So how do you lessen your chances of having to deal with roaring and, subsequently, tie-back surgery? One way, Bollam suggested, is to make an endoscopy a part of your pre-purchase exam.

Some people may not know their horse is a roarer until the animal is pushed toward strenuous exercise, so Bollam always encourages her clients to find out if the animal is already performing at the level at which they want to compete.

Because complications from an intravenous shot can cause the kind of trauma that would induce laryngeal hemiplegia, most vets recommend giving intravenous shots on the right side of a horse’s neck, as the left arytenoid cartilage is the mass that’s more likely to develop a problem.