horse failed vetting but vet told to re-vet in a week..

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awaywithwords

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Hi all,
i found a horse which matched all my requirements and i thought we really clicked. after 2 failed vettings i thought this would be it.. unfortunately not.

heart & eyes all fine.. trotted away sound trotted back lame! she was not lame when i asked her to be trotted up when i saw her (twice). it was a slight downhill and vet gave her benefit of doubt so we moved onto flexion which she passed with flying colours , lunged on soft and slightly lame on that leg and was actually better on hard ground (?!). we then trotted her up again on quiet road while no cars as was completely flat and she was better but still slightly off.
Her shoes are due end of this week and vet took another look at her legs and they are completely clear, no lumps bumps heat or pulse. vet advised i re vet in a week after her shoes have been done ....

pffft... this vetting business is expensive!!!
 

AmyMay

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I'd be fuming at owners that presented a horse to the vet that was due for shoeing :eek:

Tbf it depends on how often the horse is shod. Any of mine being sold would never have been re-shod for the purposes of selling as they were always done every 5 weeks without fail. And feet and shoes were always in good order.
 

TPO

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Hard ground shows up hard tissue issues ie bone

Soft ground shows up soft tissue ie tendons and ligaments

Purely on what you've written re Vet not feeling any lumps or bumps this would also indicate soft tissue...hopefully minor if no heat or swelling felt.

If it was just shoeing related I'd expect it to show more on hard ground?

TBH I'd be expecting owner to get vet to her lame horse and then be able to show you the all clear from her vet once issue successfully dealt with before even considering forking out for another vetting.
 

Mahoganybay

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How long ago was the horse shod, was it overdue, very overdue? If reason for lameness is being blamed on shoeing and vet advised to re-vet this is the information I would want to know.

If the horse was very overdue, I might be inclined to have it re-vetted. However, if only slightly overdue or within the horses normal timeframe then I wouldn’t.
 
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ester

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things can easily become unbalanced in 5 weeks. Equally it's not ideal if you end up with a lame horse 5 weeks after shoeing so it might well be shoeing up an ongoing issue. I'd be reluctant to proceed without xraying the offending hoof unless you have access to the full veterinary history.

I'd want to come to an arrangement with the seller re. costs TBH.
 
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awaywithwords

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The agreed price was 20k so for my insurance I would need X-rays done along side the vetting ... unfortunately 3 vettings in and I haven’t got to that stage !!
 

Goldenstar

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Worse case senario a niggilng soft tissue injury within the foot .
An X-ray may not help .
Hard one ,how much of a chance are you prepared to take?
 

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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Hmmmm...... my gut feelings on this one are that basically a horse shouldn't fail a vetting on shoeing alone; either the farrier is doing a totally cr@p job, OR there is something else going on.

20K isn't exactly meat-price; if you were buying a plod-a-long for hacking round the lanes then you might be prepared to take a punt if it failed vetting on "shoeing issues" - but for that money you don't want any ifs or buts.

The other issue is who pays for the next vetting and any necessary investigations?? Do you? or the seller? or do you split the costs?

Personally I'd walk away, especially for that money.

There's other fish in the sea who will pass a vetting without an issue.
 

awaywithwords

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Hmmmm...... my gut feelings on this one are that basically a horse shouldn't fail a vetting on shoeing alone; either the farrier is doing a totally cr@p job, OR there is something else going on.

20K isn't exactly meat-price; if you were buying a plod-a-long for hacking round the lanes then you might be prepared to take a punt if it failed vetting on "shoeing issues" - but for that money you don't want any ifs or buts.

The other issue is who pays for the next vetting and any necessary investigations?? Do you? or the seller? or do you split the costs?

Personally I'd walk away, especially for that money.

There's other fish in the sea who will pass a vetting without an issue.
She hasn’t offered to pay for any additional costs of revetting.. if it were my horse I’d feel a bit embarrassed etc .. but nothing from her!
 

TPO

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No idea what you're looking for but a girl from a yard I was in got a lovely mare from Ben Hobday for 20k that flew through vetting. I think she was ready for novice but new owner dropped down to 90s with her. Mare was 6 or 7, cracking movement and nicely schooled. Just throwing that out there in case it's an eventer that you're after that he had a few in that price bracket and the girl I know had a good buying experience with on going support from Ben despite being in different countries!
 

Twohorses

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Much has changed since the days I was horse shopping and horse shopping meant looking for a great trail horse.

I looked and rode quite a few horses with their shoes slopping off their hooves, heels under run, bull nosed, and I didn't see any that were lame or noticeably off.

I completely agree with poster who commented the third vetting needs to be on the Seller with understanding you still might not take the horse.

I might be inclined to take a top notch chiropractor with me, if you know one. It would be worth the fee, as from what I am gathering, folks in the UK pay out a LOT more money for very well schooled professional horses than I could ever afford.

It seems the more well schooled and "perfect" in your world, the more inclined the horse might be to have issues that can't be defined until the Buyer gets the horse home:(

I took the long route to say, I would probably pass on the horse but my BFF of a lifetime would probably buy it, only to discover she shouldn't have:):)
 

Melody Grey

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After thought: did the vendor volunteer that shoes were due or did the vet comment on the state of the shoeing?
 
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TPO

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It could be absolutely nothing; horses can be eejits and it could easily be the very recent result of high jinks in the field. It doesn't read as though it was hugely obvious and only presented in certain circumstances that perhaps owner hadnt seen the horse in prior to this vetting.

However I'd expect someone motivated to sell their horse for 20k to have been straight on the phone to their vet after a failed vetting and to have said, either at the time or once she'd got her head around it, that she'd be speaking to her vet and would get back to you.

If she doesn't take any action herself or have any proof that her vet passes gorse as sound I wouldn't even consider paying for another vetting.

I had a horse fail a vetting and the seller offered to drive it to their local vet hospital so that I could get a work up done to prove it was sound...let me think about that! You shouldn't be paying to work up or diagnose someone else's horse. Like I said if shes motivated to sell she will be doing what it takes to get the horse sound.

If she does get back to you with something written from her vet re soundness I'd also be wanting cost of first vetting knocked off the asking price.
 

awaywithwords

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Thank you . She only agreed with the vet’s thought process re:shoes . She has not offered to diagnose only for me to re-vet after shoes have been done and they have had a couple of days to settle .
 

Bernster

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Seems funky to me for shoes to be the cause of this if it’s in its normal cycle. Does that really mean the difference between sound and failing a vetting?? I’ve heard this before on failed vettings and I did re try one but failed again. I’d be very sceptical especially at that price. I’d keep looking. Plenty of this type on horsequest eventer section - I look now and again for that unicorn !
 

be positive

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There’s always a reason that horses are not sound close to shoeing if the shoeing interval has not been too long .
I would be very cautious if I where you .
Feet like that probaly need a mri .

I agree.

I thought from the OP it was going to be a cheaper horse that was left far too long between shoeing and if that had been the case I would have gone along with the option of vetting again, with the full info as a buyer I would walk away, as a seller I would be getting investigations done before trying to resell or coming back to you if the findings were insignificant such as an abscess.
I have had horses fail and unless there was an obvious reason they have always been checked by my own vet before moving forward often with a new plan of action depending on what was found, it is a waste of everyone's time and money to not look into what may be going on, especially with a more expensive horse that has to pass a full vetting in order to sell for decent money.
 

little_critter

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So does the vet genuinely believe that a new set of shoes will make the horse sound? What is his/her thought process? And would you be happy owning a horse that is unsound as it nears shoeing time every 6 weeks? (If that is the cause)
 

Upthecreek

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Walk away. If you are paying £20,000 for a horse you do not want to take the risk of it going lame every time it’s ‘almost’ due to be shod. If and I would say it’s a big if, that is the cause of the lameness, you will most probably end up spending a fortune on specialist shoeing further down the line and even that is no guarantee of soundness.
 

Leandy

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If you are paying 20k for a horse, I assume you are looking for a competition horse to stand up to a bit of work. In which I case I would walk away. It may be relevant how old the horse is. If it is an older one, I would definitely walk away, there may well be something brewing. If it is a youngster I might give it the benefit of the doubt, afterall you presumably trust your vet or you wouldn't use him and he seems to be advising it may be worth revetting shortly. If you do want to consider revetting, I agree that I would not do it unless and until the horse has had the all clear from the vendor's vet. Put the ball back in the vendor's court and tell them to let you know when their vet has confirmed it is sound again, then consider it again then. In the meantime, keep looking. If you try just revetting on the off chance next week, you may well end up paying your vet and the horse is still not sound. Agree that if it is really caused by shoeing being due in a well cared for, regularly shod horse I would definitely be walking away.
 
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