Have you ever bought a horse without doing a vetting?

gemjar82 said:
Im glad i am reading all these posts as im actually thinking about buying a horse who has a 5 stage vetting 4 months ago and passed. For those of you who do not have the horses vetted, does this affect your insurance premium if you have not had them vetted?
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Insurers require a vets certificate if you want to insure the value for over a certain amount. It used to be £5k with NFU but that was years ago.
 
no i didnt :/ i bought her as i fell in love :) bought her in less than an hour, with a semi-experienced friend and myself. got her delivered the next day.

:)
 
Ive bought 2 horses before one vetted one not both of similar amounts both insured, the only one i had problems with was the vetted one, and the insurance wouldnt pay out!!!! Still dont know what id do if i bought another horse though its such a risky thing for the amount of money the cost!!!;)
 
Only ever had one vetted that had gone through a fence and had scared legs,did no woman and waited for horse to come sound.Lovely mare,had no problems,only had 3 stage vetting. others not vetted over years and never had any problems...touch wood
Did take a friend with me so did not get stary eyed though.
 
Yes. I bought Kelts without even riding her, never mind a vet, or even seeing her working. Best thing I ever did.

P - had vet to him to have him PTS after I bought him from the *******s who had him, but gave him 24hrs... 11 years later, he;s still tormenting me with his large presence, yes, had faults and defects meaning it's not been smooth, and not working currently, but he was worth the £5 I paid, don't think the vet charged he was so horrified!

WHEN I look at another, I will have a vetting, but as others said, not 100% it's worth it! Im no judge of conformation, but I can spot the slightest lameness a mile off!
 
No x 11.
I quite agree that the vetting isn't worth the paper is written on and it can only possibly be correct on the day. We certainly don't buy horses that are so expensive that an insurance company would need a vet's certificate. Mind you we don't insure either these days, having learned through experience that that is rarely worth it. We keep our horses until the end of their lives and have only lost 2 prematurely, both to illnesses that the vet couldn't diagnose when it was in front of them, never mind predict at least a year before.
I have to say that I think that if I couldn't spot a lame horse or one with sarcoid/splint/
wind/eye problems, I wouldn't really be suitable to be a horse owner.
 
Had my tb vetted moe for insurance purposes than anything else as he was the most expensive horse I have ever owned by quite some way :) and judging by the amount of vets bills I have had it was a good choice. The little tb I had as a project earlier on this year was bought unseen and unvetted and has been one of the soundest little neds I have ever met even though he has legs like pipe cleaners :D
 
A friend of mine was selling her horse a few years back, it failed 2 vet inspections, first one said it had a spavin and told the potential purchasers not to touch it with a barge pole, the 2nd vet said nothing about its legs but said it had breathing problems, then it was vetted for a third time by someone different who commented on what a lovely sound horse it was with such clean legs and good conformation !!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless i knew the vet well and had used him before, i really wouldnt bother with someone/a practice i didnt know .. !
 
DollyCoblet said:
just lining vets pockets, in my opinion.
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I agree, only horse we had vetted failed on a flexion test and was never lame in the whole 12 years we owned him.

Another horse not vetted, developed navicular syndrome and was PTS at the age of 9 - I think he would be alive today if barefoot practices had been more en vogue at the time.

Cob mare was vetted by a previous purchaser before me and dealer said the horse had failed on her wind. I could find no fault with her breathing - she went lame about 4 months later and at the time NB shoes fixed her - she has never been lame since and shes 26 now.

Vetting horse seems to be a total waste of time and money.
 
baymareb said:
Just curious. I actually bought Bella without doing one. Silly, I know and luckily it turned out fine as she is pretty much perfect in every way and my vet has since pronounced her sound and suitable for about anything I want to do.

Just wondering if others have taken the chance and what sort of luck you've had with it.

(as for my reason for not doing it, it was purely foolish emotion - I fell in love with her and bought her on the spot :o )
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I have bought horses both with and without vetting. The first with no vetting was a small pony and she lived for many years and was brilliant and healthy, the second I had vetted and in later life she got navicular, the third again with no vetting was and is as sound as a bell at 22 years, the fourth failed a vetting on flexion (front leg) but I took a chance and bought her anyway and she has been as sound as a bell ever since. Not wishing to inflame fate I have just touched wood.
 
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I've never vetted either. I didn't want to risk him failing as I had made up my mind I wanted him. I tried him twice once in field and on an hours hack on my own, No regrets, no problems despite his rather boxy feet. I've had him 9 years.

Jane
 
Yes, just once on an unknown and 'got away with it'.

Basic eyes, heart, wind check on a youngster and we have had one on trial for well long enough to find any unsoundness - and just had a basic eyes and heart check on her.

One did have a full vetting and it has made no difference to anything - she passed and stayed sound.

One failed a vet on flexion, we 'passed' on her, new owners have never had a limp out of her - grrrrrr.
 
I have bought all my ponies without a vetting. But the most I have ever paid for one is £600. So I think the vetting would have nearly cost more than the pony. :p Lucy cost £500 inclu all tack and rugs. (and there was no way i could get her vetted anyway, not without the vet getting killed :p) and Herbs was £550 inclu all tack and rugs. Others have mainly been other problem ponies I have taken on to sort out or youngsters I have bought to break in and sell on.
I have never had any problems with any of them (well not physical problems anyway :p;):D)
*rushes round touching every peice of wood she can find*
 
Lots of you have had bought horses without vetting and been problem free but I'd just like to say that if any future posters ask for advice because their potential new horse has failed the vet please don't tell them to walk away lol:D!!!
 
Never had a 5* vetting in 15 years of having horses. Not come back to bite me yet.

With most recent purchase, my vet came out to give her the once over, flexion tests etc, just in case he saw anything I'd missed, for my piece of mind. Charged me £100.

However, if I was paying £££, or buying horse specifically to reach top level, would def have full vetting with x-rays & bloods.
 
Grump, had one vetted and failed on flexion then went on to be advanced eventer. Had one full vetted, passed turned out to be a rig. Now growing my own!
 
I didn't get mine vetted. Purely for the reason that the vetting itself would've cost a similar amount to the horse, and I bought him straight from the racetrack. If he hadn't been suitable, I would've sold him on to a more suitable home and not made a loss, so I took the chance. I now should actually get him vetted so that I can insure him...all in good time :rolleyes:
 
Never had one and have spent quite a few £££ on horses.

My current SJ'er I was lucky enough to have on trial for a few months though :D
 
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