Conflicting Vettings

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tricksibell85

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Really need some urgent advice

Horse was vetted on Thurs, failed due to apparent sore back, and 2/10 lame in near hind.

Horses own vet came out on the Friday, could find no pain in back. Did flexions and said, yes he is a little stiff in near hind but not lame – and be expected in a rising 11 year old. Implied vet should not have failed him, and there was no treatment – just would have to be warmed up properly etc.

Horse was ridden yesterday and was not sore through the back, and was working correctly in back end – with no lameness?

I'm confused about how 2 vets can have such different opinions?

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
 
Its easy: a vetting is a subjective test of how the horse appears to the individual vet at that specific point in time. There is no objective scale against which a lameness can be measured, its up to the individual and what they see on the day. Where does "stiffness" end and "lameness" begin? Different vets will have different opinions on this. Sorry. But that's just the way it is.
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Vettings aren't very definitive at all. We all know it takes months of investigations to diagnose problems, during a vetting the vet only has a couple of hours looking at the surface, possibly not knowing any true history, to try to pick up on them. As halfstep said, you've got the subjectivity of vet's different opinions and you've got the fact that often horses don't stay at the same level of soundness from day to day.

Personally, if I'd seen an indication of unexplained unsoundness on one day that would be enough for me to run a mile.
 
I'd never use a horse's regular vet for a vetting - you need an unbiased pair of eyes looking for anything unusual. The regular vet may know the horse well and know its 'normal' way of going so say that he is a bit stiff where another would say he's lame. If there's a question mark, I'd walk away.
 
i can understand how hard this must be for you.

I totally agree with the others, vetting is very subjective and is purely a snapshot in time

However i would of thought horses are more stiff/lame after a vetting if there are any problems as during a vetting the horse should be pushed a bit... mine certainly was!!! So if your vet came out the next day, if there were any problems they should of shown up... :S
 
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