Advice on buying a horse the wind sucks (for a friend)

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ColouredFan

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My friend is looking for a 14.2 pony for her daughter. they have £3,000 to spend and dont want anything younger than 6.

I found them a lovely 14.1 7 year old bay gelding in the H&H (who conincidently is by the same stallion as frankie), we went to see it at a show on saturday and the girl rode in in a 2'6 class and it jumped clear. he was very quite at the show and very mannerly. I left them to the negotiations and they arranged to deliver the pony to my friends yard after the show for him to be vetted today.

We went XC schooling last night and he ws very well behaved jumped a ditch and into water all in a snaffle and cavesson noseband. She has hacked him out and he seems sensible.

However the vet discovered this morning due to the pony's teeth that he wind sucks. My friend has contacted the sellers dad and he is unwilling to renegotiate the price. They want the pony as he seems very suitable in all other ways. they own their own land and stables so livery wont be a problem for him.

What are your opinions?
 
WS isnt usually a problem, but usually there is a reason for it - maybe it has ulcers or has had them in the past?

The only major problem I think is that other horses may learn to do it which may be a problem if on a livery yard or with other horses etc.
 
QR - it will a) bring down the resale value and b) may mean he is excluded for certain things on insurance.

Would the price be higher do you think if he did not windsuck? Can they talk to insurers about the exclusions they may get (assuming they plan to insure).

Also, what is the pony to be used for? If they want it as a high level competition pony I'd probably be more worried than if they want it for local level stuff and a bit of fun and it is going to have a less stressful life.
 
If he is good and problem free in all other ways then I would say it's a fair price, you could almost say it's cheap enough that they was likely to be a catch. Sounds like she could improve the pony still and get the money back when it's sold.

I am concerned though that the seller didn't mention this, makes them sound dishonest, which makes you wonder what else they may be hiding. Did they admit it windsucks....
 
No I think the price was good if it didnt wind suck it is VERY green on the flat and has only done local show jumping and been hunting a couple of times.

They want it for PC teams and Show jumping, the stay away at cricklands alot for their 3 day shows, the odd ODE but eventing exclusivly isnt there thing.
 
When she called the daughter she said she had only seen him chew the wood and not actually wind suck, they seem to be very novicey, they bought this pony as a 3 year old unbroken for there then 12 year old daughter as a first pony!
 
No they havent seen him do it, he arrive there on sat evening and has been turned out next to their other horses with the stable door left open. They have put him in the stable today to see if he does it when they go back over later to feed and turn out.
 
I bet they don't notice it wind sucking - it is only since the ulcer diagnosis I have noticed B swallows air occasionally - he doesn't crib or wood chew or grab onto anything to do it, he just makes a funny sound which is him swallowing air.

If it is a good price without the wind sucking and the seller won't budge and they really want the pony I think in their situation I'd weigh up how good I thought the pony was vs how likely I'd be to find something else suitable. Then if I decided to take the risk I'd insure it up to the eyeballs for vets fees, wait 14 days for them to kick in, then get it scoped to see if there is a reason for the wind sucking. Which is why I'd want to talk to insurance co's about exclusions before I committed to buying it!!
 
I bought a mare last april who did a funny gulping thing like windsucking but not cribbing aswell. she was fine and i wasn't bothered but when we had her stabled through the winter she did it more often and then kept colicing. each time she coliced she was full of air and i am convinced it is this gulping that caused her to colic. had lots of bouts and one very serious which nearly went for surgery. personally i now will never touch any horse that windsucks as i can't go through that stress again! can't sell her now but she seems ok if living out 24/7. each horse is different and this may not affect your horse but do beware.
 
Frankie makes that noise too, I only realised recently that it could be connected to ulcers, he has made that noise for at least the last 2 years!

Great advice re insurance, surely they wouldnt need to declare that they had vetted the horse if they are only insuring it for £3k? would they need a reason to get it scoped on insurance? It seems to be holding his condition well and is only having a token hard feed and limited grazing.
 
Pass about the insurance & vetting. No need for a reason, just book it in for a loss of performance work up (that's what I did with B), say it's been a bit nappy or whatever, ulcers have so many possible symptoms there's no way the insurance could dispute it - after all, B only started stopping at SJs occasionally, not exactly conclusive evidence of any kind of problem.

B has always made that noise. I was completely oblivious!
 
I will do, thankfully he has never shown any signs of colic, but I will keep an extra close eye on him thank you.
smile.gif
 
There are many others out there without problems, why set yourself up for possible heart ache.

I had recently found what I thought was a fabulous horse. Had him vetted and found he had sarcoids. I was gutted. But now I have found another horse who is actually better and cheaper and no problems! Ive had him 4 weeks and he has been brilliant and I couldnt be more pleased with him.

I am so glad I didnt go with the first one now.
 
IMO there are two types of windsuckers- the ones that always are always colicking and just never look right or happy, or healthy, and then there are those that windsuck and never have a problem in their lives. I've had 3 - one never stopped having colic and eventually had to be PTS- despite scoping clear for ulcers. The other two evented successfully, one up to CCI* level with no problems at all for 10 seasons, the other one was an advanced 7 year old with its former owner and that had never had colic/illness problems either.
Certainly a lot of racehorses windsuck and they probably have gastric ulcers, but nevertheless they race successfully at a high level with no problems.

It is luck of the draw!!
 
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