All Veterinary examinations will have taken place prior to sale and all lots will be sold with agreed veterinary certificates from members of the Goresbridge Veterinary Panel whose decision shall be final and binding on all parties.

All lots in this sale will be sold with a set of digital X-rays taken by members of the Goresbridge Veterinary Panel and will be available for purchasers to inspect prior to the sale.

Purchasers will have the right, within 30 minutes of the fall of the hammer, to request a blood analysis, to detect pain killing, anti-inflammatory or performance altering drugs. The purchaser should contact the Sales Office to arrange the above examination. If the result is positive, the animal is returned and the vendor shall be barred from all future sales.

Veterinary Examination Procedure

Each horse presented for the Go for Gold Sale will have received a full five stage veterinary examination within 48 hours of start of sale. The examination will be conducted independently and concurrently by two members of the Goresbridge Veterinary Panel. At the conclusion of the examination they will issue an agreed veterinary certificate outlining any discoverable signs of disease, injury or physical abnormality if any are found. They will also offer an opinion whether on the balance of probability any of the conditions are or are not likely to prejudice the animal’s use for eventing.

The examination will consist of five stages:

1. Preliminary examination including heart, eyes and checking all limbs and torso.
2. Trotting up including a trot in a circle on a hard surface in each direction and a post flexion trot up of each limb.
3. Strenuous exercise (gallop on lunge in each direction).
4. Period of rest.
5. Second trot up and foot examination.

Additionally the animal’s identity and age will be checked and at the conclusion of the examination a blood test will be taken for storage for possible drug testing.

The owner or their agent will be required to sign a declaration of suitability for eventing and that no medication or abnormal nutrient has been administered and that it is not subject to any disease, injury, physical abnormality or vice other than recorded or declared.

Go for Gold Veterinarian: Hugh Suffern

Hugh graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1981 and has since had an exciting and successful career. His keen interest in equine sports medicine and his own experiences as a competitor at four star level Eventing were the perfect grounding for looking after top equine athletes. He acted as Irish Olympic Team Vet in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta and was Irish Team Vet for various European and World Events from 1986 to 1998.

Hugh plays a big role in Irish National Hunt thoroughbred breeding, having stood Zaffaran, Insan, Perpendicular, Winged Love and most recently Desert King at Tullyraine House Stud. Hugh also works as a racecourse vet for Horse Racing Ireland and is an F.E.I. Vet for international Three Day Events in Ireland.

Radiographs

A basic survey set of radiographs will be taken for each catalogued horse in the period 21 to 7 days prior to the sale. The set of digital radiographs will be taken only by members of the Goresbridge Veterinary Panel and will subsequently be available in a repository at Goresbridge Sales.

Each set will contain the following views:

Goresbridge Sales will email a set of radiographs to a prospective purchasers own veterinary surgeon on request and will have veterinary specialists available at the sale to review radiographs on request.