Horse gone lame just before vetting

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HashRouge

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Hi all, some of you may remember that I had arranged to buy a horse that I had been riding for several months and had arranged to get him vetted once I got back from a month abroad. I got a text a week ago from his owner to say that he is lame 😢. Cue me cancelling the vetting. I went to see him on Friday once I got back and it is a mild lameness in his left fore, noticeable in walk when he turns and then more visible in trot. No obvious heat or swelling and looks to be in the hoof. I think is owner is hoping it is an abscess brewing so is playing a waiting game to see if he gets lamer before getting the farrier. But obviously far from ideal from a potential purchaser's point of view! So what would you do in my shoes? Walk away? Wait a bit longer? Insist he is seen by a vet if the owner doesn't want to lose the sale outright? It COULD be a slow brewing abscess (he is barefoot so you'd see the early discomfort, but then it could also be one of numerous other things. Help!!
 
Ditto farrier. See what he says and take things from there.

Horse could've done a multitude of things like hooned around in the field and injured itself, or it could be as others have suggested, an abscess brewing.

Whichever, if you like this horse and are committed to purchase if it passes the vetting, I don't think you can do anything else than wait and see what the farrier says, and then let the owner present it for vetting when appropriate.

Frustrating yes (not just for you for the owner too!), but nowt else you can do really.
 
This is a rather different situation form just answering an ad viewing a horse a couple of times and then having to cancel the vetting because th horse has gone lame.
In this situation, I would ask the owner to get the farrier out as soon as he can make it and then take his advice. Would you really cancel the sale because the horse has a possible abscess, or even has tweaked something minor?
 
as you know the horse and have been riding him for some time why not wait and see what it is before walking away. i would first get the farrier to check if it is an abscess or just bruising... he also may have tweaked something which will sort itself out in a couple of days...hope its nothing serious..
 
Have you got cold feet about the purchase?
You seem quite keen to walk away from the deal when it could be something minor and easily fixed?
No harm if you have, but I'd see what the farrier said first!
 
Ditto what others say, it could be anything. One of mine was lame on a foreleg in the same way you described with no heat but lame in walk, especially turning & slightly in trot - also elevated pulse but he always has in summer due to a pollen allergy. I thought it was laminitis. Vet & farrier were almost 100% it was lameness, hoof testers no reaction. A week of bute with a mixture of box rest & a very small paddock, he came sound. Could just be a tweak like that! I'd go for farrier opinion & hold out.
 
What are your instincts saying, H? Do you really want this horse or are you getting cold feet after a month away?

In your shoes, I’d find out if has been trimmed recently (one farrier locally always made a friend’s horse lame, obviously she changed farriers) then I might pay for a vet to come and look. The call out fee for my vet is £35. Or you could just wait and see.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
This is a rather different situation form just answering an ad viewing a horse a couple of times and then having to cancel the vetting because th horse has gone lame.
In this situation, I would ask the owner to get the farrier out as soon as he can make it and then take his advice. Would you really cancel the sale because the horse has a possible abscess, or even has tweaked something minor?
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No, it's more that I'm anxious it might be a different, underlying issue. My sister's gelding was lame at his first vetting with a similar mild lameness, was represented a few weeks later and passed with flying colours, but was diagnosed with navicular within the year. It was a similar situation as she had also been riding him beforehand, hence him being revetted as she was fond of him.

If it is an abscess that is fine, but he has been lame for a week now with no change and it's just making me nervous. I suppose what I'm mainly worried about is what if we never know the cause? Even if he passed the vet I would then be worrying that he had something underlying because of the situation with my sister's horse. I know realistically I just need to wait and see what happens - it's just hard when you're a worrier by nature!
 
Cinnamontoast said:
What are your instincts saying, H? Do you really want this horse or are you getting cold feet after a month away?

In your shoes, I’d find out if has been trimmed recently (one farrier locally always made a friend’s horse lame, obviously she changed farriers) then I might pay for a vet to come and look. The call out fee for my vet is £35. Or you could just wait and see.
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Not cold feet but a healthy dose of pessimism I think 😂

He definitely hasn't been trimmed recently. I think I will pop up tomorrow and see if there is any change and take it from there.
 
Then get x rays done. It would put your mind at rest like nothing else! Beau's recent plates were about £200 and it was more like a scan, the screen was in the stable so we could immediately see the arthritic progression.

I think I'd do similar for a 5 stage if I were buying, along with bloods.
 
I'd wait, presumably you haven't got any others lined up so seeing where you are in a couple of weeks with this one isn't causing any other ramifications.
 
it could be just bruising of the foot maybe he stepped on a stone or a rut in the field. we did have a lot of dry weather and then some rain so ground could be hard in places... fingers crossed for you but i think the farrier should be called , my loan horse was slightly lame and vet couldnt find out why, she was box rested for a week and then turned out as she seemed ok., the farrier came and found that she'd had an abscess but as she has thin soles it had drained on its own, not saying yours has thin soles but the vet found nothing so farrier first IMO
 
Personally I wouldn’t buy a horse that presented as lame, no matter the reason. Temporary lameness like standing on a stone at work, which resolves itself by the end of the day is fine. There are just too many variables to have any confidence in future issues
 
HashRouge said:
No, it's more that I'm anxious it might be a different, underlying issue. My sister's gelding was lame at his first vetting with a similar mild lameness, was represented a few weeks later and passed with flying colours, but was diagnosed with navicular within the year. It was a similar situation as she had also been riding him beforehand, hence him being revetted as she was fond of him.

If it is an abscess that is fine, but he has been lame for a week now with no change and it's just making me nervous. I suppose what I'm mainly worried about is what if we never know the cause? Even if he passed the vet I would then be worrying that he had something underlying because of the situation with my sister's horse. I know realistically I just need to wait and see what happens - it's just hard when you're a worrier by nature!
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Your sister's history is the clincher for me here. I'd see what the farrier says and if no abscess or obvious bruise is found and you aren't absolutely in love with the horse, I'd walk away. It could be two or more years before you stop worrying about that lameness episode and you'll be on tenterhooks watching for it with every step he takes during that time.

.
 
Ask for farrier to come out and see what he/she thinks.

We had one who had a slow brewing abcess for six week till it burst.

Is he in or out?
Has he been hot tubbed and poulticed?
 
Green Bean said:
Personally I wouldn’t buy a horse that presented as lame, no matter the reason. Temporary lameness like standing on a stone at work, which resolves itself by the end of the day is fine. There are just too many variables to have any confidence in future issues
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I don't think there is any suggestion that she is going to buy a lame horse?!
 
ycbm said:
Your sister's history is the clincher for me here. I'd see what the farrier says and if no abscess or obvious bruise is found and you aren't absolutely in love with the horse, I'd walk away. It could be two or more years before you stop worrying about that lameness episode and you'll be on tenterhooks watching for it with every step he takes during that time.

.
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Yes this is a very good description of how I feel. If he still looks the same tomorrow I'll talk to her about the farrier (I think this is her plan but she was waiting to see if he got lamer and an abscess became more obvious). I think he's utterly lovely but I already have 2 field ornaments (I look after my sister's as well as my elderly mare) and I don't want another. I'm jumping ahead I know - it may well be an abscess and the situation may be very different in a week. I'll keep you all updated anyway!
 
HashRouge said:
No, it's more that I'm anxious it might be a different, underlying issue. My sister's gelding was lame at his first vetting with a similar mild lameness, was represented a few weeks later and passed with flying colours, but was diagnosed with navicular within the year. It was a similar situation as she had also been riding him beforehand, hence him being revetted as she was fond of him.

If it is an abscess that is fine, but he has been lame for a week now with no change and it's just making me nervous. I suppose what I'm mainly worried about is what if we never know the cause? Even if he passed the vet I would then be worrying that he had something underlying because of the situation with my sister's horse. I know realistically I just need to wait and see what happens - it's just hard when you're a worrier by nature!
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I understand that you can see history repeating itself. IME 'Barefoot' horses can show very slight lameness occasionally and it just passes off without explanation - it was probably a bruise. My own cob has had a couple of episodes, this summer, the first was definitely an abscess, the farrier found the site at the 2nd trimming afterwards. The other I found was caused by an over-long sole sloughing off and making her uncomfortable when she put her foot down.
 
I will just share this experience with you. I went to try a horse in early July, absolutely loved the horse, agreed a price subject to vetting. Vet stopped at the lunge stage as horse was 2/10ths lame behind on a circle, I still really liked the horse so waited 10 days, re-ran stages 3-5, horse got through with improvement on lunge but 1//10th under saddle but vet would not even pass as sound for happy hacking. Horse was being sold on behalf of a 3rd party who took the horse back, another 2 weeks went by and owner sent me vids etc saying hrose was better- I still really liked the horse so got another 5 stage vetting on horse- it was stopped at stage 3, now back to being 2/10th lame on lunge. So I paid for two 5 stage vettings and did not purchase in the end because yeah it could have been nothing, but equally, it could very much be something and it hadn't actually resolved in the month between first and final vetting- and with those particular certificates, I could not even have got the horse insured to further investigate even if I had wanted to. I don't think that the sellers were in any way dishonest, they were surprised too and particularly the second time I think we all thought it would work out- I wonder a lot if I should just have taken the risk, but for many reasons I couldn't. I guess, be confident that the issue is temporary and has resolved so horse will get through the vetting because if it doesn't it opens up a whole world of issues

eta- just re-read your post properly, didn't click you've been riding the horse for a while already, sorry! That really does muddy the water because you know the horse. Has there been anything that has worried you in that time?
 
If you have known the Horse for a while and the Horse has been sound, then I would hold out and ask the owner when the farrier will be coming to have a look. If it is not an abscess and owner is unwilling to find out why Horse is lame, then I'd walk away as not worth the risk.
 
I'd wait and see. Horses are sentient beings and stuff happens. I doubt there is a horse alive who has not presented as lame at one time or other. It is just very bad luck to you and the seller that this horse is presenting as lame right now. Most issues resolve perfectly well and obviously if it does not resolve then you won't buy it. But if it passes the vet then that would be fine by me.
 
Seller says he now appears sound bt is going to lunge again tomorrow. I'm going down too so will then make a decision about vetting. I know realistically it was probably just a bruise - I'm just very cautious because of my sister's horse.
 
I too would be wary given the arthritic issues mine has. However, I trialed a horse which had passed a 5 stage the week before, my vet happend to be there as I was trialing him and immediately diagnosed an old check ligament problem. Then mine went lame after jumping the stream. Point being, a totally sound horse can suddenly be lame having passed a 5 stage. I know you know this, I'm rambling. I'll stop!
 
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