Any Vets here or anyone know re Flexion testing in Vetting ??!!

[treacle86]

Vet comes to vet Horse, 5 stage , I know the script re vettings , I didnt quite like the vet when I met them, found them a little uppity , anyway , Muddy horse had a bit of a brush over her , but vet picked a couple of mud balls off two of horses fetlocks and said , oh oh , does horse suffer from mud rash ??! I said no, thats just some clumps of dirt i must have missed ?!

Got to flexion tests, going well, last leg , does flexion (once) vet says oh we l do that one again, i thought there was a bit of something there, I say ok , do it again .

Now , she goes to do it again , horse moves just before the time is up , so instead of me trotting horse up, vet says oh il have to do it again ,( Twice ) horse moves again just seconds before time is up again (third ) and then last time, (fourth ) Time flexion time is ok and I trot horse away and horse has 1 stride of odd trot after me, and again we done it , (fifth )

So what i want to know is , Was the vet right to do it again again again , or should they have done it once , and made mind up as to sound or not first time, like first 3 legs or should they do 1or maybe 2 , and thats it , or should the vet have been allowed to do 3/4 repeated flexion tests on the same leg , in the space of ten minutes, no trot up between them , no rest , so in effect the horse had its leg bent up in flexion test for 6, 8 , maybe even 10 mins at one time ???????

I have thought about it and having not been able to €catch my own vet today am getting a bit ratty about it , I was going to tell her to get off my horse and leave her alone, and I am still not sure til i speak to my vet . I would have thought 4 flexions in a row cant be totally accurate because whatever sensation flexion gives horse, doing it again and again muct surely increase this sensation ????

Any thoughts people ????? Bit of a rant , sorry , x

 

[GreedyGuts]

Flexion tests are subjective (as is the entire vetting), and it is up to the vet to satisfy her/himself that there are no abnormalities. Sometimes this involves performing a test more than once. I know that people have mixed feelings about the validity of a flexion test, but whilst it might be arguable that a horses recovery would be prolonged after a long period of flexion it won't do the horse any harm. I'm sure the vet would have interpreted the findings in light of this.

From a vet's perspective there is a lot at stake when carrying out a vetting, and they are entitled and expected to be thorough. It sounds to me like she was being perfectly reasonable; I know vets who would walk away from a horse that was not presented properly for vetting, as mud etc makes a thorough exam a lot more difficult. When you put a horse up for sale you are opening them to this type of scrutiny.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

My understanding is that flexion tests are limited in what they can accurately show anyway. What was ned like ridden? Did they give any indication of pass/fail?

 

[AmyMay]

The vet can flexion test as many times as they feel necessary when vetting a horse for a potential buyer.

 

[christine48]

Flexion tests are subjective, some say you can make any horse lame if you flex hard and long enough.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

The horse we just bought had 3 flexion tests on all 4 legs and an additional one on one fore leg which he did fail on.
The vet explained that as the horse had been standing in a small stable waiting for 3 hours due to an emergency making the vet late, it wasnt fair to take into account a little initial stiffness and by the end he was happy to pass 3 legs. The advantage for us was instead of exclusions all round we only have them on one leg for the fetlock only.
We had the fetlock xrayed (v.slight ringbone which i am familiar with managing)and were happy to proceed with the purchase at a reduced price.
FWIW my vet said,given the choice, he would rather xray than flexion test as he doesnt believe in them either. His reason for disliking flexion is that it is a test that is nearly impossible to replicate and he points out that a big chap like him can flex a joint higher and tighter than a female (no disrespect of girls just the truth that men are often taller/stronger). If insurance companies didnt require flexion then he thinks they would disappear.

 

[treacle86]

Thanks everyone , I have lots of interesting and helpful suggestions and advice from everyone, you guys here on H&h ,and my own vet as well as some other vets .
I was just quite angry at the vets overall treatment of my horse and then I believed that the vet should have been able to make the decision after , 1, 2, or 3 flexes surely ??!!
senior vet from the vets practice has said it wasnt ideal , etc , will chat with the vet re this , as I have complained.

With regards to price, The buyer has skirted around price like they would maybe try and haggle, I will not be moving on horses price , as horse is a bargain at original price, so this makes me think as vet is a "Friend " of buyer , ws it a ploy to get money off ? etc , The buyer jus wants a hack , and I was having 2nd thoughts about selling horse, and whether this buyer was going to be perfect for horse or not , and the way the vetting was done has made me very wary , The buyer seems lovely , I just am not entirely sure now, the horse is a superb horse and i had a lday turn up as vetting on her was nearly over and she would have taken horse home there and then , but i said no, she is sold to someone else, if it falls thru will let u know . I have told buyer that I am not happy with vets attitude and treatment of horse, and that I have complained, I am happy for her to go aead and buy horse, price is unchanged , she can buy horse or not , or i am happy for another vet to re vet horse , but as everyone has said vettings are very subjective and only last for the day in question etc etc .

Sorry , another rant there!!!!

Will see what happens and just take things as they come ..xx