Lame horse on trial.

This is a risk we take when buying a horse! You were fortunate to find a seller willing to let you have him on trial, and you have since realised the horse is not suitable for YOU, therefore it is YOUR responsibility to transport him back to her. If she had said she had changed her mind about selling him to you, it would be HER responsibility to take him back.
See how it works? Why should she pay out money when you're not willing to try to solve the problem with the pony? Take him back to her, she will have to sort him out once he's there, that's not your problem.
 
navaho said:
Was yours footy in the field without shoes on? This is my problem, if someone actually said to me they had one like this then id be prepared to try him with shoes, but everyone ive talked to have said he should be field sound without shoes, including the farrier & vet.
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The ground is currently like concrete and there is every chance that he has bruised his feet due to being unshod and probably having to walk on rough ground.

Has you farrier actually seen him or your vet or are they expertly diagnosing this from a distance? Very talented if so.

If he has bruised feet, something a farrier would only be able to tell if he actually visited the horse, it could take months to completely settle down. I have seen plenty of horses who are very footsore unshod on every surface and absolutely fine when shod.
 
Well, ive taken on board all the (helpful) advice offered, ive told the girl that owns her if she is prepared to pay for the shoes ill give him another go, but IF he is still lame she will have to pay his livery till she can find somewhere else to take him back to or she can find someone else to take him. Maybe i was being unfair about her collecting him, but i have to admit any of mine that ive loaned or let go on trial we have always done one journey the other person has done the other, we collected him so in my eyes it was only fair she pick him up, but that is how ive always worked & so far ive never had anyone complain.
As regards being lucky she let me have him on trial, under the circumstances it was the best thing for her & me, however when i look back she was very reluctant for me to ride him at her place & if you know a horse is bad without shoes why let it go on trial, or for that matter try & sell it without them? I still think hes not right regardless of shoes....we shall see!
 
Putting shoes on can make a lame horse seem sound, because shoes reduce the circulation of blood in horses foot.

I would want a horse I was buying to be sound with barefeet, at least in field or sand arena, fair enough if they are a bit ouchy on road or gravel.

Send it back.
 
I agree that it is your responsibility to cover the cost of returning the horse, not the vendor. I would be annoyed if some one wanted me to pick up a horse they had on trial - but I would also be out out there like a shot to collect the horse.
 
jeeve said:
Putting shoes on can make a lame horse seem sound, because shoes reduce the circulation of blood in horses foot.

I would want a horse I was buying to be sound with barefeet, at least in field or sand arena, fair enough if they are a bit ouchy on road or gravel.

Send it back.
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Those are my thoughts, but there we go. Ive agreed to put shoes on him now against my better judgement.
 
navaho said:
Those are my thoughts, but there we go. Ive agreed to put shoes on him now against my better judgement.
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Change your mind. How much will a set of shoes cost? What if you end up returning him anyway?

In your heart of hearts you don't want this horse and neither would I. Hire transport and take him back. There a plenty of horses out there without problems without you needing to part with money for a lame one. Or even for a footy one.

Call her bluff of you like - if she won't take him back tell her you will charge livery from Monday onwards, backdated to the end of the initial trial month period. Tell her if she defaults on your livery bill that you will sell the horse for meat as you are not a charity. You'll be able to tell from her reaction whether she's genuine or not......I think I can guess te answer already.
 
Definately don't go further with the horse. You have the right to send this horse back if not suitable - that's what a trial is for.

Advise her that if the horse is not collected by such & such a date you will start charging her livery fees.
 
Do you know if this horse is normally unshod? Maybe she is a novice owner and hadn't even noticed he had been lame before.

Regarding putting shoes on, one of my horses goes very lame if he loses a shoe. Turns out he has very thin soles. My remedial farrier thought we were mad having him shod as a 3 year old and so did we but he had had a full lameness workup and it was the only thing my vet could suggest.

Boy what a difference putting shoes on made. Interestingly he was more lame in the school (sand and rubber) than on any other surface.
 
Hi did you have the horse vetted before the trial or were you going to have it vetted after the trial before you were going to buy him?


I am afraid when I had a horse on trial I provided the transport.
 
navaho said:
I just think its a total waste of my farriers time & effort, which the vet & farrier also agree with.

The long & short of it is im not prepared to spend anymore money on him, trailer hire & diesel to take him home would come in in excess of £100 which im not happy to spend.
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My guess is she's not a very generous person as has previously been suggested, rather she is trying to rid herself of a lame horse and knows she is wasting your time and money. Think about what you'll spend on the horse over the next few weeks, and how much time and stress having him is taking up right now. I bet £100 to see the whole saga over would be cheap in comparison.

navaho said:
Well, ive taken on board all the (helpful) advice offered, ive told the girl that owns her if she is prepared to pay for the shoes ill give him another go, but IF he is still lame she will have to pay his livery till she can find somewhere else to take him back to or she can find someone else to take him.
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jeeve said:
Putting shoes on can make a lame horse seem sound, because shoes reduce the circulation of blood in horses foot.
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Yup, especially as the OP as described the horse as nodding lame, not just a bit footy. If he was field lame because he couldn't cope barefoot, his previous owners should have put shoes on, right? As others have said, change your mind, and send him back. No more messing around.
 
I took my horse's shoes off in January when I knew I wouldn't be riding for a while due to surgery. He has always been totally sound (he's 19 and I've owned him from birth) and shod. He was uncomfortable on any surface except tarmac, although my farrier said he'd be able to cope unshod. I've been back riding him for a fortnight now, and after a week made the decision to have him reshod as he couldn't even cope in the school. OP it just maybe worth trying if he ticks all your other boxes.
 
riding_high said:
my horse was very footy without shoes a couple of years ago even in the field, i would watch him and cry so i got the farrier out the next day and got shoes put on. he improved straight away.

he was lame in one front leg but was footy in all his hooves. the shoes helped him in that case so if it was me i'd try the shoes.
maybe he's being naughty/difficult to ride because he's hurting?
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I agree with this. We manage our mares barefoot all winter working in the manege and minimal road hacking. In the summer we hack off a stoney track and both mares go broken leg lame unless shod - we just do not do the work to condition their feet for hacking like this and as soon as they go sore they are footy/lame in the field too.
Try front shoes if it is not a long termer barefoot.
 
navaho said:
Well, ive taken on board all the (helpful) advice offered, ive told the girl that owns her if she is prepared to pay for the shoes ill give him another go, but IF he is still lame she will have to pay his livery till she can find somewhere else to take him back to or she can find someone else to take him. Maybe i was being unfair about her collecting him, but i have to admit any of mine that ive loaned or let go on trial we have always done one journey the other person has done the other, we collected him so in my eyes it was only fair she pick him up, but that is how ive always worked & so far ive never had anyone complain.
As regards being lucky she let me have him on trial, under the circumstances it was the best thing for her & me, however when i look back she was very reluctant for me to ride him at her place & if you know a horse is bad without shoes why let it go on trial, or for that matter try & sell it without them? I still think hes not right regardless of shoes....we shall see!
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That's very fair and reasonable imo
 
Bedlam said:
Change your mind. How much will a set of shoes cost? What if you end up returning him anyway?

In your heart of hearts you don't want this horse and neither would I. Hire transport and take him back. There a plenty of horses out there without problems without you needing to part with money for a lame one. Or even for a footy one.
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I agree with this. I think you know this horse is not for you. As others have said, give the owners notice and tell them the time and date you are returning him - lack of stable is her problem, not yours and probably not true anyway (and surely they have grazing). Then hire a trailer and return him. You sound like a kind person with a conscience and you don't like confrontation or upsetting anyone! Take someone with you for moral support and get it over with. Good luck :)
 
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