Ok... you have saved up money to at least look at advertised horses. You have done your homework, you've read a lot of books.

You made a few calls and found out that most vets are small animal practioners, and don’t really understand horses unless they actually are horsemen. Ditto that on farriers who do not ride.

A friend, of a friend, is supposed to be an expert, and might even have heard of Infestula of the Withers, or Navicular Disease —and is willing to show up at the last moment to make sure you are not making an expensive mistake.

So to wade through an over whelming task —so many horses, so little time— take me, and my horse soundness and evaluation checklist along. At the least I can point out in the field that Cow Hocks is the condition where when viewing the hindlimbs from the rear the horse is standing base narrow to the hocks, and base wide from there on down.