Opinions on vetting please

I've had horses for 35 years, owned a fair few over that time and I've never had one vetted and only one I sold was vetted (passed fine but I did have to point out to the vet doing the vetting an old injury that he had missed on his inspection!).
If I was buying something which was a lot of money or I was hoping to compete then I think I would opt for a vetting. For anything else I'd to use my own judgement, be it on my head. As others have said a vetting is only assessing a horse on that particular day. I've known a few people who have had horses vetted only for them to have lameness issues soon afterwards.
 
Unfortunately the most honest of sellers may not realise that their horse has something wrong with it.
I have had horses for 40 years and always had them vetted.
The last thing one wants is to buy a horse, ones kids or oneself fall in love with it and then find that there is something seriously wrong with it at a later date which could have been detected by having a pre-purchase vetting.
 
Get her vetted. It may seem expensive, but think of the vets bills you may have to pay if unsound. I was thinking about not getting my horse vetted, but I did, and it also stopped me worrying incase something bad was going on :)
 
I am glad you have booked a vetting...I would say that it is important as the pony is for your kids to ride. If I was putting my daughter on a pony then I would want an idea about the ponies health, I realise riding is dangerous but I would want to reduce any risks I can.

If this pony had something major wrong then it could become quite dangerous. You may also save yourself a lot of heartache.

I had my mare vetted..5 stage and 6 months later she was a loss of use case...however.....the vet couldn't have picked up what was wrong. Vettings are not amazing but are still worth doing. I would still always get a vetting done even after it didn't work for me.

Good luck with the vetting, hope the pony passes!
 
amymay said:
I'd get a vetting - it's only a couple of hundred quid.
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i agree with amymay....

bought my 1st horse for £1200 without vetting. Owners seemed genuine.....9 months of no riding later I had to have her PTS it broke my heart and i was left seriously out of pocket :(
had the vet looked at her he would have seen that she had health issues and i wouldnt have bought her but i was naive and desperate to own a horse. Remember not only could any future problems cost you money they might also leave you with a horse that cannot be ridden or has to be PTS....and always remember, an unridden horse costs just the same to keep :(
 
Cottontail said:
Thanks all, have finally decided to book a 2 stage vetting at approx 120 quid, yikes
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pleased to hear you have booked the vetting! and a word of advice- if you feel £120 is expensive are u sure you really want to own a horse? my horse got kicked by another in the field and its cost me about £400 for her treatment.... :o
 
If you are not an experience owner then ask about a two stage vetting which is cheaper. The cost of a pony is not price paid but the ongoing costs afterwards. If I were you I would pay insurance on the pony for the first year to cover major problems.
 
elsazzo said:
pleased to hear you have booked the vetting! and a word of advice- if you feel £120 is expensive are u sure you really want to own a horse? my horse got kicked by another in the field and its cost me about £400 for her treatment.... :o
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Thanks for the advice, have owned one pony for two years now so feel that I am well up on cost of keeping ponies, :rolleyes: my point was, as the pony is not expensive, I was debating the validity of vetting, when, as many have pointed out a vetting only tells you the health of the pony at that given time :)
I do think it is a case of managing the ponies, for instance my pony will either be in a field on its own next to others or in with my other pony who is not shod on back feet so not likely to get kicked and even if she did, there should not be too much damage....
 
As Ibblebibble said I haven't had a horse vetted again i didn't pay much for mine but still i've never run into any problems 'touching wood'. Its totally up to you but I know someone who had a vetting and spent thousands on a horse that two months down the line it was discovered it had a problem with one of its legs and should only be doing very mild work and hacking - they couldn't do anything about it as it had been passed when vetted but they found through tests that it probably had this condition when it passed the vet, again though as this couldn't be proven without a shadow of doubt they had no grounds to stand on so vetting as was said above - only passes the horse on that day - not covered for thereafter.
 
Cottontail said:
Thanks for the advice, have owned one pony for two years now so feel that I am well up on cost of keeping ponies, :rolleyes: my point was, as the pony is not expensive, I was debating the validity of vetting, when, as many have pointed out a vetting only tells you the health of the pony at that given time :)
I do think it is a case of managing the ponies, for instance my pony will either be in a field on its own next to others or in with my other pony who is not shod on back feet so not likely to get kicked and even if she did, there should not be too much damage....
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Good luck, hope it all goes well for you :) PS my horses head wound was caused by a kick from a front! so much for side stepping that landmine by only shoeing on the back (as i currently do) lol ;)
 
Bit of advice if it's not already been said - always tell the seller that you are going to have a vetting and ask them when they are free for it to be done. If there is any problem with this, back away and save the vet fee AND the purchase price :)

If the reaction is good, then I wouldn't vet this pony, but I don't have anything vetted, not even a pretty expensive dressage horse. I've only lost two, both from things that were not there at the time of purchase, and most of the others have been sold on with a five star vetting.
 
I've never had our cheap ponies vetted. I've never had any problems. The people who bought each of them never had them vetted either, and have been fine.. I never insured them either - it cost more over three years than what the ponies were worth, and they never had the vet out for anything claim worthy..

I can totally understand why £120 vetting fee sounds a lot if you're only paying £800 for the pony. Also the difference between buying a £1800 horse and a £18000 horse and them dying is that you could probably afford to replace the £1800 horse without too many problems. A more expensive horse is more of a once in a lifetime purchase for most of us..

It depends what you want to do with them. A leadrein pony for a young child to be led round on doesn't have to pass flexion tests or have straight action (unless you want to do showing at more than local level.) etc. Our first 12h pony had pidgeon toes and cow hocks, and yet won everything at leadrein and first ridden level locally.. It also depends on what you can deal with going wrong yourself. Are you experienced enough to recognise sweet itch or something? If not could a riding instructor come with you for a look?

I can understand why you are having the vetting to appease hubby. I think a 2* is probably the best route. A 5* could throw up lots of things that don't matter which could send hubby into cardiac arrest! How do you explain to him that it doesn't matter if the pony failed its flexion - its not going to do high level dressage or Badminton, it will mainly be bobbling around!
 
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Honey08 said:
I've never had our cheap ponies vetted. I've never had any problems. The people who bought each of them never had them vetted either, and have been fine.. I never insured them either - it cost more over three years than what the ponies were worth, and they never had the vet out for anything claim worthy..

I can totally understand why £120 vetting fee sounds a lot if you're only paying £800 for the pony. Also the difference between buying a £1800 horse and a £18000 horse and them dying is that you could probably afford to replace the £1800 horse without too many problems. A more expensive horse is more of a once in a lifetime purchase for most of us..

It depends what you want to do with them. A leadrein pony for a young child to be led round on doesn't have to pass flexion tests or have straight action (unless you want to do showing at more than local level.) etc. Our first 12h pony had pidgeon toes and cow hocks, and yet won everything at leadrein and first ridden level locally.. It also depends on what you can deal with going wrong yourself. Are you experienced enough to recognise sweet itch or something? If not could a riding instructor come with you for a look?

I can understand why you are having the vetting to appease hubby. I think a 2* is probably the best route. A 5* could throw up lots of things that don't matter which could send hubby into cardiac arrest! How do you explain to him that it doesn't matter if the pony failed its flexion - its not going to do high level dressage or Badminton, it will mainly be bobbling around!
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Thanks for this, totally agree with all points, particularly the hubby appeasing point! This is the main reason I booked the 2 stage, so he can't turn round and say "I told you so!":D
 
I have never had a pony vetted either.
One has gone to HOYS, 3 have been to PC champs, all have attended weekly PC sessions.

Maybe I have just been very lucky!

If I was to buy a decent horse worth decent money, I would get it vetted.


I've never had our cheap ponies vetted. I've never had any problems. The people who bought each of them never had them vetted either, and have been fine.. I never insured them either - it cost more over three years than what the ponies were worth, and they never had the vet out for anything claim worthy..

I can totally understand why £120 vetting fee sounds a lot if you're only paying £800 for the pony. Also the difference between buying a £1800 horse and a £18000 horse and them dying is that you could probably afford to replace the £1800 horse without too many problems. A more expensive horse is more of a once in a lifetime purchase for most of us..

It depends what you want to do with them. A leadrein pony for a young child to be led round on doesn't have to pass flexion tests or have straight action (unless you want to do showing at more than local level.) etc. Our first 12h pony had pidgeon toes and cow hocks, and yet won everything at leadrein and first ridden level locally.. It also depends on what you can deal with going wrong yourself. Are you experienced enough to recognise sweet itch or something? If not could a riding instructor come with you for a look?

I can understand why you are having the vetting to appease hubby. I think a 2* is probably the best route. A 5* could throw up lots of things that don't matter which could send hubby into cardiac arrest! How do you explain to him that it doesn't matter if the pony failed its flexion - its not going to do high level dressage or Badminton, it will mainly be bobbling around
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THIS :)
 
Cottontail said:
Thanks for the advice, have owned one pony for two years now so feel that I am well up on cost of keeping ponies, :rolleyes: my point was, as the pony is not expensive, I was debating the validity of vetting, when, as many have pointed out a vetting only tells you the health of the pony at that given time :)
I do think it is a case of managing the ponies, for instance my pony will either be in a field on its own next to others or in with my other pony who is not shod on back feet so not likely to get kicked and even if she did, there should not be too much damage....
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You recon! Some horses can injure themselves in the most benign situations. I am another who would go for a vetting, yes its not 100% but as others have said a pony that requres looking after, livery and medical bills but cant be ridden is an exspensive pony indeed.
 
I have been very lucky with ponies, my daughters has been absolutely fine for the last 2 years. When I was riding as a child my sister and I both had numerous ponies and none of them ever were off work, through injury or illness. My mum bred and again there were no serious problems, so we must just have been very lucky, long may that continue:)
Regarding the mare in foal issue, given the time of year and condition of pony, doesn't seem likely.. Mind you I would love it if she was!
She has passed vetting with flying colours, only comment was that she has slight pigeon toes aww:p
 
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