Cookiemonster18
New User
Hi everyone!
I am new to this forum, so apologies in case I posted this in the wrong place.
I am in the process of buying my first own horse and have been looking around since October last year. Finally I have found one which seems like everything I want - He is 10 years old, easy to ride with a great character, a perfect gentleman on the ground, and is already doing what I want to do (lower level eventing with an option of going up the levels in the future). I really fell for this boy!
But of course there is a catch... Just the day when I wanted to get him vetted he got kicked to the shoulder by another horse out in the paddock. I cancelled the vet and went to see him - he was really lame on that leg
The should was a bit swollen and hot, so the owner had cooled it and he was on bute.
He rested for a week and I made another vet appointment. He seemed fine at home, but the vet then rated him 3/5 lame on that leg after trotting on hard ground on a circle line. Otherwise nothing seems wrong with him, legs and feet were in great shape. So the owner and I agreed to disregard the vetting and to try again in another week's time. The horse went back on bute for two days and is now resting again, only being hand walked and otherwise standing in a paddock with some other horses.
Now my question is, how to go about this. It's my first horse purchase ever, so I don't want to make a mistake I might regret on the long run. I definitely don't have the money to buy and support a second horse in case this one becomes unrideable in the near future.
If the horse still shows lameness at the next vet check, I am willing to give it some more time to rest and wait until it comes sound again since I really like him and haven't found any other horse so far that I felt so confident with (riding and on the ground).
But what if the horse is fine now?? He has been out of work since over 2 weeks at that point, and I am afraid he might go lame again as soon as he gets ridden again. Would it be reasonable to offer the owner a full lease for a month or so to see if the horse will stay sound back in work? Or would this be rude to ask for? I would like to make sure the owner knows that I am serious about buying this horse, but I would also like to make sure I am not ending up with a horse that is still in the middle of a recovery, unable to ride it for an unknown period of time.
Thank you very much in advance for any advice you may have for me!
I am new to this forum, so apologies in case I posted this in the wrong place.
I am in the process of buying my first own horse and have been looking around since October last year. Finally I have found one which seems like everything I want - He is 10 years old, easy to ride with a great character, a perfect gentleman on the ground, and is already doing what I want to do (lower level eventing with an option of going up the levels in the future). I really fell for this boy!
But of course there is a catch... Just the day when I wanted to get him vetted he got kicked to the shoulder by another horse out in the paddock. I cancelled the vet and went to see him - he was really lame on that leg
The should was a bit swollen and hot, so the owner had cooled it and he was on bute.He rested for a week and I made another vet appointment. He seemed fine at home, but the vet then rated him 3/5 lame on that leg after trotting on hard ground on a circle line. Otherwise nothing seems wrong with him, legs and feet were in great shape. So the owner and I agreed to disregard the vetting and to try again in another week's time. The horse went back on bute for two days and is now resting again, only being hand walked and otherwise standing in a paddock with some other horses.
Now my question is, how to go about this. It's my first horse purchase ever, so I don't want to make a mistake I might regret on the long run. I definitely don't have the money to buy and support a second horse in case this one becomes unrideable in the near future.
If the horse still shows lameness at the next vet check, I am willing to give it some more time to rest and wait until it comes sound again since I really like him and haven't found any other horse so far that I felt so confident with (riding and on the ground).
But what if the horse is fine now?? He has been out of work since over 2 weeks at that point, and I am afraid he might go lame again as soon as he gets ridden again. Would it be reasonable to offer the owner a full lease for a month or so to see if the horse will stay sound back in work? Or would this be rude to ask for? I would like to make sure the owner knows that I am serious about buying this horse, but I would also like to make sure I am not ending up with a horse that is still in the middle of a recovery, unable to ride it for an unknown period of time.
Thank you very much in advance for any advice you may have for me!
