Trying to find a vet in a far away place

I got an email from Haegerhof yesterday saying Mag has not coughed all week, and when I asked how they treated it, they said they didn't! That sounds like a lie to me, or a miracle.

I spoke to my vet on the phone today, telling him Mag coughs, and asked what he recommends. He said, "Don't buy a horse that coughs." I said, "Well, the owner wrote me and said the horse has not coughed all week despite being worked indoors and out, so maybe it's possible that it was simply a cold, and perhaps something else in September?"

He said in the very least get an endoscope. I said of course we would, if we can find a vet in that area that will do it. Although J's horse-professional colleague said she would get a blood test too, my vet said that won't show anything relating to coughing.

Our detective work began. I found a list of vets in that area and started trying to find their websites to find out if they are horse vets or small animal vets. Most of them are small animal vets, of course.  Many didn't have websites.

I finally got one on the phone and he told me he was a horse vet, and when I put my husband on the phone because I couldn't understand that guy's accent, he told J that he wasn't a horse vet. OK then.

I started to narrow the search with more detective work, and asked my husband to make some calls. One guy was really nice,  he doesn't serve that area but he gave us some numbers of vets who do.

One vet had 3 different addresses online, one of them being near the horse, and one very far. Two of those numbers didn't work. We pressed on.

Another said he'd be happy to do the exam, but doesn't have an endoscope. He recommended we take the horse to a clinic an hour away. OK that's also an option....

Finally my husband reached the office of the vet with multiple addresses and sure enough, he can do mobile endoscopy, but he's on vacation til Monday.

Well, it's a start. J will try on Monday to reach him and explain our situation.

J called up Haegerhof and spoke to the owner of the horse. J told the owner what's up, that we'd call on Monday and try to set up an appointment.

Why does this always have to be so complicated? Oh, because my vet said not to use Haegerhof's vet. My vet has no idea what vets are in that area, but warned me to not use a vet who might be less than honest with us if he's Haegerhof's regular. The thought that a vet could deceive a buyer is something unimaginable to me. Then again Mara came with a one-inch sarcoid on her chest, and an exam that said, "No skin tumors of any kind."

S and I were laughing a bit about the chances that Mag is suddenly cough-free with no treatment. I said, "Well, his name in Polish means magi, so maybe it was a miracle."