I have some vetting questions

[Anon1]

Posting from a new account given the topic, don‘t know if the seller is a hho user or reader.

I have some vetting related questions and am interested in your thoughts/experience. I realise that no one, other than a vet, can give specific vet advice, so I’m not expecting that. I just have some stuff to share/get off my chest:

• If a horse fails a 5 stage on something that could be fixed/temporary, would you ask seller to remedy it and re vet?
• If shoeing appears to be the issue, would you expect seller to get and pay for x rays for their farrier, to make sure the hooves are balanced properly?
• Is it odd/how concerned would you be, if the only issue is subtle on the trot up when all other elements of the vetting are a pass? Inc flexions and trot on a hard circle.

Adult horse, in regular work, very good in all other respects. Not cheap! Needs to pass a 5 stage for insurance purposes.

TIA

 

[AmyMay]

If not cheap (but are any of them these days?) then yes to the first two points.

As for your final point - it’s exactly what you’re paying the vet to pick up, so not odd or concerning at all.

 

[AdorableAlice]

An unbalanced foot/feet can lead to long term and career shortening problems. I speak from bitter experience.

I vetted a horse twice a few years ago, allowing the owner to rectify hind end lameness. It failed again.

Trust your vet, they know what you want the horse for and will advise accordingly. Have you got the vet history for the horse ?

 

[ihatework]

Point 1 - yes I would ask (they can always say no)
Point 2 - I would hope they would, but it’s not something I’d specifically expect them to do as a condition of sale. If they didn’t I’d be xraying myself before purchase if going ahead.
3. Not odd. Pretty common. How did the horse trot up on a softer surface?

Sounds like one of those really annoying ones where it could be something, could be nothing. If going ahead I’d want to try and get a clean vetting and insure LOU for the first year, just in case

 

[ycbm]

• If a horse fails a 5 stage on something that could be fixed/temporary, would you ask seller to remedy it and re vet?

Yes.

• If shoeing appears to be the issue, would you expect seller to get and pay for x rays for their farrier, to make sure the hooves are balanced properly?

No, if the farrier re-shoes and the horse is sound I would expect to pay for x rays myself for peace of mind, not the seller.

• Is it odd/how concerned would you be, if the only issue is subtle on the trot up when all other elements of the vetting are a pass? Inc flexions and trot on a hard circle.

it would worry me a lot if it was subtle. I would be concerned about where it was coming from and why it could be seen, but not easily, and how difficult it might be to find and fix if it turns out to be an issue. It sounds really odd, for it not to show on flexions or the hard circle.

 

[w1bbler]

Be aware you would need to declare the failed vetting to insurance anyway & they may then give exclusions / up the premium.

 

[Anon1]

Thank you all. To answer your questions,

- recent vet history, yes, nothing major in the last few years but did have an abscess in that hoof a few months back.
- passed everything else inc the lunge work on hard and soft. Only showed in the trot up on a straight line. Which is what has puzzled me a bit as to why it didn’t show in the lunge or ridden work.
- I wasn’t planning on getting X-rays for the vetting, for the age and work I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t squeaky clean (but still capable of doing the work).

It is a dilemma now though!

 

[Michen]

For what it’s worth I have a horse who had an old abscess that developed into seedy toe. It then had to be resected. Even when the hole was mostly grown out he was still slightly lame, even had it MRI’d.

They described it as a “laminae defect”.

So not inconceivable that if the abscess was bad enough and the hole big enough or even just in the wrong place that the horse is still not quite right.

 

[Michen]

Op this is how small the defect was by that point and horse still lame with it. So worth a consideration...

 

[Anon1]

Thank you for that, Michen. That makes me feel like, if that is the cause, that it’s not a major long-term concern (that’s assuming the horse passes after being re-shod), although I realise that it could take a while to recover completely, if it is an ongoing issue.

 

[Michen]

No problem. I guess it would just be hard to know if it is or not.

Is it definitely a hoof problem? Would the owner fund a block to confirm?

 

[Anon1]

Unclear, although it seems like a possible explanation I think, knowing that the horse had an issue in that hoof earlier. My vet said it probably was too subtle to block.