Feel like just giving up

[iknowmyvalue]

Trying to find a horse to buy at the moment and having an absolute nightmare. I’ve found two which seemed perfect, but both failed their vettings. This mornings one has a clean vetting from just over a month ago, so was really hopeful

I work full time, including one weekend a month, so trying to find the time to drive round the country looking is exhausting. I can’t just take time off last minute either. Just feel hopeless at this point and like I’m never going to find anything I like AND get it to pass a vetting

So just a bit of a self pitying post, but I’m just so upset and disappointed. Especially since all 3 horses Ive bought previously were the first ones I had vetted and all passed with flying colours!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

It can be tough. A friend recently vetted 5 and all "failed" their exam. She finally found one that would pass (to her standards) and that she liked, but it was a long, tiring road.

Hang in there, I'm sure one will come along.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

It obviously isn't meant to be with those ones. The right horse is waiting to find you and when it's right it will work out.

Maybe take a little break from searching. Can you have lessons, share for a while so when you start your search again it will be with excitement?

Alternatively, would you consider using an agent or instructor to have a look for you and find candidates?

 

[outdoor girl]

Going back about 6 years, I looked at 29 horses and actually thought 25 were worth having a ride on. I liked 4 of them enough to have them vetted and 4 of them failed. The pony I eventually bought found me. I looked at a horse on an eventing yard, but it rode much too big for me so I just mentioned that if the lady found the type of horse I was looking for please would she let me know. About 4 months later I got a text from her and the rest is history. My perfect pony belonged to her closest friend, had done 7 BE 90's and was for sale because she'd just had a baby and didn't want to keep the horse through the winter. Vetting passed and I now have my pony. The moral of this story is not to give up. Your perfect pony IS out there somewhere, it just needs to be found.

 

[shortstuff99]

What area are you in and what are you looking for? I know a really nice 4 year old gelding, with a nice jump and flat work. He is 17hh though but really sweet.

 

[Dyllymoo]

Maybe have a little break. I did that 2 years ago I was looking and saw pretty much every single lame horse out there, and some that just weren't suitable for me (nervous nelly!). I had a break of a couple of weeks and then found J.

Take the pressure off a bit as its crazy out there at the minute, whether its horses or houses they sell before being seen!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Going back about 6 years, I looked at 29 horses and actually thought 25 were worth having a ride on. I liked 4 of them enough to have them vetted and 4 of them failed. The pony I eventually bought found me. I looked at a horse on an eventing yard, but it rode much too big for me so I just mentioned that if the lady found the type of horse I was looking for please would she let me know. About 4 months later I got a text from her and the rest is history. My perfect pony belonged to her closest friend, had done 7 BE 90's and was for sale because she'd just had a baby and didn't want to keep the horse through the winter. Vetting passed and I now have my pony. The moral of this story is not to give up. Your perfect pony IS out there somewhere, it just needs to be found.

The horse I eventually bought by w-o-m was the one that I spent longest looking for. Sister and I trailled the length and breadth of the M62 corridor one summer, we rejected loads, some completely not as advertised (this was in the days before online ads). Then we called at a local tack shop, told the owner that we were looking for something similar to her mare, she sent us next door and we bought a fabulous Clydie mare who stayed with us for the rest of her life, after we hacked her home.

OP, the right horse will find you.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Why did he fail? If he passed a month ago perhaps the issue is simple to solve and worth waiting 2 weeks and re-vetting? Or was the 'pass' suspect?

 

[Cortez]

Try to relax and be patient, there are plenty of horses out there. Also remember that vettings are an opinion, and there are some things that are liveable with. I rarely have anything vetted and even more rarely have things go wrong (in fact, the last horse I had vetted was the one that ended up with multiple unfixable ailments). I am aware that insurers require a vetting, is that right? I don't insure either , but then I am pretty old, experienced and prepared to trust my own judgement.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

thanks all, just feeling disheartened and frustrated.

Maybe take a little break from searching. Can you have lessons, share for a while so when you start your search again it will be with excitement?

Alternatively, would you consider using an agent or instructor to have a look for you and find candidates?

Id consider a share/loan if the right thing came up, but my hours are very unpredictable so I wouldn’t be able to commit to specific days. I’m hoping I can bring my big lad back into work in the next 2-3wks and while we will be taking it steady to build back up at least I’ll have something I can hack/do a bit of schooling with, until he’s back to 100% and he goes up for sale…

I’ve got 2 instructors keeping a look out but neither have heard of anything I haven’t already looked at the ads…

What area are you in and what are you looking for? I know a really nice 4 year old gelding, with a nice jump and flat work. He is 17hh though but really sweet.

Thank you! I’m Lincolnshire based but unfortunately 17hh would be too big, especially as a 4yo. 16.3hh is the biggest I could realistically go.

Why did he fail? If he passed a month ago perhaps the issue is simple to solve and worth waiting 2 weeks and re-vetting? Or was the 'pass' suspect?

She failed on one hind limb flexion. I’ve spoken to the seller and they’re going to investigate it, if their vet can’t find anything and she comes sound, he’s said I could have her re-vetted (which I would do, provided I can see their vets report first)

Try to relax and be patient, there are plenty of horses out there. Also remember that vettings are an opinion, and there are some things that are liveable with. I rarely have anything vetted and even more rarely have things go wrong (in fact, the last horse I had vetted was the one that ended up with multiple unfixable ailments). I am aware that insurers require a vetting, is that right? I don't insure either , but then I am pretty old, experienced and prepared to trust my own judgement.

yes, to be honest the vetting is only for insurance purposes for me. If I wasn’t insuring I wouldn’t bother, but financial situation is such that I can’t afford not to.

Try to relax and be patient, there are plenty of horses out there. Also remember that vettings are an opinion, and there are some things that are liveable with. I rarely have anything vetted and even more rarely have things go wrong (in fact, the last horse I had vetted was the one that ended up with multiple unfixable ailments). I am aware that insurers require a vetting, is that right? I don't insure either , but then I am pretty old, experienced and prepared to trust my own judgement.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Flexions are very subjective/ I had a pony fail on flexions. Got my own vet out the following day who could find nothing wrong and felt the flexions were fine. Got the next viewer along (original buyer walked away) and she passed.

Did you see it? Was it clear or marginal as he trotted away?

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Flexions are very subjective/ I had a pony fail on flexions. Got my own vet out the following day who could find nothing wrong and felt the flexions were fine. Got the next viewer along (original buyer walked away) and she passed.

Did you see it? Was it clear or marginal as he trotted away?

Yeah I saw, I would say it was marginal, and she trotted out of it in about 10 strides. They’re going to get their own vet out, so depends what they find. If nothing found they’re going to let me know, and I will probably get her re-vetted….

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Good plan. Some vets are more risk averse than others. Vettings do slightly do my head in. They are very useful in picking up some things but some aspects - and flexions in particular - are so inconsistent from vet to vet. Good luck x

 

[shortstuff99]

Yeah I saw, I would say it was marginal, and she trotted out of it in about 10 strides. They’re going to get their own vet out, so depends what they find. If nothing found they’re going to let me know, and I will probably get her re-vetted….

What I would also do (which the vets might have done), is flexion, then ride the horse then flexion again. If it improves or stays the same I would be happy, if it is worse then I would consider it a problem.

 

[Brummyrat]

I had a vet give my horse a flexion test recently as part of an investigation into something else and he wasn't lame but wasn't 100% on one rein either, maybe just centimetres short but even I could see the difference on the one leg. She said if it were a vetting she'd have passed it because most horses come up shorter on one leg than another.

 

[SusieT]

Dont' listen too much to people poo pooing vettings. They are there for a reason - i.e. to identify any unsoundness and you have to bear in mind if they flex fine on 3 limbs, but not on number four there is something different about that limb. Clearly they are subjective, but you are right to look at vetting and objectively assess any findings.
Dont give up. Keep looking, consider younger as often they have less miles and less 'pre existing' injuries.

 

[Cortez]

Dont' listen too much to people poo pooing vettings. They are there for a reason - i.e. to identify any unsoundness and you have to bear in mind if they flex fine on 3 limbs, but not on number four there is something different about that limb. Clearly they are subjective, but you are right to look at vetting and objectively assess any findings.
Dont give up. Keep looking, consider younger as often they have less miles and less 'pre existing' injuries.

Don't listen too much to people who poo poo people who don't give vettings the absolute weight that others do: we're usually old and have seen good horses passed up on the slightest thing that doesn't really matter in the real world. I have bought some really great horses that had "failed" a vet, and never gave a moment's trouble. I've also seen horses that passed with flying colours and were never able to work.

 

[cauda equina]

'You can make most horses lame if you try hard enough' said my vet, and probably many others too

 

[ycbm]

I don't vet horses I buy, and I would buy a failure that someone else had paid for the vetting on and failed marginally on a flexion, for the right price. But if I'd paid for a vetting myself I would almost certainly not buy if the vet had reservations.
.

 

[Leandy]

Keep going! Don't compromise on what you want. The right one is out there to be found. I tend to refuse to travel more than say 2 hrs to view a horse but then I live in the SE so it depends a bit where you live how feasible that is. So I may miss perfect ones further away but I save a lot of wasted time in travelling and if it is closer, it is easier to go for a second viewing to confirm also. Don't feel it is necessary to trawl the whole country. And absolutely word of mouth, the best ones often never appear on the open market.

 

[ester]

pretty sure OP is a Vet so aware of the pros/cons of vetting

 

[Goldenstar]

I vet everything and sometimes buy failures .
Foot pain I will generally leave alone .
Flexions ,it depends on the horse the work it has done and what I want it for and what the reaction to flexion is like .
But I will always vet in my time I have seen almost blind horses ,and horses with death trap hearts .
My experience the vets I use are very sensible about minor reactions to flexions in the older miles on the clock horses .
I would expect a younger horse I buy for myseif to be able to pass a flexion test .
If I like a horse enough to forgive it a sarcoid I will buy it .

 

[Goldenstar]

OP you will find a horse , it’s soul destroying you see them you like them enough to buy them and then you can’t go ahead you just have to keep going .

 

[Bernster]

Over the years I’ve had about a 50% failure rate on vettings although it’s gotten better over recent years! I wonder if with higher prices now vets are even more cautious, and as posters have said, there’s a mix of circs which might make some issues acceptable when others aren’t. Although for insurance purposes that doesn’t help if there’s a failed vetting!

Better to have something clear without advisories and I’m sure there are some out there. You only need 1 to pass - good luck I’m sure you’ll get there ?

 

[I'm Dun]

Every time I read a post like this it makes me heartily glad I dont vet. I usually buy the first or second one I try as well. The only one who has ever been an issue was lame when he was bought so hardly a surprise.

 

[Flame_]

Every time I try to find a horse I have two failed vettings.

Either I'm just rubbish at spotting lameness and stuff, and or I give off a vibe to vets when I'm first looking of "fail anything that isn't in absolute mint condition", then by the time the third vetting comes around I give off "pass anything with four legs, I'm sick of looking" vibes.

Hope you find your horse soon.

 

[asmp]

When I was selling a pony once the vet who was doing the vetting admitted that he would probably never pass a horse for his client as she would take him straight to court if anything went wrong not long after!

 

[Widgeon]

I think rising prices at the moment are making the whole vetting situation really tricky - most insurers I've spoken to require a vetting (at least 2 stage) for anything with a purchase price of over £5/6K. I didn't vet mine as he was already doing more than what I wanted him for, and he cost under that - but with current prices everything seems to be going for more than £5/6K. So if you want to insure you would need to vet. So it's not really the buyer's decision whether to vet or not, it's more a question of how much wonkiness etc you will and won't accept, and whether you're prepared to start off with insurance exclusions straight away.

It also sounds like vets might be getting more risk averse regarding vettings, which would be entirely understandable (IMO). If that is the case, it might go some way towards explaining why everything you're seeing now seems to be "failing". Or are there actually more lame horses out there than there used to be?

 

[MrsCentaur]

This is NOT the thread that I should be reading eight minutes into the new pony's vetting, is it...

Emotionally preparing for failure AS WE SPEAK.

 

[Keira 8888]

This is NOT the thread that I should be reading eight minutes into the new pony's vetting, is it...

Emotionally preparing for failure AS WE SPEAK.

Good luck!!!!! I’m sure it will go just fine ???