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Hormonal Filly

Hormonal Filly

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I enquired about a horse for sale shortly after being listed, had a long phone conversation with the owner yesterday and I said I could view the horse Sunday. Seller is going to check with the livery yard and ring me back today to confirm, said she would be happy to wait until I've viewed and put off other enquiries.

No call yet.. and am really anxious she might sell from under me. The horse sounds really nice and what I'm looking for.

Fingers crossed!
 
She called! Going to see her Sunday! 🤞

The mare has had a year in the field due to owner illness.. spoke to the lady in depth on the phone and all sounds very genuine. I quite like bringing youngsters on, think I’ll know when I meet her or not if she’s the one. Everything crossed.

Would you get a young horse vetted that’s just under mid 4 figures? I can take lots of videos and my vet is happy to review any videos and photos.
 
Yes I would 100% get it vetted with everything you've been through! And having vetted two young horses recently ish, both that failed, on things that the vet would need to have been there to see.

It's not the purchase cost, it's the s*** show of paying for the broken ones once you've bought them...
 
Michen said:
Yes I would 100% get it vetted with everything you've been through! And having vetted two young horses recently ish, both that failed, on things that the vet would need to have been there to see.

It's not the purchase cost, it's the s*** show of paying for the broken ones once you've bought them...
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Yes, thanks Michen. She’s well priced for her breeding so worried the owner might not want the hassle of a vetting (and the circumstances - terminal illness)
 
Hormonal Filly said:
Would you get a young horse vetted that’s just under mid 4 figures? I can take lots of videos and my vet is happy to review any videos and photos.
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Me ? No but I'm an idiot. Charlie was £3500 and 8 months later had cost me £5000+. Having said that he was sound passing a flexion a month before he was PTS but a vetting and an xray at £600 would have saved me about £4,500. And a lot of heartache.
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ycbm said:
Me ? No but I'm an idiot. Charlie was £3500 and 8 months later had cost me £5000+. Having said that he was sound passing a flexion a month before he was a PTS but a vetting and an xray at £600 would have saved me about £4,000. And a lot of heartache.
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Or you vet them and then they still cost you nearly $10,000 less than 6 months later :D

Can't win really I guess. Horses.
 
I had one vetted which had kissing spines with active bone remodelling going on. It wasn't lame, just slightly tender on palpation. Without back xrays I'd be stuck with another retired at a young age expensive wb or a walking vet bill that was never really right.

A lady I know had a 5yo which had hock arthritis and hind suspensory problems. It was only in light work when she bought it but it did pass a vetting. Within 6 months it was a loss of use and she gave it away. After a few months turned away it became sound in light work and the people who'd offered it a home for life as a companion sold it on for a significant sum. It went lame again, fairly quickly. I'd be very wary about a horse which has been turned away for an extended period.

A vetting doesn't pick up everything but it increases your chances of getting a rideable horse.
 
ycbm said:
Me ? No but I'm an idiot. Charlie was £3500 and 8 months later had cost me £5000+. Having said that he was sound passing a flexion a month before he was a PTS but a vetting and an xray at £600 would have saved me about £4,000. And a lot of heartache.
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This is the thing. I paid £3k for my current mare, who flew through a tough 5 stage vetting (without X-rays) She is totally and utterly broken after having over £10k in vet fees spent.. my first horse I’ve had vetted and she broke sooner than all the others I didn’t bother vetting.

I spoke to the vet I’ve been using recently who asked for videos on the lunge, photos all around. Told me to do a few things, feel her back, tail pulls, moving front feet to see how quick she moves them back etc.

I guess I’m aware the fact she isn’t in work, any issues will probably not be picked up anyway. I’ll go and have a look and see how I feel about the situation.

I won’t be able to tell if she is 100% being honest about why she’s had time off.. the fact she bred her, wants her to go to a good home and stay in touch is a positive thing.
 
Hormonal Filly said:
She called! Going to see her Sunday! 🤞

The mare has had a year in the field due to owner illness.. spoke to the lady in depth on the phone and all sounds very genuine. I quite like bringing youngsters on, think I’ll know when I meet her or not if she’s the one. Everything crossed.

Would you get a young horse vetted that’s just under mid 4 figures? I can take lots of videos and my vet is happy to review any videos and photos.
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Personally I have never bought without a vetting. It's a personal thing really, like whether you insure things- some people are just more risk averse than others.

My take on the reasons why I get one :

1) "I'm only buying a cheap horse".
Cheap horses eat as much as dear ones! Whatever you buy at whatever value a vetting is a pittance compared to the "running costs" of even a healthy, sound horse, let alone a mistake. For an average owner, a vetting costs less than one month's bills.
Also, just saying you want a vetting will weed out some sellers who were hoping to pull the wool. I always mention it near the beginning to save time.

2)"I know more than any vet so I take my own view of it".
Even if this is true, you wont be thinking straight when buying for yourself, are unlikely to have access to a chip reader, a stethoscope and an ophthalmoscope and very unlikely to have an x-ray machine handy & you can't take bloods.
 
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Hormonal Filly said:
She called! Going to see her Sunday! 🤞

The mare has had a year in the field due to owner illness.. spoke to the lady in depth on the phone and all sounds very genuine. I quite like bringing youngsters on, think I’ll know when I meet her or not if she’s the one. Everything crossed.

Would you get a young horse vetted that’s just under mid 4 figures? I can take lots of videos and my vet is happy to review any videos and photos.
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Good luck! 🤞🤞🤞
 
Sooo.. the mare was lame! Not a little lame, a good 5/10th. The horse was 1hr 40 each way.. total waste of a morning and fuel!

I told the owner, who said she didn’t see. I took some videos and sent them to a couple of friends, who confirmed she’s very clearly lame.

She was very tender to me palpitating her hock on one side but fine the other. I’m no vet (but having previous experience with it) I thought maybe OCD in the hock or something.
 
Hormonal Filly said:
I don’t understand how owners miss things like that.. 😢
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They don't usually. They just realise that horses are now worth a lot of money so it's worth their while advertising them for a competitive price until someone comes along and just sees an attractive looking bargain horse. This one's had a year in a field and is still lame. Now the owner definitely knows there's a problem, interesting to see if they take the horse off the market for vet investigations.

The one I mentioned above with kissing spines, I doubt they knew, but obviously after it was xray'd they did (both owner and sales livery). They just dropped the price below £10k so that there would be no requirement to get xrays for insurance.

You can save some wasted journeys by asking for videos up front, but even then you almost need to see the horse with a copy of today's newspaper as some people will send stuff that's more than a year old.
 
Hopefully the owner asks their own vet for their input to verify what your vet's said when you tell her, rather than just carry on marketing her.

Sorry you had a wasted trip, but better you who noticed the lameness so you can make the owner aware and hopefully do right by the horse rather than someone else who has no lameness eye.
 
Hormonal Filly said:
I’ve heard back from my vet about the videos. Hideously lame RF and some RH lameness. She thinks higher up, neck or shoulder.

I don’t understand how owners miss things like that.. 😢
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Christ! And there’s me worrying that I’m being over sensitive and picking up on little signs that my boy isn’t comfortable (or am I just neurotic?)
I often ask myself the same question…how can owners not see / feel their horse is lame? Even if they can’t put their finger on what/where the problem is, surely they can tell somethings not right?
 
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