Skip to main content
What types of page to search?

Popular pages: Undergraduate Postgraduate PhD Accommodation Research International students

Alternatively use our A-Z index.

Prepurchase examinations

Our veterinary practice team can perform five and two stage Pre-Purchase Examinations (PPE), otherwise known as vettings, on horses or ponies you wish to purchase or for insurance purposes.

We are only able to perform a PPE on a prospective horse or pony if the current owner is not a client of ours.

We follow the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) guidelines and these assessments are very thorough. Two-stage PPE usually take around an hour, whereas five-stage PPE can take up to two and a half hours. For more information please see:

For all PPE we will require:

  • The horse is to have been standing in the stable or the yard for a minimum of 90 minutes prior to the examination
  • A suitable hard, even surface for trotting up
  • A suitable person to trot the horse up
  • A darkened area for examining the horse's eyes thoroughly
  • The horse's passport is to be available for examination
  • For five-stage PPE we will also require someone to ride the horse and a suitable area for our vet to assess the horse or pony when ridden. 

We can travel out of our catchment area to perform a PPE but there may be an additional charge for mileage, depending on the distance.

For more details about costs and to request a PPE, please contact our reception team on 0151 794 6199 or email equinepr@liverpool.ac.uk.