Failed Vetting - What to do?!!

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BarbieHorse

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I've just had a potential new horse vetted. All was good EXCEPT he was "pottery" in front on both sides when lunged in a tight circle on a hard surface. His feet are quite long, and he's never been shod or done any work, the vet mentioned this could be a contributory factor, but that he couldn't pass him as he presented today.
I know the "sensible" thing is to walk away BUT I really like him...
What would you do?! Negotiate a lower price and take the chance? Or ask the owner to get his feet done and get him re-vetted?
Gutted! I hate vettings!!!! 🙁
 
I never understand owners who don't give their horse the best possible chance of passing a vetting, and after the heartache (and significant financial loss) of losing a 5yo to a DDFT injury where long toes were almost certainly a contributing factor I would walk away I'm afraid.

I also suspect you'd be screwed from an insurance perspective if you do buy the horse despite the "failed" vetting and later had issues with his forelegs as you will have to disclose the failed vetting when you take out the insurance.
 
The trouble is too if you trim him back to where he should be he might be sore anyway, shoes will just cover up the problem, and he could have navicular anyway.
 
ester said:
The trouble is too if you trim him back to where he should be he might be sore anyway, shoes will just cover up the problem, and he could have navicular anyway.
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Would it be normal for a horse with very little work done to get navicular though? He was backed last year but nothing done since, that's why i was so surprised he failed as he's done nothing...
 
What's normal? Any horse kept with long toes/low heels would certainly be susceptible to soft tissue damage even if they have just been in the field. I'm afraid I can't really see a way round this I would be happy with so I would be walking away. It could just be that he was a bit footy on that surface and not striding out like a shod horse would but I don't see a way to prove that is the case that I would be confident with.
 
Sadly so would I , I simply don't get why owners let their horses go forward to vettings with their feet in poor condition .
To lose a sale because the shoes have been on left because the horse is going to be sold and I have had that happen to me as a buyer is so silly I had even warned them that I thought it was risky to let him go forward to a vetting without new shoes .
But in such a young horse you should not be seeing pottery steps ,unbalanced and struggling to do it ok but not pottery .
Why oh why do people neglect the basics like trimming feet .
 
for a youngish horse that has basically been stood in a field to show up pottery on the lunge I would be running for the hills I am afraid, sorry I know it's hard when you really fall for a horse but when you have had horses with lameness issues it kind puts it into perspective especially with the heartache that comes with it.
 
Pinkvboots said:
for a youngish horse that has basically been stood in a field to show up pottery on the lunge I would be running for the hills I am afraid, sorry I know it's hard when you really fall for a horse but when you have had horses with lameness issues it kind puts it into perspective especially with the heartache that comes with it.
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I agree with this I'm afraid, wasn't meant to be.
 
walk away - you won't be able to get insurance, the horse may have a reason why its not in much work etc!
 
Knowing it's a youngster I now change my sentiments, don't walk, RUN! And I say this as someone who has been through the hell of having a youngster that broke after a month and was PTS less than a year after owning her. It was devastating both emotionally and financially and I would never wish it on anyone. In our case she even passed a 5 stage vetting with flying colours despite the long toes and run down heels!
 
If you are not happy to take the advice of the vet who did the vetting, then there is little point in spending the money in the first place! Walk away!
 
walk away - you won't be able to get insurance, the horse may have a reason why its not in much work etc!
 
VRIN said:
If you are not happy to take the advice of the vet who did the vetting, then there is little point in spending the money in the first place! Walk away!
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The vet's advice was to get the feet done and re-vet in two weeks time, everything else was perfect (flexion etc).

Just unsure whether to do that or walk away (although going by the replies on here I have a fairly concise answer)! 😄

Thanks all - the search goes on!!!
 
Yep, sensible advice is to walk away and keep looking. But I'm also another that can't believe sellers don't present a properly shod or trimmed horse for a vetting, why have that as a risk? I wouldn't rule out re-vetting a re-shod horse but in this case I don't think I'd bother.
 
Bernster said:
Yep, sensible advice is to walk away and keep looking. But I'm also another that can't believe sellers don't present a properly shod or trimmed horse for a vetting, why have that as a risk? I wouldn't rule out re-vetting a re-shod horse but in this case I don't think I'd bother.
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Another who cannot understand why sellers skimp on something so important, I tend to do the opposite and make sure they are shod, or trimmed, before normal time if it is getting close to vetting, the pony I sold at the weekend was slightly sore having pulled a shoe off a week ago so I put the buyer off a few days to ensure he was fine, it is wasting everyone's time, not to mention money, to present a horse that is obviously in need of a farrier.
 
be positive said:
Another who cannot understand why sellers skimp on something so important, I tend to do the opposite and make sure they are shod, or trimmed, before normal time if it is getting close to vetting, the pony I sold at the weekend was slightly sore having pulled a shoe off a week ago so I put the buyer off a few days to ensure he was fine, it is wasting everyone's time, not to mention money, to present a horse that is obviously in need of a farrier.
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Agree: you'd be surprised though what you see when you're going around at viewings - the worst scenario I ever had was last summer when I'd organised my vet for a vetting and I'd (naturally) assumed the owner would be doing the trot-up, but stupid woman had turned up more like she was going to the beach than anything else, she'd dressed in flip-flops, shorts & skimpy halter-neck, as much use as a nun in a punch-up. Truly unbelievable.

In the end the friend who'd come along with me did the trot-up. If she hadn't been there, we'd have been stuck. Sadly the horse failed, but this little incident taught me a lesson in that if having anything vetted now I always ask if there's someone there to trot it up for the vet.

In the situation outlined here I don't think there's any other choice but to walk away TBH: I saw a lovely little mare (not the vetting I've mentioned above) which I fell in love with, and she also failed vetting. I could have taken a chance and hoped she'd have been OK, but, but....... do you really want to put yourself through potential heartbreak? Not to mention considerable financial risk, coz as someone else has said if the horse has failed a vetting for a front legs issue you won't get sweet FA for any future insurance claim, and even if it passes second time round, you'd still have that issue there.

My take would be that the horse failed vetting - on the day - which is basically why you had it vetted in the first place. Why go to additional expense?

Heartbreaking though it is, don't think there's any other option but to walk away on this one TBH.....
 
we bought a horse that failed the vetting (various reason, including lameness) after we got him right, we had him for 16 years of great fun, before he was pts at 24.

we probably (well did) pay over the odds for him but we never regretted it.
 
Flyermc said:
we bought a horse that failed the vetting (various reason, including lameness) after we got him right, we had him for 16 years of great fun, before he was pts at 24.

we probably (well did) pay over the odds for him but we never regretted it.
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Well, there are cases like this. But you have to know you are happy with the potential heartbreak and financial risk.

OP, walk away. Let the seller get the horse right. A young horse should be able to trot round on a circle OK.
 
BarbieHorse said:
Would it be normal for a horse with very little work done to get navicular though? He was backed last year but nothing done since, that's why i was so surprised he failed as he's done nothing...
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My home bred has navicular changes and a lot of fore feet problems. We are upto our 5K limit from the vets this year! She has hardly done anything so it can come at any time. Walk away and find another one :) xx
 
I would walk away. Its not done much work and doesnt move correctly which although the hooves are probably the reason, how do you know once you sort the feet that he will be ok? Bit of a gamble to take.

My horses hooves looked like crap when I bought him because his breeder was lazy about it I guess, but it was cosmetic damage, nothing that affected his movement. Vet agreed on that too and passed him for it. All he had was some cracks, one big one on his front right and its now gone. Thats all I would accept though.
 
I know others have said to walk away but just thinking of another option if you really liked him and were potentially willing to risk it, maybe just getting a farrier to look? Some good ones can often tell if it is their feet causing an issue? Saves spending a load of money just in case it makes no difference?
 
I've just walked away from two that both failed flexion tests, thankfully number 3 passed with flying colours and he is now mine but I learnt the hard way. I bought a newly backed 3 year old with impeccable German pony breeding without a vetting. In the 4 years I've had him he's cost a small fortune and been lame more often than he has been sound. I will never be able to jump him and he can't cope with soft surfaces.
 
Ellietotz said:
I know others have said to walk away but just thinking of another option if you really liked him and were potentially willing to risk it, maybe just getting a farrier to look? Some good ones can often tell if it is their feet causing an issue? Saves spending a load of money just in case it makes no difference?
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But if it is the feet it is potentially an issue, not all feet issues are that easily resolvable (even though I know many are!) and if it isn't feet that is a bigger issue.
My farrier and his partner acquired a horse that failed a vetting recently, he thought he could shoe it better and that would help so did and it did. 9 months later they have claimed loss of use.
 
Ellietotz said:
I know others have said to walk away but just thinking of another option if you really liked him and were potentially willing to risk it, maybe just getting a farrier to look? Some good ones can often tell if it is their feet causing an issue? Saves spending a load of money just in case it makes no difference?
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Only if the farrier has magic eyes and do an MRI and an X-ray by looking at the horse
The person who is trained to assess what's the issue has said it's the feet .
What on earth could the farrier add .
 
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