MuSt PaSs A PPE: My favorite ISO Ad requirement
In the past three days I have seen more ISO ads on Facebook that “Must pass a PPE” than I have in my entire 28 years of horse ownership.
I will address the fact that a PPE is not “pass” or “fail” in a moment… But lets have an honest discussion for just a moment. Would YOU “pass” a PPE? Because I know I wouldn’t. I have PCOS, endometriosis, had a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2020 resulting in chronic migraines and battle chronic inflammation, and have had asthma since grade school. If PPEs were required of people for jobs/marriages/etc. I’d be alone, unemployed AND homeless and honestly, most people in the horse industry would be too.
Let’s get one thing clear, a PPE isn’t “pass” or “fail,” but rather a guideline for maintenance and ownership requirements. A PPE is the horse industry equivalent to a user manual.
If the horse shows signs of kissing spine during the PPE, are you confident enough in your care to manage that? Can you afford surgery? Do you have the time and money to have the horse frequently injected?
If the horse rads with double negative palmar angles and requires $200 rocker shoes to stay sound under saddle, can you afford that long term?
This could go hand in hand with my hatred of seeing “no maintenance” on an ISO ad. Do you take pain relievers every now and again? Do you use Icy Hot like Diddy used baby oil? (Too soon?) Do you eat CBD gummies like a child eats gummy worms? If you maintain your truck and trailer to haul to events, do the bare minimum to stay alive (drink water, pop ibuprofen like its candy, and eat at least once a day) then you absolutely can and should provide maintenance for your horse.
Now I get some people refuse to administer Lasix, won’t buy a navicular horse, won’t or can’t afford surgery. But if you’ve ever had a horse shod then you have actively participated in maintaining a horse. If you have 7 Kerry Kelly bits sitting unused in your tack room or trailer, you can afford maintenance.
Now if you have a great relationship with your vet, or the vet performing the PPE, they’ll know your level of comfort and be able to give you a clear understanding of what may be a concern for you now or in the future. I own a stallion who we sent off to training and had a full performance exam done prior to, just to be safe, who had one questionable rad. When sharing this with a prospective buyer I was honest in what their farrier would see on that one view (a possibility of arthritis), but that the other angles showed no concern and my vet was unconcerned with the potential for arthritis because I’m not working this horse into the ground. Honestly, he’s got a cushy life so beyond adding a joint supplement to his diet, which I consider maintenance, he’s healthy, sound and ready to hit the pen. This was however a deal breaker for the buyer.
I did not do a PPE on my 2-year-old barrel prospect and did not do a performance exam prior to sending him to training. He was questionably lame, inconsistently, and just lacked “fire” for his age. I pulled him from training and took him to my vet for a full work up. Along with double negative palmar angles and requiring shoes he also had OCDs in both stifles. The breeder and our vet recommended claiming loss of use with our equine insurance, but he was insured for purchase value ($15,000) and a horse must be valued over $20,000 to claim loss of use with my insurer. So we sent him out into pasture for a few months while I saved up some cash for surgery. Would a PPE have stopped me from buying this horse? No. But it could have absolutely affected the purchase price in a way that benefited me and he could have had surgery far sooner.
My favorite gelding, PFF Mak Daddy, the day we performed our full body performance exam and found his stifle OCDs.
I’ve bought more horses without a PPE and paid the consequences than I have with a PPE. I am going to do a full work up regardless, but moving forward I won’t forgo a PPE on anything that is over the age of 2 and is a performance prospect and will continue to forgo PPEs on breeding-sound only stock under $10,000. What works for me, and my budgeted annual vetting expenses, isn’t feasible for the single horse, hobby rider/owner. But let’s keep one thing straight here - if you feed it any type of supplement, give injections, cold hose after each run for 20 minutes, lather your horse in poultice or liniment, pay for chiropractic work or shoes, etc. you are actively maintaining your horse. A PPE just helps you identify the level of maintenance in which the horse requires.
Safe shopping for those of you on the hunt and cheers to those of you actively selling, I have a sparkling water in one hand and ibuprofen in the other for you!
