02/11/2025
Unpopular opinion: Ride the horse, not the x-rays.
I'm sure fellow professionals will agree that the horse community as a whole has gone overboard with Pre-Purchase Exams (PPEs). Yes, they are very important and I always recommend that they be done when purchasing a horse, especially one with a high dollar price tag; however, we have turned the PPE into a witch hunt for every little fleck and flaw within a horse even though most of us wouldn't pass a vet check if we are honest with ourselves. If someone did a PPE on me, I would end up in a low level auction house with my picture posted on one of those "end of the line" rescue pages!
What if we treated the PPE more like a positive investigation? Instead of digging through to see what a horse *can't* do, what if we looked for what a horse *can* do? Better yet, what if we let the horse tell us what they can and can't do?
Pictured below are two of what I call my "charity case thoroughbreds," Mr. Normandy (left) and Irish (right). They both failed their PPEs with big ol' F-s. You would never know it unless I told you or showed you the x-rays. Mr. Normandy was diagnosed with kissing spine during a PPE. They buyer chose to pass and he has been passed over by a dozen people since because they hear "kissing spine" and want to speak no more of him. That's fine! That is their prerogative, but in doing so they missed the opportunity to have an amazing horse in their barn. Mr. Normandy is a gorgeous mover and a steady ride that can go from my mount as a professional rider to the easy-going packer teaching my boyfriend how to ride. Irish was quite literally on death row when he came to me. He came off the track in 2019 with a sesamoid fracture and a poor prognosis for even pasture life. Despite advisement otherwise, I chose to take a chance on him. Today, he is 100% sound through all gaits and can jump with no issues. I have not had a single problem with that sesamoid, nor have I had to do any maintenance on it, in the five and a half years I have owned him.
Do both of these horses have some limitations? Absolutely and I always keep these little findings in the back of my mind, but they are both amazing animals with so much talent and potential. They are two of the nicest horses I own for a multitude of reasons!
My point is, horses are not machines. They are not perfect and flawless. PPEs are very important to help protect both horse and rider, but maybe we need to start listening to the horse a little more than the x-ray.
Alyssa Dietrich is a Lyons Legacy Certified Trainer specializing in foundational horsemanship.
