Advice please.

kerilli

kerilli

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Total quandary here. I went and tried a lovely horse, to event. my (very good) vet failed him. the owner has had her vet do a lameness work up on him, and he says it is the other hindleg, not the one my vet thought it was 3 wks before. x-rays are fine, he thinks it is a small problem that will stand up to work, but horse won't pass a vetting.
the owner has now said that i can have the horse on loan, and send him back if he doesn't stand up to the work.
i loved the horse, i know it sounds like a win/win situation, and it is a lovely offer, but i don't know what to do. if he does go up the grades and is just on loan, i could end up with nothing... i would be paying all keep fees, entries, etc.
what would you do? thankyou. all thoughts/ideas/advice appreciated.
 
Has your vet talked to the vet who did the lameness work-up? If so, what does your vet think of the horse's long term soundness prospects in view of the work you want him to do.
 
What do you want to event for? Are you (or aiming to be) a top rider? In which case won't the exposure on a good horse be good for you even if you don't own it?
Or are you just eventing for your own fun? and then if you are left with nothing at the end at least you had a couple of seasons fun. Thats just how I would look at things
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no, cos my vet's on holiday for 2 weeks (typical!) and i have to decide in the next day or two. i spoke to the other vet, but obviously he can't be expected to have a crystal ball etc. he was a little bit insulting about me trying to find a 3-4 star horse, tbh. well, if i don't look, i'll never find one, will i?!
 
i don't know. the trouble is, i already have 2 here that won't stand up to eventing, and i'm a pathetic softy, so if i got him, i'd want to keep him and protect him if he went wrong.
so i only have space for a horse that can actually go and do what i want to do, i'm sorry to say.
 
You could have a loan agreement written up so that if the horse does go well and the owner decides to sell you can oay the price he was up for before or you get some commission towards it?
 
I would not go there with the loan- you will be investing thousands of pounds into a horse that could be taken back at any moment or be sold.
I would offer £2k or something to buy it if you really want to take the risk. Unless it has raced in which case I would be very wary indeed.

Young horses that fail vettings can sometimes go on and pass a few years later when they've stregthened up. I had one that failed the vet hopelessly as a 6 year old, went on to event a full 4 seasons, completed 3 3 day events ( was always sound the next day after the speed and endurance) and then was sold- and this time he easily passed a 5 stage vetting plus x rays.

Vettins are so hypothetical and all depends on how the horse is feeling on the day.
 
If that is the case then sadly, I think you have to walk away; the risk is too great unfortunately.

Either ride for her or look for another horse for sale who will definitely do the job required.
 
good advice, thanks. he's 8, not tb, a big strapping lad already. one of my biggest worries is that her vet said it was a different hindleg to my vet, who is no muppet. maybe it has problems in both. jeez. it is such a lovely horse too.
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oh, and her vet used to own the horse, if i understood him right, just to complicate matters.
she has done such a lovely job on the horse, i was gutted when he failed the vetting.
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i am eventing for my own fun, but having been lucky enough to have good horses (of my own) before, i want to get back up to at least 3 star level again.
this horse possibly wouldn't pass a trot-up, so no 3-days... it's too much money to take one which you know has a bit of a problem.
the owner's vet said he is 1/10 lame, described it as 'stiffness'.
a loan agreement with something like that written in is a good idea, thankyou.
thanks everyone.
 
8 years old and well grown- so he is quite mature already. Is he well muscled, strong in the back and balanced? if not then whatever is wrong with the hind legs *could* still improve with further schooling/strengthening and suppling. You could get a 3rd vet to give you an opinion if you really do like him that much? someone top like a newmarket vet?
 
yes, he's strong, well-muscled. hasn't done a lot of schooling, because owner doesn't like it... she's just concentrated on sending him on dead straight on straight lines, and curving around corners. sounds weird, but he has no bad habits and hasn't been pulled in and mucked around at all. bliss!
hmm. quandary deepens.
 
umm, re

How come you keep on finding dodgey horses? Do you have budget issues or just plain bad luck?

well, i'm trying not to be too insulted by that! i've had 2 vetted, both failed the vet. i don't have an open chequebook, but i've got over £10k to spend, so it depends what you call "budget issues" i guess.
my vet is doing a full 5-stage vetting with ultrasound scans, because i have had terrible luck in the past, in spite of being paranoid and super-careful.
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sorry, didn't mean to sound rude!!

I was looking last summer and I know how disappointing it is when they fail the vetting when everything else is perfect. I walked away from a horse that I felt I had really clicked with. A year on tho I've got my dream horse and it was absolutely the right thing for me and for the horse I didn't buy. There is no point in taking on a horse which won't be up to the job - for their own sake as much as for yours.

Like you I already have a poorly horse and really needed the new addition to be a 100% healthy horse otherwise I'd have gone mad!! Only advice is to hang on in there!
 
As much as you like the horse, it costs as much to keep a lame horse as it does a good horse. If you want to do some half decent competition and there is any doubt about this horse's soundness then it is better to walk away. You could invest a lot of time, money & heartache for this horse to never be sound enough to do the job you want him for, isn't it better to start off with one that you know hasn't got a possible lameness issue lurking in the background? Even if the horse was to pass a trot up at a competition, an underlying lameness problem is bound to affect the horse's ability as a performance horse as if he is not 100% comfortable you will notice it in his way of going.

Good luck finding a nice sound horse to have some fun on!
 
Walk away - I owned a horse not up to the job and it was heartbreaking. Now I have one who is brilliant and tough as old boots with it, and the fun I am having is amazing! I was also ultra-paranoid but when I vet who used to be president of the equine vet association tells you it is the most straightforward vetting he has ever done and cannot find anything to even mention on the form, then you know you've minimised the risk of yet more heartbreak. I was incredibly lucky to find my horse, but he is not unique, and if you are spending that kind of cash, wait until you find something with no underlying problems.
 
I also think you should walk away - what you are looking for is very hard to find, and could take a long time.

I was looking for what you are a couple of years ago, with a similar budget, and I really struggled. Two lovely ones failed the vet - they weren't dodgy, OrangeEmpire, it's just that when you say you want one for 3-days, they have to vet them really stringently. If I had been looking for a riding club allrounder, they probably would have passed!

Incidentally, I know of a young horse with 4* potential that was sold last year - a professional (4* rider) bought it for herself as a 5 yr old, backed it and took it up to Novice in the same year, then got pregnant and decided to sell it. It went for 40K. To a Pony Club rider.

Scary, isn't it.
 
exactly... it is a very stringent vetting, because you are looking for one with no weaknesses, which is therefore most likely to stand up to a lot of work, which is what it takes to get to top level.
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the lovely horse would have passed a vetting to do Riding Club etc.
thanks everyone. hugely appreciated.
 
For £10k plus I'd at least want it to be sound....you'd be better off with a nice 5yo with potential that you could bring on, rather than this 8 yo with dodgy legs.
You said he was 'strapping' - in my experience horses over 17hh are more prone to tendon, hock and wind issues...especially if they are lightweight types.
Good luck in your hunt...patience does pay (eventually)
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I think you have a hell of a budget. I would be patient winter is coming and food supplies are not great. Studs will begin turfing out nice youngsters for fair money.
Vicky Brake gets a lot of her horses from Donal Barnwell and they are always cracking.
My other tip is to look at show horses some have all the attributes to be an eventer especially the showing youngstock but they tend to be better priced than 'potential' eventers. FMM had a cracking looking horse for sale a while ago that was no good for showing due to a scar but would have made a super eventer as had the conformation and breeding.
 
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