographs to be done, the vet will appreciate having a darkened room to look at them properly-often a nearby shed, float, or truck with curtains can help. If you can’t be there on the day, the vet will usually ring you straight away with a verbal report. Otherwise it may be two or three days until the written report is received. You may have further questions once you receive the written report. If so, it’s worth trying to have another conversation with the vet. The key thing to find out is-, are any identified problems going to affect your intended use of the horse and if so, roughly how long will that take to show up, or what will it take to manage, and how serious will it be? These are often very difficult questions to answer but try for what you can and do your own research online as well. Google is your best friend at this stage…but remember to be realistic. Every horse has some issue or another. |
A possible second examination.
It’s not unusual for the vet check to reveal something that needs treatment, so there may need to be a second examination before the vet can do her or his report. Be aware that in the FairPlay Equine horse sale agreement, that a Final Examination Date is to be included. This is to prevent undue delays for the seller. If the process stretches out you will need to extend the Final Examination Date by adding the new date to the agreement and getting the seller to sign that. The owner cannot unreasonably withhold consent to a request for extension of time for this reason. |
Closing the deal.
The horse sale and purchase agreement will be subject to the vet check being satisfactory to the purchaser. You can pull out altogether if you wish. But maybe an issue has been revealed which causes you to rethink your purchase price only? In that case you need to discuss this with the seller. If you do negotiate a reduced price, you need to open the Agreement again and amend the price. Then both parties need to sign again. To conclude, it is also recommended that you keep the key details of a negative vet check discrete. Medical diagnoses are complicated and can easily be mis-stated by the lay person. The thing that put you off, may be fine for the next purchaser. The horse world is a small community and while you are not breaking the law to reveal the outcome, you may find the tables turn on you in years to come so it’s best to be confidential. If everything was fine, then all the very best in forming a great connection with your new equine best friend. |