Horse failed vetting

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sam72431

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My horse was vetted the other day for a potential new owner. Basically he passes all flexion tests etc and even lunged on the hard sound despite being a big boy, the only thing he 'failed' on is that on one leg is very slightly (I say slightly as he is isn't even truly) pigeon toed, the buyers have decided to not have him I respect there decision as the vet I think kind of gave them the impression that it could be a real problem etc as vets so often do! The buyers only wanted him as a general all rounder and I think the vet was viewing him as a potential olympic candidate! Anyway I don't really know what to do now as he will keep failing vetting etc I'm already selling him for a very low price and my farrier said that it's so slight and can be so easily corrected that I shouldn't drop the price any more. My question is would you of bought/not bought bearing in mine he passed everything else? Thanks
 
Could u not advertise that he is slightly pigeon toed and that it is fixable by a good farrier and doesn't effect riding, showing or competing! My friends last horse was pigeon toed and she had no problems with him.
 
If your farrier can correct it to a degree then why don't you have him do this (or why hasn't he done it previously?). It wouldn't actually put me off to be honest if was only slight and if I only wanted for RC type activities. I had a pony with quite obvious pigeon-toed conformation and vet put that on the cert at the time (this was a long time ago) but it didn't put us off as he was what we wanted at the time.

I am sure there will be other buyers out there for yours and I would maybe point out the 'fault' to them to start with when they come and see him, let them then decide if there are bothered before they get another vet out. That would be what I'd do anyway.
 
If thats all that is wrong with him there is no reason he will not pass, he has not been failed anyway, did the purchasers not see the pigeon toe when they tried him if not they probably havent a clue what it means and the vet was being ultra picky.

I would buy, but that would be my decision as it would be noticed before being vetted, no horse is perfect, a slight toe in is better than toe out.

Point it out to the next viewers when they come, say he has passed full vetting but that inexperienced people were put off, if the next people are more knowledgeable it should not put them off, especially if all other boxes are ticked and the price is fair, I would not drop the price as you now know he is technically sound and can pass a vetting.
 
My haflinger is ever so slightly pigeon toed & I bought him like it. I didn't have him vetted, but it has never been a problem & not many people notice it unless I point it out to them.

Here is a head on picture of him, sorry not the best.

169.jpg
 
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Why has your farrier not fixed it previously, if its so easy?

Explain to people when they ring up, most people wouldn't give two hoots.
 
Can't believe it failed for being slightly pigeon toed! How ridiculous. All horses have slight conformation defects so surely all horses should fail! I would be more concerned that the blacksmith said he could sort it out as if the horse has its feet balanced properly and it is ever so slightly pigeon toed then it should stay that way and not be unbalanced just to straighten appearance of hoof. In my opinion anyway. I am sure that another vet would just mention it on vetting but not fail for it. Good luck selling and I wouldn't reduce price further if you think you are selling at a good price already.
 
It is best left, any attempts to correct could have implications on the horses soundness long term especially in a big horse, the toe clip off set could make it look better to an untrained eye but any correction will not get through an experienced vet.
 
What a shame - I had a similar thing happen to me some years ago - the horse I was selling failed the vet - I then re advertised at a very low price and the new buyer had an even more stringent test done Xrays and everything - horse flew through the vetting, eventually went to UK and went on to be a 2* eventer.

Don't drop your price a slight pigeon toe means nothing - I wouldn't even mention it - unless they ask. If vetted again hope that they get a different vet.

I once took a vet to task for his inappropriate comments to a prospective buyer - he had told the women that the horse was herd bound, and badly behaved. She was a rising 2yr old, hauled out of her paddock and expected to co-operate for the vet, what the hell did he expect from a baby. The lady fortunately listened to my response, bought the horse and loves her dearly - she has now owned her for two years. When shipped to Norfolk Island the shipping company said she was the best behaved they had had on the boat trip.
 
i had an ex racer who was pigeon toed, it was bad enough to be noticed by a novice, who said her feet look odd.....they turn in! anyway she raced barefoot and never had any problems from being pigeon toed.

sounds like the vet was being extra cautious and/or the buyers were beginners/new horse owners.
 
My friend's horse has quite a bad fetlock\hoof twist from being one of a twin and not having enough room in the womb (one of them wasn't spotted on the scan - maiden mare too!) but she is very successful in dressage! I'd say it's much worse than just a pigeon toe yet she isn't affected by it at all.

Reword your ad adding info about the slight pigeon toe and see what happens. After all my friend bought her mare knowing her faults and hasn't looked back!
 
If your farrier thinks it is so easy to fix, why hasn't he done so?

I bought a pigeon-toed 4 yr old, my then (excellent, very experienced remedial) farrier told me that remedial work should have been done before the mare stopped growing. She lived to be 24 but did get arthritis in her later years.
TBH, it wouldn't put me off your horse for the purpose the potential buyers wanted. So many far more serious things can wrong and all horses have minor 'problems'.
 
To be fair to the vet - they are paid by the buyer to point any problems and if there were any problems that hadn't been pointed out then its the vet who gets it!

However it wouldn't put me off - depending on what the horse is to be used for would it cause a problem for them in the future? If its fit for purpose then no problem.

Our pony has COPD and did when we bought him however he's just a lead rein pony and is still fit for what we wanted him for!

Don't worry the right buyer is out there x
 
what a shame, i would buy if i was looking for a general allrounder/riding club type horse...i had a horse who was slightly pigeorn toed and did lots of riding club comps and never had any problems....lost her at age 24 due to an accident in the field...so not related to pigeon toes at all.
 
Not sure what you mean by correcting if you mean hide it by offsetting the toe clip yes that can be done for sale in fact I viewed a horse to buy when it trotted up I thought something odd there I used my dressage whip to run down the leg and then all was clear.
I bought a slightly pidgeon toed horse ( one leg only )a year and a half ago he was not expensive and it is very very slight.
He passed a five stage vetting but last summer when lame on that leg the vet says it is the stress from the pidgeon toe after sixteen weeks box rest we did get him sound and back to work and so far we are ok.
But as to correcting it I am not this is possible we are very careful to keep the outside of the affected foot shod as wide as we can.
Many years ago I bought a three year old TB who had two pidgeon toes she was put down at six.
So I am not surprised the vet failed your horse I only bought the one I have now as it was practically given away and it was a correctly trained lovely looking horse who had a great deal of time spent on producing him and I could afford it to go wrong.
Vets are very expensive now and I am not surprised your buyer walked away sorry this not what you want to hear and on the other side I have seen horses with this fault having long careers but my experiance has not been great.
 
Some years ago I was selling a pony and the vet admitted to me that she would probably not pass any pony for her client as the woman would happily sue the vet as soon as something went wrong with it!
 
be positive said:
If thats all that is wrong with him there is no reason he will not pass, he has not been failed anyway, did the purchasers not see the pigeon toe when they tried him if not they probably havent a clue what it means and the vet was being ultra picky.

I would buy, but that would be my decision as it would be noticed before being vetted, no horse is perfect, a slight toe in is better than toe out.

Point it out to the next viewers when they come, say he has passed full vetting but that inexperienced people were put off, if the next people are more knowledgeable it should not put them off, especially if all other boxes are ticked and the price is fair, I would not drop the price as you now know he is technically sound and can pass a vetting.
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Yes the horse did fail OP says that in the original post .its not ultra picky for a vet to take the opion that this type of defect may be detrimental to long term soundness.
The purchaser would not get that leg insured if they purchased so they would have to be able to afford to carry that risk themselves and the bills for that sort of thing quickly add up.
 
be positive said:
It is best left, any attempts to correct could have implications on the horses soundness long term especially in a big horse, the toe clip off set could make it look better to an untrained eye but any correction will not get through an experienced vet.
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^^^^this
I would not bother pointing out such faults to potential buyers [unless they say the want a show pony], they need to be told the good points! The main thing is to advertise the pony as a good all rounder for a happy hacker or whatever, if you try to sell it as HOYS potential, then that is misleading.
Certainly do not mention this vetting: any vet could for example point out that grey horses are more prone to melanomas, and this might put people off buying a grey horse, in your case, the vet might have said that the horse has a slight imperfection of the feet, which in his opinion would not affect the soundness of the animal, but the fact he raised the issue has been enough to put the buyer off, explain to them that a show standard pony would not be sold at the price they are willing to pay.
Potential buyers can be a pain, I have had people [they tell me they have been to Olympia....experienced??] saying they want my boy to show, but it is stupid, he is not a native pony, so there are few classes he can enter, and he has a slight turn in one foot, also is weak behind, but I am not selling him as a show pony, just as an RC potential, all round good guy. He does look striking, but is never going to win a show class.
 
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Chalk it down to experience - this vet and this potential owner were very cautious, and weren't for you...

I wouldn't be putting it in ads or mentioning it on the phone unless it was ridiculous! I've had two in the past - one grew out of it as his legs and balance got stronger, and the other wasn't affected by it at all.

If the horse is reasonable and the price it, it will sell at some point..
 
Our WB has a slight pigeon toe and he dishes on it but the Vet felt he was perfectly capable of the usual riding club stuff.He does have bar shoes and has had steroid injections for coffin joint problems unrelated to the toes.The Vet passed him so i wonder about the Vet opinion of your boy.The shoeing has helped rebalance our boys feet and the dish is less pronounced,so there is plenty of hope your horse could pass a vetting with a different Vet.
 
Thanks everyone, sorry I haven't replied sooner I've been at work all day :( the reason I haven't had it corrected is because he is five and through a serious of unfortunate events (mainly me being made redundant last summer, having to take a lower paid job and therefore having to take a second evening/weekend) he has never been in full work and as he has utterly amazing feet I have never seen the need to have him shod, this is why he is being sold as I simply don't have the time for him and as I have two he is the more saleable once he is gone I will have time for my mare and also money from sale will clear debt. He is a big boy 17.2 so I haven't had much interest unfortunately he has so much potential mainly for dressage but he has been loose schooled and pops over 3ft like it's a trotting pole, it's so annoying as I've had him since he was 16 months never wanted to part with him I know his breeder well and he has honestly never had any lameness problems which is the frustrating thing, please before everyone says I should break him in before trying to sell him I work full time as well as every evening so to say I have no time is an understatement, I'm just feeling a bit deflated as now I have made the decision I just want him gone and I'm worried I won't be able to sell him and I just feel like he is utterly wasted with me
 
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