Tuesday, 21 October 2025
The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has introduced a new Pre Purchase Examination (PPE) Seller’s Declaration as a part of its new online PPE toolkit for vets. The Seller’s Declaration has been revised with the support of British Equestrian (BEF) and British Horse Society (BHS) to make the purchase process more efficient for both buyer and seller.
The five-stage PPE is an important procedure to inform prospective purchasers and help them make objective decisions about a horse they wish to purchase. Originally the Seller’s Declaration was a part of the BEVA PPE Worksheet, containing a series of questions for the attending veterinarian to ask the seller.
The new Declaration is a more extensive, stand-alone document which the buyer should request from the seller directly before the formal process of the PPE commences. In this way the seller is obliged to disclose any pertinent information, such as previous lameness, stereotypies, specific management requirements, previous veterinary interventions and details of preventative dental care and worm control, prior to the PPE proceeding.
“BEVA’s new Seller’s Declaration will iron out the PPE process to make it smoother and more efficient for all three parties involved: buyer, seller and vet,” said Lucy Grieve, Veterinary Projects Officer at BEVA, who has been instrumental in putting the new guidance together.
“The advantage is it cuts out the vet as a middleman… asking if the horse has received any medication, or coughs on dry hay and so on,” she continued. “The new Seller’s Declaration means that the seller should declare those things to the buyer straight off. If completed in advance, it should give the buyer more robust information on which to base proceeding with the PPE or not.”
Gemma Stanford, Director of Horse Care and Welfare at British Horse Society said: “We always urge a buyer to make careful considerations when going through the process of purchasing a horse. It’s a decision that should never be rushed and one that needs to be made with every detail to hand. BEVA’s new Seller’s Declaration will be a great, supportive resource to help with this process. Sellers can easily input all the information required in one go, while buyers have peace of mind that they’re making an informed decision. Critically, it’ll ensure that the welfare of the horse is always the key priority.”
BEVA’s new PPE toolkit also contains a new digital version of the BEVA PPE guide, a new BEVA PPE worksheet and useful links.
Horse owners can find out more about the new Seller’s Declaration here.
Image: © CVS