When buying a horse in Spain with Andalusitano we always recommend to have the horse vetted before the purchase.
A basic vetting procedure includes:
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A clinical examination
The vet will do a check externally over on the general state of the horse including:The conformation and stance, nutritional status, skin and coat, mucus membranes, lymph nodes, eyes, mouth, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, digestive system, urogenital system and nervous system. The vet will then proceed to palpation and inspection of the head, neck, withers, back, croup, the four legs and the hooves.
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Gaits and movement
The vet will look at the horse how he walks in a straight line and on the circle in walk trot and canter on both hard and soft surface.
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Flexion test
The vet will force flexion of all joints for 40 seconds to a minute and then let the horse trot away on a straight line to see if there is any lameness in the joints after flexing. The flexion test is marked from – to +- to + to ++ where the – equals no lameness and the ++ equals lameness present.
These are the digital x-ray films
Export vetting with x-rays
Apart from the basic vettingĀ all vets that Andalusitano work with have portable sophisticated digital x-ray systems and offer to do radiological examinations at the location of the horse. The x-rays will be developed on the spot and we can immediately contact you as the buyer if there is anything abnormal on the pictures. The images can be sent via email and your own trusted veterinarian can have a look at them for you.
Video of vetting
The most vital parts of the vettings are videoed for you as buyer if you can’t be present yourself. Andalusitano always acts as a representative for you as the buyer during the veterinary examination and will keep in contact with you if there are any vital findings that are of negative character. The video is available for you and your own veterinarian to assess before you decide to buy the horse.
International form
After the vetting has been performed the veterinarian will fill in a form that comes in English, Spanish and sometimes German. The form includes all the parts of the vetting and if there are comments, the vet will write those down next to the area of examination. Most of our vets speak fluent English, but if not Andalusitano will translate the comments for you. The vetting is paid by the person who wants to buy the horse.
Sometimes a blood sample is necessary before the vetting, especially if we are exporting the horse outside of Europe. Read more about this here…