Advice re: vet check for a potential team

Reva Seybolt is a good person to ask. Soundness is the key. A good vet will already have a regular pre-purchase routine, and will examine all of the basics. You will have to decide if you you want to pay for x-rays (mainly for arthritis or problems in the legs). A flexion test (flex each limb and trot of for soundness) will tell of some problems, they may be temporary or long term, but it is hard to tell without x-rays for support. A horse can pass a flexion test but may have some serious arthritis in the feet, you don’t want serious arthritis in an 8 year old. A horse that fails a flexion test may just have a minor issue causing him to have a bad day, he may x-ray clean as a whistle and be a great horse that just needs a couple weeks recovery, but gets passed on because he failed flexion.

I know that Reva was mostly interested in the X-rays, because so many problems can be cured or improved upon with treatment and time. In the end if a young horse has poor x-rays they will cost you more in the long run and have a shorter working life expectancy.

You should not use the owners vet, it is a conflict of interest. Do a search online or ask around places like here or our facebook group for suggested vets in the area, especially equine vets. Sometimes the owners vet is the only vet that covers that area, then maybe you don’t have a choice, but you can take any x-rays to your own vet and have them interpret them for you. In fact, if you get x-rays done it is always good to have your vet look at them too, they will have to help you with any shortcomings the animals may have.

I don’t have prices, but start by asking your vet, then you will have a ball park figure.