Horse hunting is for the birds

ycbm

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Wish me luck with second viewing tomorrow. When he wasn't being fussy about contact, he felt like a sofa with legs. I feel I can sort out the contact faff, and I really, really want a sofa with legs.


Good luck today. A note of caution If you decide to buy him, it would be wise to get the mouth thoroughly vetted, some tooth issues are very expensive to sort! Some (most?) vets barely look in the mouth, you want one who gets a gag on and takes a deep look with a torch and has a feel too.
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Tiddlypom

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Good luck today. A note of caution If you decide to buy him, it would be wise to get the mouth thoroughly vetted, some tooth issues are very expensive to sort! Some (most?) vets barely look in the mouth, you want one who gets a gag on and takes a deep look with a torch and has a feel too.
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This.

I had a horse 5 stage vetted by a top referral practice, and as the vendor had very honestly told me that the horse had a missing tooth plus another that had had to be wired back in place, I wanted to be sure that all was good.

I was very surprised to be told that they never check the back teeth at a vetting ?. I should have pushed for this to be done nonetheless as an extra, as it turned out after purchase that the horse's back teeth were indeed in a right old state. Her upper jaw was locked by overgrown hooks. Luckily I have a very good EDT who has managed to restore her mouth to a comfortable state, but I wish that I'd known about it from the start. It might well not have ended as well as it did.
 

paddy555

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This.

I had a horse 5 stage vetted by a top referral practice, and as the vendor had very honestly told me that the horse had a missing tooth plus another that had had to be wired back in place, I wanted to be sure that all was good.

I was very surprised to be told that they never check the back teeth at a vetting ?. I should have pushed for this to be done nonetheless as an extra, as it turned out after purchase that the horse's back teeth were indeed in a right old state. Her upper jaw was locked by overgrown hooks. Luckily I have a very good EDT who has managed to restore her mouth to a comfortable state, but I wish that I'd known about it from the start. It might well not have ended as well as it did.

I hadn't really thought about it, sort of assumed they did check the teeth however, when you think about it, for some horses to get a gag on and really get into the back of the mouth you may had to sedate them and the seller may not be too keen. Secondly the vet may not be a horse dentist. I have one vet (who I trust completely) who could put a gag on one of mine, got into the mouth and told me there was a problem but didn't have the same knowledge as his colleague who is a trained horse dentist as well as a vet.That one came out, had to sedate and gave me a whole list of problems plus info as to what could be fixed and how.
 

Caol Ila

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Postponed due to thunderstorms. Tomorrow is even worse, so it’ll be Tuesday. Blah. Weather is a pain.

If I can, i would ideally vet him with my own vet who’s great at teeth stuff. YCBM is totally spot on. A more thorough than standard check of his mouth will be in order in case his mouthiness is something expensive and not just a training issue.
 

Red-1

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I went to view one with contact issues once, a fabulous horse, but something about the contact issues made me hold back.

The horse was lovely and sold anyway, did a few events that autumn, I wondered if I had made an error... but I hadn't been comfortable, you know, the nagging sense you get, uncomfortable. Even if a vet had said it was all OK, I would still have felt the creeping, cold feeling.

Anyway, in spring the horse turned out to be a head shaker.

So, I was glad I had listened to my 'gut' for want of a better word, but I don't feel it in my gut, if you see what I mean. I always follow my gut. Difficult to explain to an owner why you aren't buying a horse, I usually just blame myself, make myself look a twit, but the gut feeling is usually right.

Conversely, my first eventer bucked terribly when I tried and was obviously visibly 'off' when vetted. But my gut said all was OK. So, I bought and... it was all OK, once the feet were re-balanced.

What I am (longwindedly) trying to say is, trust your gut, if you don't feel comfortable (although I don't advocate buying bucking, lame horses as a general rule :p).

It is so frustrating, I have looked at maybe 4 horses this time, 2 of them were sound (I was so amazed that I did a thread on them to help other people, but one is still for sale, despite passing a vetting at Oakham! - he has gone up in price though), one was lame enough that I actually said something, the 4th was the gut feeling telling me that, although he may pass a vet, he wasn't right or comfortable. I just made polite excuses about that one.

I am also now isolating, had 2 viewings booked (which I have had to cancel) plus seen a couple more that I would have jumped straight in the car to see, but am stuck at home! Luckily, I have Rigsby to keep me occupied, so I'm not in a rush.
 
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Caol Ila

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Sorry, for the lack of updates. I love him. We tried him in a Myler bit the second time round, and he was 100% better with the contact. He led, he followed, at walk, trot, and canter, and he wasn't nuts or difficult no matter where he was. He went over some scary bridges, through a Co-op carpark (if you have to do your shopping on him), along a busy road and then a busy trail.

He's gotta pass a vet, and I will be super bummed if he doesn't. So I'm really nervous. But he's very low mileage. You never know, though, because horses.

I get what you mean, Red. One of the others I saw just had that NQR feeling about it. Hard to explain that to the owner, isn't it?
 

ycbm

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How did I miss this? So pleased for you CI, he looks like he will be fantastic fun.
 

Wishfilly

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I hope you can have some happy, uncomplicated fun together! You deserve something easy!

I love his colouring, and he looks lovely!
 
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