I STILL want the horse that failed the vet. Bad idea??

catembi

catembi

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The horse I've been hankering after failed a 5 stage on Wed cos he had an outward deviation of the hind limb below the fetlock with some slight swelling, although he was 100% sound on the strictest flexion tests. Also slight bog type spavins on both hocks. He is 5 rising 6 & the vet said that the bog spavins can just be cos he's done a lot of growing.

He is very well bred for jumping, he has a fab temperament, I think his flatwork's going to be fantastic, huge jump, I felt safe on him... But he's 17.2, which will automatically put a strain on his joints & I was planning on jumping up to Foxhunters.

But Cat had a medio lateral imbalance of one of his front feet & he passed a 5 stage & was always sound up to age 11 on lots of jumping. And one of my friends said that not many horses pass a 5 stage anyway.

Totally
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On the one hand, I REALLY want this horse (and can't be bothered traipsing round the country every w'end looking at lunatics / unsound / not as described). On the other, after what happened with Cat, I don't want another horse where the vet's in constant attendance...

Let's have some strong opinions, please... Should I (i) forget about this horse & move on or (ii) go for it & hope for the best or (iii) try to neg with the owner for discount or legal arrangemt whereby he buys him back if he goes lame for that reason within eg 6 months or a year? Or (iv) any other ideas. Eg find a saner hobby...
 
I would happily buy a horse who fails a vet test, especially if it is perfect in every other aspect, fair price. Look at Green Monkey - $16M horse who will never race - with horses you never know. You can have a perfect one who goes lame for no reason, you can have one that should be lame but stays sound as a pound till it is 135 years old.
 
If the price is right it would not put me off...

HOWEVER...


You have lost a horse you loved, what if you fall in love with this one and this known fact then lets it down? Course, anything can happen with horses, my 4 year old dropped dead in the field for no apparent reason
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[/ QUOTE ] "On the other, after what happened with Cat, I don't want another horse where the vet's in constant attendance..."



You have answered your own question.......
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Dont put yourself through something similar if you dont have to. There are plenty of horses waiting for you
 
Follow your heart and go and get your horse. As someone mentioned any horse could drop dead overnight or have a serious accident.
 
Anything can happen with horses! This might not effect him at all and he could be fine, something else could happen, this deviation could effect him all his lfe.... endless possibilities.

If you really want him and the owner will knock money off then i'd think seriously about buying him.
 
i'd probably get him. could have x-rays done? - would they help clear any problems up. Did you notice problems with slight unstraightness and swelling at viewing?

Slight bod spavins wouldn't worry me - Our 3yo has a swollen hock - has had it x-rayed and vet cannot see any reason why he wouldn't pass vetting and shouldn't stay sound!
 
As others have pointed out, the unfortunate truth with horses is that you can buy one which passes the strictest of vettings, has clean x rays and it could go out and break a leg tomorrow.

For me, a vetting is there to point out any underlying issues, it doesnt necessarily mean that I would rule the horse out should it fail.

Have a chat with your vet... have a chat with the sellers perhaps (im assuming they will consider a drop in the price due to the failed vetting) and go from there. A vetting can be an indication of future problems, equally ive known a few horses fail that have then never had a days lameness :|
 
If he can do the job you want him to, you feel he is the one for you, and the price is right, go for it!

Any horse can get kicked or be injured at any time, if he is the one, go get him.
 
I don't think that you can rely of a legal agreement because they are never worht the paper they are written on (especially with horses)!

I would push for a good discount on the purchase price.

You have got to accept that the money that you spend on this horse may go straight down the drain once purchased, if the probelm gets worse or has a significant effect.

However, if you are show jumping, this probably isn't going to be such a big issue as it would be with a dressage horse.

How long has he been schooled /jumped / worked for to date?

What has the vet said? Has he said on the vetting whether or not the horse would be suitable for the purpose you are buying him for and whether the problem is likely to get worse etc?

Another point that you need to consider is that any insurance compnay will exclude all the points rasied on the vetting. Therefore, you will be liable for all vet bills relating to these issues.

I think that it depends of the purchase price, how much money you have to spend on horses (and a replacement if need be) and what you would do if the worst happens.

I hope that you don't think that I am being pessimistic, but it always seems the way with horses.
 
......What has the vet said? Has he said on the vetting whether or not the horse would be suitable for the purpose you are buying him for and whether the problem is likely to get worse etc?


This would be the definitive answer to your question about whther to go ahead and buy.

You say he has failed the vetting....in that case the vet has said he is not suitable for the purpose???
 
As everyone says enough can go wrong with horses, so why more than double the risk on buying one that has failed the vetting, why else did you have the vetting done

A deviation of a hind limb, I would take this as a VERY serious problem, likely to cause unsoundness in the future.

There are plenty of lovely horses out there that do not have such problems
 
I'd pass; you'd end up with long list of insurance exclusions (you'd have to declare the results of any vetting) and he's such a big horse - the joint problems could already be setting up weaknesses in his back / pelvis etc which could lead to problems in the future. There are horses out there which will pass the vetting, sure they could go lame in future but at least you are starting with a fairly clean sheet.

Had same thing happen to me - a horse I loved, which ticked all the boxes, had fab temperament, was failed by the vet despite passing a normal 5 stage vetting - vet recommended having X rays as an additional test (even though I only wanted to do up to PN eventing) and they showed possible navicular changes. Was gutted but had to go with vet's recommendation - that was why I had the vetting! Spent a long time wondering if I should have said no to the x rays after all.
 
I can totally sympathise...the horse we had vetted tody failed as well. I'm absolutely gutted. Even though she wasn't what we were looking for she felt exactly right. Ours was a less serious problem - incorrect shoeing had led to a foot imbalance and vet spoke to owner, explained that with correct choeing there's no reason why she shouldn't pass in a month or so. We're going to hang on, but in the meantime go and try some other 4 year olds (which is what she is) just to make sure that we're doing the right thing in waiting - at least we have some hope. If I were you I would walk away from this one as it a conformational defect which can't be corrected and is definitiely going to be setting up probs for the future. What a cr*p day
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He is only in light work at the mo but hunted quite a lot over winter with a male rider who's significantly heavier than I am. I think he might even have whipped in.

I didn't notice any deviation when I went to see him, altho it was a truly awful, wet, windy overcast day. I did delib walk behind him so I could watch his hind legs as he walked away from me to check for funny action / brushing etc & I really can't say I noticed anything amiss.

No I don't think you're being pessimistic - you're being realistic. Other horses that I've had - one had a spavin in the 'wrong' place so it couldn't fuse, one had a football sized tumour on her ovary & pedal ostitis, one turned into a lunatic killer horse due to extreme headshaking. One was just a little s***.

You can do everything right & it can still go wrong.

The biggest issue with this horse is the distance...it's 200 miles away ie 3 1/2 hours by car, so I can't pop up to have another look or get my usual vet who's v experienced to have a look.

If anyone wants a nose at some pics & a video of him, PM me & I'll send you the horsemart link. I've posted it before but that was when I was going to buy the horse. Don't think I should do so again now in case it stops the owner selling him.
 
If they will sell him at a significant discount then I'd take the risk but he'd have to be pretty cheap. If they won't knock the price down then either get him revetted by a different vet (second opinion is always useful) or walk away.
 
I agree GT the path before us is an uncertain one as we haven't trodden it. If the horse is right then it is right; others may criticise your decision but they are not you, go with your instincts - use the force!!!
 
Ive said it to others who have posted, if you havent already brought it, there is a niggle SOMEWHERE which means you know it isnt for you. There are hundreds of smaller horses which havent got a ? mark over them, and that will be just right....
 
My main concern would be if I ever wanted to sell it. If he's failed the vet at that age it isn't going to get any better. However if you have no intention of ever selling him then that wouldn't matter. If you hadn't had him vetted you wouldn't know.
 
To be honest i dont think i would buy it. My last horse failed a vetting and the vet advised me not to buy him incase i ever wanted to sell him. well at the time i never though i would but now that my riding has improved id love to buy something more tallented but i doubt id be able to sell him for anywhere near the money i paid for him so am stuck with him. I am pleased i bought him and he is a wonderful horse and ive had no problems with the things he failed the vetting on but he will never be more than a happy hacker / low level riding club horse. If i was you id hold out to find that one in a million that ticks every box i really wish i hadn't let me heart rule my head!
 
I bought mine when she failed the vetting and i wouldnt swap her for anything, shes still going strong despite what they said about her at first
 
If you do decide to go ahead, can I suggest that you pay no more than £5000 (insurrance companies require Vetting Certificates over tha price) and, you , shall we say - forget that you had a vetting when you set up insurance. Just let it slip your mind
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I watched the video of this horse and I thought that altough he had a baby jump, it looks like he has great potential. He doesn`t seem to be bothered by anything, and if you decide to go ahead, then my advice is like a few of the others and ask for a discount. They will take it into consideration because of the findings and this will come up each time the horse is vetted. You have to explain to them that although you like him, you are worried about the findings, and ask them how much they are willing to accept for him now. They may surprise you and come back with a much cheaper price, so let them give you a price, not you offer them one. This has happened a few times with friends and its a real eye opener to the seller. They reaslise that they have to drop the price. If they don`t , then walk away. They might even get back to you. Good luck with whatever you decide, but only you can decide.
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Oh no S_V. I was just going to pm you and ask how the vetting had gone.

How disappointing for you and Catembi. However, I may be able to offer some comfort for you S_V. When I had Patches tripping investigated at the vets last year, she was 5/10ths lame on a circle! I was beside myself to see her hobbling and nodding. Vet suspected Navicular....I stole myself not to cry (made a few jokes) during the x-rays. Turns out her feet were terribly out of balance too, even though they didn't look like they were. Farrier altered his shoeing as per the x-rays and it was miraculous. She never tripped once after that and is now 100% in front when trotted on a circle, which is a miracle given the problems with her knee last year!

I have a feeling your young lady will come good for you.
 
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