pre-purchase exams

[Eenergonzillen@aol.com]

hi again, in all of my horse searching which has been going for about a year 
and a half on and off, I have had three horses vet checked when I was 
thinking about buying them.  when the vets trot the horses out, well, when I 
trot them out, the horses have all been fine, but then they do the flection 
test, where they hold up their leg, putting pressure on the joint (or 
something like that), the horses show some lameness, so, I don't buy them.  
One horse was just slightly off on one leg after the test, one was way lame 
and later we found that she had suspensory problems (thank god I didn't buy 
her) and one had slight offness for the first few steps of the trot out after 
flection tests on three of his legs.  I guess my question is, what do you 
think of flexion tests?  are they anything to consider, I know if I held my 
leg up like that for a minute, I would be slightly off.  when you buy horses, 
do you always get vet checks and how much should you value your vet's 
opinion?  The 2 vets around here know some stuff but other things are way 
over their heads.  
let me know
-Renee