New horse help. To re vet or not?

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sallyandbenji

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Hi I am Sally, I have browsed the forum before but never joined up so thought I would start. I have to retire my old boy benji at the start of the year. He is 20 now and is very stiff. He will stay with me until the end of my days but am now looking for a new life long partner (I am divorced!) and have found the most gorgeous irish mare that is six years old and is my dream horse. I have always wanted to Event but my cob has never been up to it. The horse I am looking to buy is 16.2hh (bigger than 15,1hh benji) and very talented, however quiet enough for me to get back into things and start gradually. The old owner bought her from the breeder about 5 months ago and she had a five stage vetting which she has showed me and seems all ok. Would you get the horse re vetted, or would you not bother? My budget was 4k, however the horse is 4k without tack or rugs! She was up for 4.5k so have already negotiated her down £500, by the time I have transported her home, got take and rugs, I will pushing 5k!! Another vetting will be at least £250. I have been looking for a horse for around 3 months and could not find anything suitable within my original budget of 3k! Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance :-)
 
Most insurers will insist on a vetting for a horse costing over a certain amount. Last time I bought a horse, the amount was £3000. I would talk to your insurance company and see if they would insure her based on the 5 stage vetting she had a few months ago. If not then you will have to have another vetting done. Personally though, after having a load of bad luck lately with horses and vet fees, I would have any horse I bought vetted myself.
 
The vetting from 5 months ago is no longer worth anything in real terms, what I would want to know is why is the horse for sale so quickly, what has it done in the last 5 months, has it had any issues???

For the sake of £250 you could be saving yourself a lot of expense and heartache in the future, if something goes wrong with her in the early days your insurance may decide that it was a long standing condition.
I dont vet horses under about £2k but once you start to get up to the figure you are spending I think it is not worth taking the risk.
 
yep ditto the comments re the insurance companies liking a vets cert.

Its good she passed one back then but as a vetting is only a certificate for 'a moment in time' ie that day I would rather get it vetted myself to be sure especially as you want to event her.

I wouldnt normally bother with very cheap or very young horses as I feel I am experienced enough to see obvious problems that would jump out at me but for the money your spending I would get a professional opinion
 
When I insured my horse, the insurance company said that the vetting cert had to be less than 30 days old for it to count, otherwise they would need another (full, 5 stage) vetting done. I think as Wagtail says, you need a current vetting cert for any horse over a certain value. I'm afraid I don't know what that value is though.

Good luck, whatever you decide
 
I'd definitely have it vetted, in the scheme of things £250 for vetting is not a lot when the horse is that expensive, you will lose a lot more if she goes wrong down the line.

I'm having a horse vetted today, eeeeeepppp!!!
 
mcnaughty said:
I would definitely get a 2 stage + flexion but not sure if I would go the whole hog and get a 5.
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I was only going to get mine 2 stage vetted but it was only £43 extra for a 5 stage so I went with that, seemed a no brainer really!

If there is a big difference in price between the 2 OP then a 2 stage should be adequate (unless 5 stage is needed for insurance).
 
5 months is a long time.... If you are really not inclined (although I'd always recommend it) you could ask for a copy of the horse veterinary history since she has owned it.

I'm with NFU and they don't ask for a vet certificate unless the horse is worth over £5k.
 
Absolutely do re-vet! The sale topper at goresbridge last fri made €11,200 but failed the re-vet at the sales. It had passed a vet in the previous 30 days to get into the sale but then failed! Would be an expensive gamble to take IMO
 
At that price I'd get it vetted again, having said that I've never had one vetted but then never paid over 2.5k. Hopefully she'll 'pass' and the insurance company won't exclude anything. How is she bred? I've bred and kept RIDs myself. Hope you have fun with her.
 
I'd get a vetting, like someone has previously said, £250 is a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things. My rising 5 year old passed a stage 5 with flying colours... in 5 months my vet bills have come to over £1000 due to field injuries... nothing is certain, but it's good to know you started out with a clean slate so to speak. Good luck! :)

Also just to add, I'm with NFU and they asked for the vetting certificate, and my horse was under £5k.
 
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OP your situation sounds the same as mine except my old darling cobby boy passed away at 30 something and I wanted a new horse to do more with. I think after £5k most require a 5 stage but I would still re vet if I were you. More importantly why are they selling so soon? From recent experience I would be very suspicious and cautious, will they loan with a view to buy etc?

In the end as I've discovered you can view the horse lots of times, hack, jump bring your instructor to do the same and and 5 stage and still buy a problem so wishing you the best of luck in your purchase even if it's not this one. I have learned one thing in this your dream horse is your dream horse once you get it home and it's 80% what you thought you had bought and not before.
 
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