horse I have for sale keeps failing vettings - what to do?

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Hi

I have a horse up for sale who has always been sound. He has hunted and jumped and always fine.

He is up for sale, and has so far been vetted by 3 different vets for 3 different potential purchasers. He keeps "failing" on the left fore after flexion. All 3 vets have said it is very mild, and one said he thinks it's just he has flat feet, and this could be improved with different shoeing.

I dropped the price after the first "failed" vetting, and the other 2 potential purchasers have known he has "failed" the vet. They still get him vetted, and then pull out when this is picked up.

I have dropped the price again, but am having real trouble selling him.

What else can I do? I can't drop the price too far as he is fundamentally a good horse, and people will end up just suspicious and not viewing him if I have all these pics of him hunting and at dressage etc but then he has a really low price.

Any ideas?
 
If it were me, I'd be investigating the issue and seeing if horse can be treated in order to pass a vetting. Otherwise sounds to me like he's in work and unsound. If can't be resolved, then either sold with clear statement that he won't pass a 5 stage (if that's the case, I have seen this in ads before) or I'd be looking at other options than selling e.g. retirement/loan/light work...

Seems odd for your more recent buyers to get a vetting and then pass on the very thing you've told them, can't account for some folks eh.
 
But loads of horses are sound enough for normal levels of work and fail on flexion...so saying that he's unsound is incorrect. A lot of horses competing at high levels would probably fail a flexion test. Certainly no need to go as far as to say he needs to be retired!

I will definitely keep the potential buyers informed that he is unlikely to pass a vetting.
 
Bernster said:
If it were me, I'd be investigating the issue and seeing if horse can be treated in order to pass a vetting. Otherwise sounds to me like he's in work and unsound. If can't be resolved, then either sold with clear statement that he won't pass a 5 stage (if that's the case, I have seen this in ads before) or I'd be looking at other options than selling e.g. retirement/loan/light work...

Seems odd for your more recent buyers to get a vetting and then pass on the very thing you've told them, can't account for some folks eh.
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This, I always investigate any vet failures, sometimes they just get a once over before readvertising other times they have been properly investigated and treated before trying to sell, I have never had one fail, and I have sold a fair amount, on the same thing twice, it is not fair to the purchasers to keep letting them have a horse vetted when you know it will fail on the same thing.
I have told people if the horse has failed and why but would not waste my time or their money going to a vetting unless I thought the issue had been resolved, I do understand why they pulled out as they probably hoped it was just a one off the first time and that it had been something and nothing and got better in the meantime for them to go ahead and buy an unsound horse that has now been wrong for a while is a risk too far as it will not be an insurable issue once it has been flagged up by a vet.

You either get the foot looked at properly and be prepared to treat it, then you can sell for more money if it is a minor issue that is easily resolved or you drop the price really low, lie to the potential buyers if they ask whether he has ever been lame or been vetted recently, both questions many people ask, and hope they buy without a vetting but that is not honest and is why so many people are very cautious about buying cheap horses and rightly so the sellers are nearly always hiding something.
 
True but if the purchasers knew he had already failed a vetting on forelimb flexion it shouldn't have been a surprise for it to happen again, what seems more odd is if that is the only issue why they have then walked away.

If it's on flexion would it really be the foot?

At this point I would get him worked up by my own vet so you have more to tell the buyers.
 
ester said:
True but if the purchasers knew he had already failed a vetting on forelimb flexion it shouldn't have been a surprise for it to happen again, what seems more odd is if that is the only issue why they have then walked away.

If it's on flexion would it really be the foot?

At this point I would get him worked up by my own vet so you have more to tell the buyers.
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It depends on how they flex, if they want to target the foot is is fairly clear where the issue comes from as they can leave the knee and fetlock to an extent.

I agree that the purchasers knew what may happen but equally they may have specifically asked the vets to check for the front limb issue knowing they would walk if something showed up, it depends on the price and their approach to risk, I have had a vet fail pass next time but the purchasers were aware of what may be an issue and were likely to have passed this on to their vets as they did double check certain things.
Vettings are often a snapshot and something shows up never to be seen again but this time it has shown in 3 vettings which is consistent so suggests a problem really does exist.
 
Ditto getting your own vet involved to find out what is going on here.

However, what market are you aiming the horse at? If I wanted an all rounder, then I too would walk away as a purchaser. But if I only wanted a horse for hacking (for OH to ride 2/3 times a week), then it might be a different matter.
 
OP why not just get your vet out and ask them to have a look at the leg in question?

I suspect that if the horse is sound to the eye and looks nice, the potential buyers may have decided to go for re-vetting in the hope that he failed previously because of something minor that has since resolved itself.
 
I would pay for X-rays to show if there are changes going on. At least you will clearly know what you are dealing with and can share this with a potential buyer.
 
Bit of investigation needed here by you I think rather than just keeping dropping the price. Get your own vet check maybe even with their own remedial farrier and see what can be done. I once had a horse "fail" vetting because of suspected cataracts, two days later I had her in leahurst being investigated, all turned out ok and I had the vet report from there to prove it in case it came up again. My insurance covered it too.
 
To be honest, if I was buying something as an all rounder, I too would walk away.

Horses that compete at high level a lot of the time have to have tests by the vet to be deemed as healthy to compete. Failing on the flexion test could well be something as little as in appropriate shoeing however, it could also be something under lying.

I would be investigating the issue and getting it resolved. He may well be sound enough for you but by the sounds of it, this horse isn't cheap so I definitely would not be buying a horse that has failed a vetting. Horses are expensive so the risk in this horse potentially having issues in the future would put me off.
 
If you're selling for financial reasons and can't afford to have the leg investigated or continue keeping him, you could sell from the field. You'd get less money but no hassle of a vetting or multiple visits to try him etc. If you let people ride him so they can see/feel he's sound I'm sure he'll sell quickly.
 
My goodness a lot of assumptions get made very quickly!

He is on sales livery, so is being ridden etc, and of course the potential buyers are riding him/jumping him etc, so can feel he is sound.

I am not selling for financial reasons.

I don't know where some people got the impression he is up for a lot of money - he's up for less than 3.5k.

He is being advertised as a riding club allrounder type. Which he is more than capable of doing.
 
[deleted user] said:
My goodness a lot of assumptions get made very quickly!

He is on sales livery, so is being ridden etc, and of course the potential buyers are riding him/jumping him etc, so can feel he is sound.

I am not selling for financial reasons.

I don't know where some people got the impression he is up for a lot of money - he's up for less than 3.5k.

He is being advertised as a riding club allrounder type. Which he is more than capable of doing.
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3.5 K is a lot of money and I would expect a horse to pass a vetting if I was to part with this amount of money. an expensive horse in my area is £1500+. I sold my TB for this amount with a full vetting passed regardless of whether he rode well or not.

I would get this looked into so the horses care is put first as well as the potential new owners being fully aware of what they are taking on.
 
I would get it investigated by a specialist vet such as Sue Dyson at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket who is regarded in a leading authority in lameness.
 
Buddy'sMum said:
Why do you keep reducing the sale price, rather than investigating the problem?
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Because I think I had him up for too much to start with, and I need to sell him ASAP as I have a new horse that is more suited to me and he is on sales livery. So I want him moved on as soon as I can.

Also, the first vetting I kind of thought was a one off. He had back, shoes etc done, and then the second and third vettings happened in the same week.

I don't think investigating the issue will help. I would just spend a fortune on trying to diagnose an issue on a horse I'm not keeping. And then what? Either it's something that needs treating, which will cost more money and will render him unsaleable, or it's something untreatable, which would render him unsaleable.

He is only showing lame after flexion, and it's a very, very mild lameness, so I don't think warrants xrays etc. Flexion tests are notoriously odd anyway.
 
OWLIE185 said:
I would get it investigated by a specialist vet such as Sue Dyson at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket who is regarded in a leading authority in lameness.
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Don't make me laugh! You would really go to all the expense and trouble of taking a horse you are selling for not a huge amount of money all the way to Newmarket?!
 
[deleted user] said:
Because I think I had him up for too much to start with, and I need to sell him ASAP as I have a new horse that is more suited to me and he is on sales livery. So I want him moved on as soon as I can.

Also, the first vetting I kind of thought was a one off. He had back, shoes etc done, and then the second and third vettings happened in the same week.

I don't think investigating the issue will help. I would just spend a fortune on trying to diagnose an issue on a horse I'm not keeping. And then what? Either it's something that needs treating, which will cost more money and will render him unsaleable, or it's something untreatable, which would render him unsaleable.

He is only showing lame after flexion, and it's a very, very mild lameness, so I don't think warrants xrays etc. Flexion tests are notoriously odd anyway.
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Well if that's your attitude then just keep going as you are and hope he will on the day pass a vetting at some point or someone comes along that is happy to accept the flextion test. I agree flextions are a funny thing sometimes but to now have been failed by 3 different vets on 3 different occasions for the same thing it's not just an on the day thing. Horses don't always go the way we planned and sometimes we have to rethink our plans, as an owner it is our responsibility after all to do the best by them.

I do agree spending huge amounts that's more than the horse might not be most sensible but my initial response was get a good vet and farrier out and see what can be done. If horse is insured all the better. Rather than just reducing the price.
 
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[deleted user] said:
I don't think investigating the issue will help. I would just spend a fortune on trying to diagnose an issue on a horse I'm not keeping. And then what? Either it's something that needs treating, which will cost more money and will render him unsaleable, or it's something untreatable, which would render him unsaleable.
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But by not investigating the problem, you are passing on the uncertainty to a new owner and why should they want to take the risk either? Ultimately the horse is still your responsibility, whether you have a new one now or not. It could be a reasonably simple correction that a farrier could help with. That would be my first port of call, along with a phone call to my vet and then probably bring him home while I decided what next step to take.

Rotten situation but I hope it works out for you all.
 
I can understand it from both POV’s. I understand you are keen for him to go, if you’ve already bought another horse – but you can’t blame buyers for backing out from a horse that has failed 3 vetting's with an unidentified issue that hasn't been investigated and the future impact on that horse is unknown.
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How old is the horse? You say he’s a good all-rounder/RC horse, but does he have any quirks/difficult to ride or is he more of a school master type that could bring on a rider if they were wanting to move up from hacking and entry level shows but still wanted a nice, safe, sane horse to look after them?

If I was looking, then I may be more inclined to take a punt on an older school master type horse that has a pre-existing condition that has been identified and investigated and can be managed going forwards, if it is priced accordingly. I’d be less inclined to take such a risk in a 7 year old or a horse that was difficult and would make it make it tricky to re-home in the future. I’m not necessarily saying yours is tricky, but hypothetically.

If it was me, I’d take him off sales livery for now, whilst you investigate the problem. Then when the problem has been resolved, look to put him back on sales livery if he can still be sold as a RC type or advertise accordingly if he could no longer manage a reasonable level of work.
 
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