Question #10: Illness/Injury: What is this horse’s illness and injury history?

The reason that this may be important is: some illnesses and injuries may linger, cause other problems, repeat, or worsen as time passes. This may be the reason the horse is for sale, so it is imperative that you ask the question. (You will find  owners who will not volunteer negative, or much information, without asking.) Others want to tell you a lot about stuff that is irrelevant. Owners who are not in the business of selling horses aren’t sure what to tell you.

Therefore, always ask questions. If you are buying a used car do you want one that has been involved in an accident or is the one that has never been damaged a better value? If the answer is the one that has never been involved in an accident, then we need to be knowledgeable before buying a horse with serious accident or illness history.

Some illnesses and injuries are perfectly benign and therefore acceptable. Others are not. Blemishes are acceptable, as are colds and other minor illness or injury. Once you acquire the info, check it with your vet, trainer, or horse specialist. Only then will you be in the position to make an educated decision.

Question #11: Vet Check: The question to ask is: Will this horse pass a Vet Exam?

This is almost the same question as above. It sets up our expectations. It indicates that we expect honesty and we are willing to commit the money necessary to verify what the owner is telling us. Once, after I asked all the questions, looked at the horse, agreed on the price and the vet was looking at the horse, the owner told the vet a whole different story about its injuries than she told me. The horse did not pass the vet check because it was lame. The Exam cost $ 225.00 but probably saved Hundreds more. It was cheap insurance.

Question #12: Is there any history of Lameness or Colic?

Here again we are asking about injuries and illness. The owner may have already specifically mentioned that this horse has not ever been lame or colicked, but if not, we are going to ask a specific question. I have had owners answer the two prior questions favorably and then say yes this horse was lame or colicked at some point in the past. Maybe it takes a while to jog a person’s memory.

Regardless, this is another very important question. Both Colic and lameness have the potential to be huge problems accompanied by substantial vet bills along with a horse that’s not useable. Some horse folks believe that once horse colics s/he will colic again. I am not certain this is always true but I own a horse that colics repeatedly and I wouldn’t recommend that you buy one unless you are extremely knowledgeable.

At this point we have nearly all of the hard facts. Next we will attempt to determine how well the horse has been cared for and a few other miscellaneous items. Then we will put all of the questions into a simple checklist format that will be very easy to use. Once you read and understand the foundation for the questions, following the checklist is simple and easy.