Am I being too picky?

[Sianio]

Hi all, I'm horse-hunting at the moment (and have posted a couple of threads on here about my disasters!). I am looking for dressage and currently do a bit of competing at Prelim level with a shared horse. I'm having real trouble buying as horses keep failing the vettings, and I'm wondering if vets are being more stringent about little inconsistencies once they know I'm looking for dressage? Obviously I don't want to buy a serious problem, but it seems so far that barely a single horse has been completely straight and sound. I don't know if I'm setting the bar too high, as although I'd love to do well competing I will be doing local shows and I'm certainly not expecting to get to Grand Prix level! For example the most recent horse has an almost imperceptible difference in stride length on one rein that the owner and other prospective buyers had never noticed but it was picked up as unsuitable for dressage. Two others failed on flexions, one was only a 1/10 on one leg but the vet strongly recommended against buying unless the issue was resolved and the sellers were unwilling to investigate it. Another failed on flexions despite going out competing before and since with the owners at Prelim, including several placings.

 

[baran]

I'm having real trouble buying as horses keep failing the vettings, and I'm wondering if vets are being more stringent about little inconsistencies once they know I'm looking for dressage? Obviously I don't want to buy a serious problem, but it seems so far that barely a single horse has been completely straight and sound. I don't know if I'm setting the bar too high

Possibly. Horses don't pass or fail vettings these days. The vet gives you his opinion on the day and it is up to you to decide what to do with the information. If you like the horse and it has a good record so far, discuss it further with the vet. Have you made it clear before the vettings what level you are aiming for? If you only want to do Prelim, something that isn't technically totally sound might be fine. Up to you really!

 

[Charlie007]

I have never had a horse vetted in 30 years but then I only ever bought 2 expensive ones!! The horse that had a different stride length could be sound but stiff/ not stretching as well on that rein which could easily be resolved with schooling. As above poster said it's a choice you have to make. A horse vetted on monday and passed could be lame by the Wednesday and vice versa!! Perhaps trying to find a horse via word of mouth might be worthwhile as a bit of history should be known. Good luck in your search x

 

[Theocat]

Possibly. Perhaps instead say you're looking for something that can do general all-round riding club/hacking and get it vetted with that role in mind? If you like the one with the slightly short stride, is it too late to discuss with the vet in more detail...?

 

[soulfull]

There are far more lame horses out there than you think!
Please listen to your vet, having had really bad luck with having to retire 2 and 1 pts due to lameness. It isn't worth it. Maybe take a more experienced friend who is better at spotting lameness to save you money on vettings.
I'm horse hunting at the moment and have seen 3 lame horses out of 11 all 3 under 9 yrs old
The uneven strides can be an early sign of psd which is absolutely horrible and very poor prognosis
So dont risk it

 

[Sianio]

Sadly Soulfull, I think you're right. I was looking at the 2-3k bracket, but after failed vettings, unreturned deposits and a surprising amount of physical problems (most of which the owners had 'never noticed') I decided to borrow some money and increase my budget. Of course there are still no guarantees with horses, but on the whole the owners of the higher priced horses have been willing to provide a lot more history and generally the horses are in full work rather than hacking / abandoned in the field so any lameness would be apparent before a visit. Fingers crossed!

 

[baran]

Sadly Soulfull, I think you're right. I was looking at the 2-3k bracket, but after failed vettings, unreturned deposits and a surprising amount of physical problems (most of which the owners had 'never noticed') I decided to borrow some money and increase my budget. Of course there are still no guarantees with horses, but on the whole the owners of the higher priced horses have been willing to provide a lot more history and generally the horses are in full work rather than hacking / abandoned in the field so any lameness would be apparent before a visit. Fingers crossed!

I agree with this but there are also a lot of horses out there, especially older ones, who are technically not sound but perfectly capable of giving years of fun. You need to be very realistic about what you want to do. I have had two excellent horses which would never have passed a vetting (one had a spavin, the other had injured a stifle joint some years previously). Both were quite capable of competing at a low level which was all I required.

 

[eggs]

I bought a dressage horse some years ago who was working at PSG with a good competition record. Due to his value he had to have x-rays for insurance - these showed up a few niggles but after discussing them with my vet - whom I had used for many years - she advised that they were not unexpected in a horse doing the work he was that the balance of probability was that I should go ahead with the purchase. I did and never had any problem with any of the issues identified on the x-rays.

A friend was selling a dressage horse some years ago and the prospective purchaser's vet 'failed' her on being slightly pigeon toed. The purchaser's were only look to complete up to elementary level and did not go ahead with the purchase. Eight years on and the mare is out at Inter 1.

At the BD conference last year the German vet did make the comment that the horse has to be sound enough for the job.

 

[asmp]

While trying to sell a pony some years ago the vet who was vetting him told me that she'd probably never pass a horse for her client as the client would sue as soon something went wrong!

 

[Tapir]

You should also consider that you might, at some point, need to sell the horse on. It would be much harder to sell one which is unlikely to pass a vetting. I recently passed on one that would have been fine for hacking/schooling but with an issue which might have caused a problem with regular jumping, as I didn't want to be stuck with an un-sellable horse.