Pre-purchase testing for drugs in horses: A review

The use of medications to mask defects of wind, limb or temperament in horses offered for sale can be a problem for purchasers, and for veterinarians performing pre-purchase examinations. Drugs which may be used in this way include the phenylbutazone-like drugs, cotricosteroids, local anaesthetics, and tranquilizers. If skillfully used, no signssuggestive of medication by these agents will be detectable by the examining veterinarian. In the absence of information on the medications status of an animal, the usefulness of a pre-purchase examination may be limited. These limitations can be circumvented by the analysis of blood or more expecially blood and urine samples from such horses. Current analytical methodology allows the detection of many medications in blood, and of virtually all significant medications if blood and urine samples are available. Such analysis, therefore, allows the veterinary practitioner to offer a significantly better pre-purchase test, and protects both the veterinarian and the purchaser.