Horse Vetting yes, no?

JMR77

JMR77

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Aug 26, 2015
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So as you'll know I have my horse on a 3 mth LWVTB....i've now had him a month and everything has been going great. I'm pretty much at the point that I have made the decision i want to keep him as he has been an absolute star and seems perfect for me (riding instructor thinks he's great and also right for me). My question is do i get him vetted before making my final decision? Who has, would or wouldn't bother? I'm not paying big big money for him and i will not be out competing seriously, we will be doing hacking, sum fun jumping, adults camp, novice dressage etc nothing serious and all for fun.
 
Personally I wouldn't. I didn't have my current horse vetted. And if you're not going to do any serious competing, then there's not such a great need, in my opinion at least. An owner willing to offer three month's LWVTB sounds pretty honest, as it gives plenty of time for anything underlying to show up.
 
Me? I have only had one, maybe two horses vetted, but I have been buying them from folk I trust and whose reputations mean a lot to them. When I bought a horse from someone I didn't know I did get him vetted, and I got my horse vetted that came in from Iceland as I bought him unseen and he needed it to go on the plane. You have to find out what the insurance company want too, some want some kind of vetting.
 
I don't bother with vettings and generally just give them a good once over myself and although a vettings more through it's only iof use on the day of the actual vetting as imo anything could happen between a vetting and collection. If I were paying over £4000ish I'd probably have a vetting done for insurance purposes. It really is your choice and I suppose only you know what risks your prepared to take and how confident you feel checking them yourself. X
 
I didnt have my first horse vetted. But i had the chance to ride him on and off for a couple of months before i was told the people were selling him. He had such a good nature which suited me to a T. Two months after i brought him he had a pedal bone fracture. He has suspected kissing spine now 10 years on. But that could have been caused in his younger age. It is unlikely if the KS would have shown up 10 years ago in a vetting.
About 5 years ago i looked at another horse to buy which was local. I had it vetted by my vet. It failed the vetting. The vet felt he was slightly tight/lame on one of the flexion tests. I walked away from the horse. I discussed with the vet about me making an offer lower than advertised. I can still remember the vets words of 'you are paying me to vet this horse. In my view he's not sound. It isn't about the money.'
I found out a few months later that the horse wasnt sold but went out on loan for someone to bring back into work. The horse went lame. X-rays were done and they discovered that the horse had additional bone in the foot that was causing the lameness. The horse was put to sleep.
When i brought billy last year it was winter. I did have him vetted by my vet. However it would appear that he is a headshaker. That didn't show on the vetting. It was only a few months on that the issue started with the warmer weather. Other than that health wise he has been fine.
 
Depends on what you want the horse for and how much you are spending.

I was once offered a 'vet failure' for £2000 ( reduced from £12000) He was the only horse I ever had 'vetted', The reason was he was an international 2* horse who I hoped would prove a good schoolmaster for my then 14yo daughter ,Our Vet suggested that with care and supplements we would get a few years low level work, he happily iived a further 8 years including PC champs dressage, BS jumping,PC rallies etc
 
I agree with @hormonalmare if you have a 3 months lwvtb in place you can thoroughly try him out and if your still not 100% happy then get him vetted for your own peace of mind, but after 3 months you will of been able to tried things that a vetting simply couldn't. You also have to ask yourself could you send him back if you were told he had failed a vetting? Some horses fail for trivial things which wouldn't cause a issue unless seriously competing, if he's exactly what you want in a horse then would a vets report make/break how you feel, if you couldn't bare to part with him don't get him vetted. x
 
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When I was looking for a horse I had 2 vetted and it cost me a fortune but I do think I dodged a bullet with the first one (lame in 3 legs and back issues). That being said, perhaps I'd have realised that myself if I'd had a 3 month lwvtb and if I were in your position I'd definitely be tempted not to have one done - especially as you say you're not doing anything too serious with the horse or spending a lot of money. Im definitely no expert but that's my thought xx
 
I think it depends on if he failed now would you be prepared to send him back? I would probably have my vet do a quick MOT rather than a full vetting but I tend not to vet when buying.
 
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I always 5 stage vet and have had horses fail so saved me a lot of money in the long run.

Friend had horse on lwvtb didn't vet 3 months after buying went wrong, was something that probably would have been picked up on a vetting. Horse has never come right.

It's swings and roundabouts really but does give some peace of mind.
 
I thought most insurance companies insisted on vetting? Anyway I have had both five stage and two. Think I would always get a two stage at the least, being a naturally cautious person! Plus I still don't feel I know enough not to. Just more peace of mind. Even tho my five stage vetted horse went lame two weeks after the vetting with an already existing condition...... But that's another story entirely.........
 
tikkitti said:
I agree with @hormonalmare if you have a 3 months lwvtb in place you can thoroughly try him out and if your still not 100% happy then get him vetted for your own peace of mind, but after 3 months you will of been able to tried things that a vetting simply couldn't. You also have to ask yourself could you send him back if you were told he had failed a vetting? Some horses fail for trivial things which wouldn't cause a issue unless seriously competing, if he's exactly what you want in a horse then would a vets report make/break how you feel, if you couldn't bare to part with him don't get him vetted. x
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I so love what you have written....when looking for a horse i thought i'd be in a position i would just have to buy and so was adamant that i was going to have a full vetting done, however i was so lucky to have this boy on a 3 mth LWVTB and i have totally fallen in love with him, he's exactly what i'm looking for, so i would ultimately be gutted if i had a vetting done and he failed, it would have to be something really drastic to make me consider not buying him!! xx
 
Thank you all for your comments, i think i will consider to possibly have at least a 2 stage vetting, i have a few more weeks before i need to make a definitive decision.
 
5 stage for me too, belt and braces I guess but I don't know enough about horses to be able to assess one myself.
The thing with vetting too is its not a 'pass' or 'fail' thing, it depends if the horse is fit for what you want to do with it, so as long as you are honest with the vet you'll know if at the time of the vetting the horse is fit for purpose as it were.
I can't see the point in a 2 stage really, but at the end of the day lots of people don't have horses vetted and go on to have a long and happy life with them and others who may 'pass' the vetting end up lame a week later, only you can decide if it's worth the risk to you and if you would be prepared to send him back if the vet found something that could potentially lead to problems later on.
 
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ive vetted in the past but havent vetted the last 4 i bought and wouldnt again unless i was buying something of high value and expecting it to 3 day event (not likely)

as for insurance it depends on the value of the horse. From memory i think if you want to insure anything with a value over 3k then it needs a vetting certificate.
 
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I'm pretty negative about vetting. A vetting vet is looking for a problem and I think far too many vets 'fail' horses just to avoid any possibility of come-back later. Lisa failed on flexion tests and by failed I mean the vetting vet said she was not sound on flexion tests and therefore could not be described as fit for purpose. Which meant 'fail' to me and the buyer who walked away! I then got my own vet to assess her and he said he really couldn't see much wrong with the flexion tests which were pretty subjective anyway and she was not lame in his view. So I was left with a pony who failed a vetting but required no treatment and was fine to ride! So I just put her up for sale again and told the new prospective buyer she had failed a previous vetting on flexion tests but my vet could find no issue. She was sold to the 2nd buyer and is perfectly sound.

In terms of heartache - the first buyer adored her and was heart broken to lose her. She'd been looking for a safe all-rounder for months and months and Lisa was perfect for her. She probably thought she'd dodged a bullet but in fact she missed out on the perfect pony!

We went through a phase at the yard where pretty much every horse who was viewed failed on one thing or another. Both the ones being sold off our yard and the ones people were trying to buy. It became a standing joke although it really wasn't very funny. I reckon an awful lot of people missed out for no good reason.

But having said that, if I had vetted Caspar I'd have avoided that particular stress. But to be fair, I should have spotted his conformational problem myself as it was pretty obvious!
I did not vet Max, Oscar, Lisa or Zak and they were all fine. Maybe I got lucky but I generally don't vet. I did vet Amber because she came from the same dealer who sold me Caspar and I no longer trusted him.

In your situation, having got the horse on trial, I would not get a formal vetting but would get my own vet to give him a pragmatic check up. As soon as you call it 'a vetting' the vet's mindset is very different and I don't find that very helpful. Incidentally I discussed this view with my own vet who totally agrees with me and hates doing vettings for that very reason. You can't use common-sense anymore and assess the horse functionally but you have to do it all by the book.
 
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If I get another horse I'd get it vetted .... it's a snap shot at that time but I'd rather have it than not

My first horse was vetted and was lame within a year

Libby wasn't vetted and she was ok

But I would next time
 
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