Buying an older horse - what to ask the vet?

[Sologirl]

After the disaster of the last horse I'm looking at the other end of the spectrum at a 15 year old schoolmaster - he's been a carriage horse, riding school horse, with stints of XC and SJ (low level) in between. Getting him vetted but wanted to make sure I was fully prepared - with him being an older(ish) boy are there any burning questions I should ask the vet? thanks!

 

[skint1]

Thinking of my own older horses (whom I did not vet when I bought) I'd like to make sure their heart and lungs were healthy, be aware of any arthritic joints, particularly hock, knee, fetlock and old injuries likely to recur such as tendon or ligaments. I guess make sure the vet knows exactly what you want to do with the horse, they can then give you an opinion as to whether the horse is up to the task.

 

[Sologirl]

Thanks - yep all those things are on my checklist I pretty much just want to hack with the odd local show/beach ride/maybe some of the shorter common rides, so hoping he'd be fit enough for that.

 

[Suec04]

Hi, sorry to jump in here but as I may be considering buying an older horse myself in the spring, would/are you having a 5 stage vetting or a 2-stage one?

 

[twiggy2]

same as vetting for any horse, the vet should ask what you intend to use the horse for and advise you on wether in their opinion the horse would be capable of doing that job. Remember though a vetting is only the vets educated opinion on the capabilities of that horse based on what they see on the day.

It is always worth asking the seller if you can have access to the horses vets notes some say yes and you have nothing to lose by asking.

I know of a lovely 14.2hh older cob for sale that I used to look after and the owner is happy for prospective buyers to have full access to his vets notes for the time she has had him (over 3 yrs) so some are ok with it

 

[Sologirl]

Hi, sorry to jump in here but as I may be considering buying an older horse myself in the spring, would/are you having a 5 stage vetting or a 2-stage one?

I'm going for a 2 stage but it's your call - however the vet I am using will lunge and re-assess heart/lungs as part of a 2 stage.

 

[Spot_On]

Depends on what you would like to do with him in the future.
A 15year old wouldn't put me off if I was just doing low level school/hacking/shows, if managed correctly (I know you can't manage every ailment that arises), however you could easily have a horse to ride for the next 10 years. I would get a 2* vetting done as well.

There are horses going around badminton at 18!

 

[Suec04]

Thank you Sologirl and Spot_On. In my younger days when I bought horses, my dad always insisted on the 5 stage vettings but my horse/ponies then, were much younger, so having never bought an older one, I didn't know which would be the best option, vetting wise.....

 

[OwnedbyJoe]

Speaking as a vet...
It's not so much about what to ask us as how to interpret what we DO find. Very few 15 year old horses won't have anything at all going on with their joints: the question is whether it's likely to affect what you want to do.
History can really help with this so do ask for previous vet records: if an xray shows a bone spur you'd interpret it quite differently if it has been there for 5 years and the horse has remained sound, compared to if it's a brand new finding.