Pre-purchase examination for a dressage horse: what a PPE 2026 really tests

Anyone buying a dressage horse invests not only money but typically five to fifteen years of riding life. Securing this investment with a pre-purchase examination is standard today — but what this security practically looks like is unclear to many buyers. Which PPE? Which radiographs? Which findings are critical, which tolerable? And who bears the cost?

This article explains what a pre-purchase examination really tests in 2026, what it costs, what scope makes sense for a dressage horse, and how to proceed as buyer in practice. We write from the perspective of a sport riding facility with its own breeding and sales — we have accompanied many PPEs in our practice, both as seller and advisorily for buyers.

What a PPE delivers — and what it doesn’t

A PPE is a veterinary examination that documents a horse’s current health condition. It protects the buyer from hidden defects and gives the seller an objective basis. What it delivers:

• Current registration of clinically visible health problems
• Documentation of mobility and movement patterns
• In the large PPE: radiographic documentation of skeletal structures
• Exertion test under saddle or on the lunge
• Objective basis for the purchase decision and later evidence

What it doesn’t deliver:

• No guarantee of a lifelong healthy horse. The PPE says something about the condition on the day of the examination, not about the next ten years.
• No prediction of future diseases. A horse healthy today can have a tendon injury tomorrow — no vet can reliably predict that.
• No character assessment. If the horse is nervous, unsociable or difficult to handle, this shows up in the PPE only at the margins.

The PPE is therefore necessary but not sufficient. It needs the interplay with a solid buyer checklist, time with the horse, trial rides, and an honest seller.

Small PPE vs. large PPE in detail

The most important decision when commissioning a PPE is the scope.

Small PPE. Standard scope: general examination, evaluation at rest and in motion on hard ground, flexion tests of all major joints, lungeing on hard and soft ground, exertion test under saddle. Duration: ca. 60 to 90 minutes. Costs 2026: 150 to 280 euros.

When useful? For leisure horses with moderate use, for horses with low purchase price, for young horses whose skeleton is not yet sufficiently mature for meaningful radiographs.

Large PPE. Includes all components of the small PPE, supplemented by an X-ray series. The X-ray guideline 2018 of the Society for Equine Medicine (GPM) together with the Bundestierärztekammer names 18 standard radiographs as full scope. These typically distribute across:

• Hooves (4 radiographs)
• Fetlock and pastern joints (4-6 radiographs)
• Hock joints (4 radiographs)
• Stifle joints (2 radiographs)
• Cervical spine (2 radiographs)

In practice 12 to 18 radiographs are taken depending on requirement and horse type. Duration: 2 to 3 hours. Costs 2026: 600 to 1,100 euros for 12 to 18 radiographs.

When useful? For every horse intended for sport use. For dressage horses in competition sport in particular, the large PPE is the standard in 2026.

Extended large PPE. In addition to the large PPE, more radiographs are taken (16 to 20 images), often supplemented by ultrasound, endoscopy of the airways and blood tests. Costs 2026: 1,000 to 1,300 euros or more.

When useful? For high-priced horses (from about 30,000 euros purchase price), for horses with suspected prior conditions, for international purchases with complex insurance handling.

How findings are classified today

Findings from the PPE are assessed by the vet. The current system is the X-ray guideline 2018 of the Society for Equine Medicine (GPM) together with the Bundestierärztekammer. The earlier school-grade system with X-ray classes I to IV was deliberately abolished — experience showed that the classes were too schematic and misled buyers and sellers to wrong decisions.

Today findings are categorised as follows:

Important: the categorisation is not a pure scale but is made by the vet in relation to the specifically planned purpose. A finding in the hind hoof joint can be irrelevant for a dressage horse but critical for a jumping horse. Talk explicitly with your vet about your plans with the horse.

How to proceed as buyer in practice

Five steps lead to a good PPE decision:

1. Choose the vet yourself. Don’t commission the seller’s vet but a vet of your trust. If you don’t know any, ask at your current boarding yard or with the Berlin-Brandenburg Veterinary Chamber for recommendations.

2. Discuss scope. Clarify with the vet in advance which scope makes sense. For a 15,000-euro dressage horse, a large PPE is standard; for a 35,000-euro horse, you should consider the extended variant.

3. Conduct PPE before contract conclusion. Never after purchase conclusion. Anyone who does a PPE after handover and finds a defect is legally in the weaker position.

4. Discuss findings with the vet. Don’t just have the report sent to you, but discuss findings verbally. Ask concretely: what does this mean for the planned use? Which findings are currently uncritical but could develop? Which findings would be reason to withdraw from purchase?

5. Make your own decision. The PPE is a data basis, not a judgement. Even a horse with elevated risk findings can be a good riding horse if the use matches. Even a flawless horse can have a tendon injury tomorrow.

What we offer at the Eichhof for our own sales

At our own sale horses we approach the PPE process transparently. We always recommend buyers commission their own vet — even though we can recommend vets from our region. If a current PPE for a horse already exists, we gladly make the findings available; a buyer’s own new PPE is independently sensible.

We sell horses from our own rearing whom we have known since birth — we know which rearing conditions, which farrier history, which veterinary prior history a horse has. This depth of information buyers rarely get from direct purchase from the breeder.

Cost overview 2026

Added to this are often travel fees and surcharges for necessary sedation or special examinations.

A PPE is an important but not the only investment in horse purchase. Read also our purchase checklist for dressage horses and our post on Buying a Hanoverian dressage horse. If you are considering buying a horse from our stock, arrange a visit — we take time for a detailed preliminary conversation.

Further reading

• Bundestierärztekammer — X-ray guideline 2018 (press release, in German) — background to the 2018 reform: 18 standard radiographs instead of 8-12, risk degrees instead of school grades
• GPM/BTK — X-ray guideline full version (PDF, in German) — the official guideline of the Society for Equine Medicine and the Bundestierärztekammer
• FN-Shop — Horse purchase model contract (in German) — official FN model contracts for private and commercial purchase
• FN — Horse purchase and burden of proof (in German) — legal framework when buying from a commercial provider
• Veterinary University Hannover — Equine clinic (in German) — reference clinic for complex PPE findings

Written by Franziska Gutsche, owner of Eichhof Akademie and Hanoverian breeder. With our own sale horses we disclose prior history fully — from the mare through rearing to starting under saddle.