Kids pony failed 2 stage- WWYD?

[Melody Grey]

Advice needed!

We found a lovely pony suitable for lead rein and first ridden for my 5 year old son, but unfortunately has failed a 2 stage vetting on a tendon issue (slightly hardened tendon sheath and slight filling on one off side hind I think the vet said). The pony failed the flexion test, but not badly and is not visibly lame otherwise- vet said not significant at the moment, but could break down and obviously should be pointed out.

So my question is, what would you do?

A) run and go shopping again
B) try to negotiate the price down knowing that this will be an insurance exclusion and that we could potentially have to fund treatment if it does break down in future
C) ....any other suggestions!!

Any advice from anyone who has had a similar experience would be really gratefully received.

The pony is being sold by a private seller who was obviously unaware, there is other interest. The figure agreed was just into 4 figures, pony is 17 yrs old and absolutely saintly. I'm genuinely torn as to whether taking the risk on the problem or risking losing the purchase by trying to haggle.....tea and cakes offered!! X

 

[Melody Grey]

Forgot to add also that we have been advised to start a full course of jabs again as the pony is 'probably covered', but previous course hasn't been administered with the correct spacing between jabs.....might lead to insurance problems so vet advised starting again, so there is another cost.

 

[Antw23uk]

If its that good then I would haggle a more suitable price and go for it. You could get ten more years out of him and then call it a day and your kids have had a super duper safe pony to learn on.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Tbh I wouldn't have vetted it. I got my vet to check out a tendon lump which we scanned while I had the pony on trial. We were able to see it was an old accidental type injury and other than if she cut the leg in the same place again, there was nothing to worry about. She is a saint and I paid a lot more for her than that. She's been worth every penny. What price on safety!

 

[Melody Grey]

Tbh I wouldn't have vetted it. I got my vet to check out a tendon lump which we scanned while I had the pony on trial. We were able to see it was an old accidental type injury and other than if she cut the leg in the same place again, there was nothing to worry about. She is a saint and I paid a lot more for her than that. She's been worth every penny. What price on safety!

Thanks - tbh I wouldn't normally have vetted either, I'm naturally a risk taker but have become all sensible on this one with it being for my son!! I definitely agree that you can't put a price on safety which is why I haven't run.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I bought a pony for my daughter who failed a vetting- The best thing I've ever done. He too failed on Flexions but has *touch wood for the past 18 months been brilliant and sound.

 

[conniegirl]

My best ever pony failed flexions in its vetting. I still bought it and competed up to medium level dressage and very serious level showing and the pony never had a day lame in the 10 years I owned it

 

[Nicnac]

Pony is 17 so will have mileage; flexion tests are the work of the devil for older horses/ponies/people. Your son isn't going to be taking pony around Badminton so I would negotiate price down especially in view of jabs as well. The sellers should now let other buyers know of the issue so should be open to a negotiation.

I would however first talk the vet further about the findings as often when having a vetting done our adrenaline is running high and it's difficult to take it all in if it throws up an issue.

If pony does break down can you use as a companion or will it be a difficult decision which would be a hard one for your son to cope with.

 

[Melody Grey]

Thanks- it's probably the 'difficult decision' type of situation- having two for us is a stretch (I'm a single parent), but I don't mind that!! We're at livery though, so there's no way we could have a field ornament as my little boy would have to stop riding. If I had acres of free space, it would be a complete no-brained to take the pony.!!

Eta: we recently had to have my last horse PTS which was tough on my son (and me!!) so desperately trying not to end up there again any time soon if I can help it!

 

[ester]

Has pony been in work recently? If in work and visibly sound I wouldn't worry about it.
Insuring a veteran gets expensive anyway.

 

[sport horse]

Negotiate price if you can and forget about insurance - they will not cover a pony of that age for anything but will charge you a huge premium. Put your money into a piggy bank and hope for the best.

 

[Melody Grey]

Has pony been in work recently? If in work and visibly sound I wouldn't worry about it.
Insuring a veteran gets expensive anyway.

Yes, although I think intermittently recently but only because it's been outgrown and the new upgrade has arrived, so the little girl has found it too time consuming to work both. The pony has been doing gymkhana games and pony club until fairly recently, so I would have thought that would have shown it up if it was a serious underlying isuue? Owners are very genuine.

 

[SusieT]

I wouldn't touch a thickened tendon with a baregepole - so disappointing if pony constantly on and off lame. move on!

 

[Bosworth]

I have a 17 year old TB with a thickened tendon. in fact he has one thickened and one bowed and thickened, caused by a fall while racing. I bought him without a vetting as I knew he would fail on that, however i trusted the vet who had been treating him and having had the horse since he was 7 I can honestly say he has never ever had a soundness issue, and he has evented, and dressaged, and is a total fruitloop in the field every single day. And never unsound. So go with is, dont insure for vets fees, and let your little boy have a lovely pony.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I can understand your reservations, but I think you should take the risk, HOWEVER, discuss with son and explain the pts risk [which is not likely any time soon]. Re flu jabs, you will find that the cover stated by manufacturer is greater than the vet "12 month", I would just have it done asap and leave it at that unless we are talking two years.
Ask for a months trial and explain why, he should be jabbed asap, but if they give a months trial, you must insist they jab him. You should offer to pay transport expenses both ways.

 

[benz]

Insurance will cost a fortune for a 17 yr old so I wouldn't bother personally.

Re the jabs, if had jabs all its life and just missed out 1 fairly recently it will well be covered so don't panic about that.

We have a horse with a slight thickened tendon and does fast gallops etc no problem but she only does flat work (owners choice). Tbh at 17 you would expect something or other to come up and the question is whether this is likely to get worse and if so how quickly. Best to speak to vet but they will probably say they have to ultrasound to get a better idea.

Can you ask for a months trial to see if pony will stand up to the work you want?

 

[rachk89]

I wouldn't touch a thickened tendon with a baregepole - so disappointing if pony constantly on and off lame. move on!

I was kind of thinking this too. The pony may never go lame but what if it does and you rarely get to use it? Lots of vet bills and treatment for a pony you can't use.

Its a big risk and i hope you have more money set aside just incase it doesn't pay off. Good ponies are hard to come by though so if you get him I hope he stays sound.

 

[ester]

Anything can go lame at any time. An older pony, for a child, that is sound and been working/doing games is not really much greater a risk than many others IMO.
Re jabs, I suspect this depends if you are doing PC or not, if you are they will have to be correct regardless of whether pony actually covered or not.

 

[Melody Grey]

Thank you all for your responses- largely positive after some thought, I've decided that life is too short and it would really be a great shame to miss out on a fab pony on the 'what ifs'. Anything I buy could lame itself in the field/ colic tomorrow, I feel it's the chance you take with horses generally.

Re: the jabs, it looks like the pony's cover had lapsed previously, so they re-started the course. Pony did have all 3 stages, but my vet yesterday noticed that the third was given 9 months after the second (should be about 6 months?). We're not going anywhere with the pony in a hurry and the next booster would be due in Novemeber.

Would you take vets advise to start again or just go with a booster from Nov? I'm going to rig insurance to arrange cover today but will be on a veteran policy covering accidents and public liability- is this likely to affect it?

 

[be positive]

The gap for the 3rd should be no more than 215 days, 7 months, you may find it is ok, if not it really depends on what you plan on doing his cover should be fine from the prevention point of view but not for going onto some venues, I shouldn't think it will have a bearing on the insurance as long as you keep the annual ones up to date.

I think you are right to go ahead in the overall scheme of things a slightly thickened tendon is less likely to cause problems in a first pony than a history of laminitis which is fairly common in little ones.

 

[Beausmate]

My horse never did receive his third jab. It wasn't picked up on for a long time, I have been out to unaffiliated comps and never been asked for the passport. Might be different for PC, etc. they are probably a bit more strict.

This was eighteen years ago now and I have been told that he has had so many boosters (yearly, without fail) in that time, that he is well and truly covered and that it is only a paperwork issue.

 

[Clodagh]

I am glad you have decided to go for it. I bought a pony against vets advice and she was so fantastic for my son, yes she was PTS as a result of the problem after 3 years but the experience she gave him was priceless.

 

[Luci07]

Check your veteran insurance. I was paying for mine and hadn't read about the vet cover - my fault entirely as it was clearly stated. Vet cover only insured me for external injuries but I was paying a lot for that. When I reviewed the insurance more carefully, it really only gave my 3rd party/PL. I then shopped around for a better quote for that and actually, my insurance came down. I stopped the vet cover as wasn't worth it. I had an excess of £150 and if my old mare needed to go down a major surgical route I would never have done it anyway.

 

[Tronk]

If he wants to go to Pony Club camp or BHS camps where they stay over I would get the jabs restarted correctly. They check the whole history before unloading. However for the day camps and rallies they never check in my experience, so if you're doing those I wouldn't bother.