Nightmare vetting. Question.

Sparkles

Sparkles

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Has anyone ever had a 5 stage vetting, where the vet personally made the prospective purchaser ride the horse for the exercise part, as opposed to the owner or groom.

Bearing in mind, prospective purchaser is a novice child [who finds canter difficult].

General question. [Though just one of many!] Everyone was actually speechless at the mannerism of the vet out at present - she was so incredibly rude throughout and we were even at the point of calling the whole vetting off.

Also insisting throughout about another pony she knew of for them.

[Said pony passed 5 stage vetting with flying colours and was impeccable, I'm also happy to announce.]
 
I bought my mare from the local riding school where I worked at weekends. The vet was the yards own and did the annual inspection for the licence, but I didn't worry about that as I knew him, trusted the school owner and anyway, they didn't have her very long (TOTALLY unsuited for a school horse!). I held her, trotted her up and did all the riding (lots of cantering around the arena, she had a ball :) ) and the yard owner wasn't even present. I already had the horse on loan with a view to buy so had learned quite a bit about her. In the case of a pony for a novice child, why not just lunge it the same as you would an unbroken youngster.
 
I had my horse 5stage vetted at the end of last yr when i purchased him. I live 4 hours from where i purchased him from making it impossible for me to ride him!

Vet was excellent, very professional and even commented on his temprament and suitability for what i wanted him for.

Sounds very odd to me, your paying them to do a job not sell you another horse! I would be a little concerned tho, that it was the vets way of telling you the seller isn't great.
 
Yes, a sell on I had 18 months ago.

I was all set to ride for the vetting, had a dodgy back, vet asked me if I was happy for the young teenager I was selling to, to ride for the vetting.

I was more than happy.

I let them get on with it, only to turn round to find the vet instructing said teenager to jump some jumps. Which she did.

Vet very happy. Teenager very happy. Pony sold.
 
I did have a vet that wanted to see the pony, first pony, ridden and handled by the child but he was totally professional, very encouraging about the suitability and it passed with flying colours:D

This was the first time it has happened and I was slightly concerned as they often find the vetting exciting and my worry was that the pony may be a bit on its toes.
It is becoming more common now for the vets to want purchasers at the vetting, one of my vets rides when he vets anything, so maybe this will be the next stage for them to cover themselves regarding suitability.

The vet in the OP sounds as if she wanted to sell them something she knew of:eek:
 
I rode at the yellow pony's vetting but the vet didnt mind who rode, I did it because I wanted to and because the owner hadnt ridden him for over 6 months.

I can see why when vetting for a childs pony that they would want to see the child handle the pony as they are supposed to advise on suitability.
 
When I had mine vetted the vet asked me to trot her up and to pick up her feet, she was misbehaving and it was a case of "you try". The vet halted the vetting while it was incomplete and advised that whilst she couldn't fail the horse she did not recommend purchase as it was unsuitable tried to put us on to a dealer she knew of..... The dealer only had horses that were much more highly priced than the one we were having vetted (about 4x the price).

Seller was fairly horrified, and we ended up trying the horse again and then taking her on trial before buying her. We've had her over a year now, and are thrilled with her.
 
Bosworth said:
I bought a horse several years ago and my vet insisted on riding her for the vetting:)he hopped on, and worked her hard. Fantastic to see.
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Wish vet had offered when I sold one. I had to ride it with a leg that could have shattered at any moment, as no one else was about to ride for me.

Regarding the Op's post, while I agree the vet sounds rude, I can see the reasoning behind asking the child to ride. A vet here recently refused to vet a totally unsuitable horse for a 15 year old girl. Told the non- horsey mother that the prospective horse was a recipe for disaster with the girls level of experience.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Has anyone ever had a 5 stage vetting, where the vet personally made the prospective purchaser ride the horse for the exercise part, as opposed to the owner or groom.
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Yes. Me.

Really good idea - especially if it's a child - as the vet can get a true picture of whether the pony is 'fit for purpose'
 
It was a pony at ours being vetted. Cob type, kick-along chap. :) Been tried a few times previously by the family - tried hacking/jumping/schooling/fields/etc. Were happy with him and girl wanted him, hence the vetting before he went anywhere. They're absolutely lovely and he'll have a brilliant home with them for life.

Their own vet, which we were happy for them to use. [Vetting's a vetting far as I'm concerned - they pass or they don't!] Non-horsey family who were advised a 5 stage vetting by the vet on what is going to be a hacking/lesson once a week pony. Pony passed with flying colours. Again - had no worry about him with a vetting so wasn't personally bothered by this.

We don't have a school, so originally was going to have to be in the field, but was nowhere to really canter circles properly [was fine going up and round the headland, but just nowhere wide enough for circles]. So asked the farm owner down the village if we could use his school for it at all, which we could. So took the pony down there [kid rode him - through the village/main road/over the motorway bridge and down to new farm. Pony faultless during this and happy to school.] I in the end did have to get on for the canter work - as she was finding it difficult to keep the continuous canter laps on him to get his heart rate up enough [pony not doing anything naughty, just tired and after a couple of circles of canter was going back to trot]. So I got on and gave him a good run round and he was fine.

Again, pony passed with flying colours and is warranted up the eyeballs anyway for temperament/safety and anything slightly 'negative' is written down and has been from the start.


They still want to pony, but my boss is on about putting a complaint in I think. The whole mannerism of the vet was just extremely unprofessional and rude, just from comments throughout and prior really.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
They still want to pony, but my boss is on about putting a complaint in I think. The whole mannerism of the vet was just extremely unprofessional and rude, just from comments throughout and prior really.
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Put a complaint in for rudeness - but not for wanting the child to ride the pony, that's ridiculous.
 
amymay said:
Put a complaint in for rudeness - but not for wanting the child to ride the pony, that's ridiculous.
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The purchaser riding was just a general question I wanted to ask about as I just hadn't come across it before that's all, nothing regarding the vet.
The complaint would be about the rudeness/lack of professionalism.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
The purchaser riding was just a general question I wanted to ask about as I just hadn't come across it before that's all, nothing regarding the vet.
The complaint would be about the rudeness/lack of professionalism.
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Ah, righto.

Although I suppose not every vet has a great bedside manner......
 
Pony sounds a star and hope he has years of fun with the child.
As for the vet if he was rude then yes I would make a complaint, I dont think theres a complaint to be had for advising the purchaser to have a 5 stage as they are novice owners and wouldnt be able to spot things them selves no matter what the intended job for the pony, most vets I know would do the same as much for their own sake as the purchasers.
 
When I had my current horse vetted, I didn't want to ride, as I knew I would get stressed beyond belief by the whole vetting and didn't want to communicate this to the horse. Owner didn't feel confident on the horse either, as he was young and very green, so she arranged for a friend of hers to come and ride him. The friend rode him fantastically and I was very grateful to her. This was all arranged beforehand though, rather than waiting until the day of the vetting.

I have also encountered a rude vet (not for horses, for exotics) - he may have been a decent vet but there was simply no need for his bad attitude. I've now found a new vet who is every bit as good clinically, and is nice to me as well as my animals.
 
amymay said:
Yes. Me.

Really good idea - especially if it's a child - as the vet can get a true picture of whether the pony is 'fit for purpose'
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Yes, I was kind of thinking the same thing. Part of a vetting is to ascertain that it is "fit for purpose" so if you want a child's riding pony, it makes sense to have a child ride it. However, there is NO excuse for rudeness AND your own child should not have been forced to ride it.
 
I am not surprised at vets wanting prospective purchaser to ride, so they can advise on horse's suitability - however I really don't agree that this is their brief. I believe the vet is there to give his professional advice on the condition and health of the horse and its suitability for a particular activity/activities. I don't see a vet's professional qualification to advise on the skill (or lack of) of the rider and matching that with the horse. Surely that should fall to a trainer/instructor? Though I would understand if they commented on a perceived temperament issue which might prove dangerous, particularly to a child - but this should not be expected as part of their expertise.

I am surprised at vets who ride as part of the vetting - where would they stand legally if they were injured?
 
Yes had a few ridden by the prospective buyer, which is fine by me as gives them another chance to try them out. What bugs me is vets putting their opinion in, vet is there to vet not to comment on the suitability. I have had 2 pass with flying colours including xrays only for vet to say, after horse behaved impeccably throughout, I know of one much more suited to the prospective buyer.
In one case the sale fell through and in the other case they still bought her. The one that fell through worked for the vet!!!!
 
4faults said:
Yes had a few ridden by the prospective buyer, which is fine by me as gives them another chance to try them out. What bugs me is vets putting their opinion in, vet is there to vet not to comment on the suitability. I have had 2 pass with flying colours including xrays only for vet to say, after horse behaved impeccably throughout, I know of one much more suited to the prospective buyer.
In one case the sale fell through and in the other case they still bought her. The one that fell through worked for the vet!!!!
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The buyer is paying for the vets opinion and they should and do comment on suitability.
I rarely sell horses but one I did sell a homebred was vetted by a vet I did not know he vetted the horse watched it work and made comments on the vet cert about her suitability for the job she was going to do ( first horse for lady who learned as adult ) luckily it was glowing.
My last driving horse cert came with comments on how well behaved he was atvetting and the vetting for my first included the vet insisting on seeing the horse driven in a field and on the road.
 
4faults said:
Yes had a few ridden by the prospective buyer, which is fine by me as gives them another chance to try them out. What bugs me is vets putting their opinion in, vet is there to vet not to comment on the suitability. I have had 2 pass with flying colours including xrays only for vet to say, after horse behaved impeccably throughout, I know of one much more suited to the prospective buyer.
In one case the sale fell through and in the other case they still bought her. The one that fell through worked for the vet!!!!
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The vets can and do comment on SUITABILITY to do a job at that time, fit for purpose, what they are not usually qualified to do is give opinions on the horses ABILITY to do the job and its potential to go further, that should be a decision already made by those purchasing prior to vetting.
 
If you read my post you will see if refer to vets who say the horse is not suitable for their own gain. The horse in question was a showjumper of ramiro lines out doing 1m30s with consistent placings, who went impeccably for the buyer and passed a 5 stage vetting being sold as a showjumper with xrays is not suitable for the task? I fully understand a vet telling someone a section a is probably not going to be their grand prix horse for example but not attempting to sway buyers to their own gain, be that money for more vettings or to buy a horse they have a connection to
 
I was agreeing with you, it is not their place to put off buyers that have already made the decision that the horse has the ability required. The vet can say it may not be suitable due to a fault but not because they have any ulterior motive.
 
So as nobody has commented on my post which I was expecting, why in 5 * vettings have I or nobody else needed to ride the horse?

Only once years ago was I asked by the vet if he could take my mare who had been off a year
with a tendon injury up the gallop to check her wind. He was a heavy guy and the risk off my mare re hurting herself going up the gallop when out off work was in my mind stupid and said no, which I explained to the owners and they saw it from my point off view and still brought her.
 
thatsmygirl said:
So as nobody has commented on my post which I was expecting, why in 5 * vettings have I or nobody else needed to ride the horse?

Only once years ago was I asked by the vet if he could take my mare who had been off a year
with a tendon injury up the gallop to check her wind. He was a heavy guy and the risk off my mare re hurting herself going up the gallop when out off work was in my mind stupid and said no, which I explained to the owners and they saw it from my point off view and still brought her.
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The only time I have had a 5 stage with no riding was selling a small pony, no rider available on the day so it was lunged, every other horse or pony I have bought or sold has been ridden in a 5 stage vetting.
I have never sold an unbroken horse which obviously could not be ridden.

No idea why you have never been asked to ride, usually when the vets phone to arrange it they ask if there is somewhere to ride, lunge, trot up and someone to ride on the day.
 
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