Really unsure what to do..... HELP PLEASE!!!!!

H

Holloa

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 July 2007
Messages
398
Visit site
I was getting so excited, i put some pics of my potential new horse on PG the other day....but he had his vetting today. stats are: cleveland bay X tb, 16.2hh 7 rising 8yrs , mainly done hacking, been owned since a 2 year old, very low mileage, lovely lovely personality and looks and temp everything ticked my boxes!
I would be buying him as a 2nd hunter and general rc fun, x/c/ sj
nothing toooo competitive.

anyway, got a call earlier from the vet, he says he passed all flexion tests etc, but a few things have come up:

He has bog spavin in both hocks
both front coffin joints are distended ( fluid in them)
he was seen to be 1/10ths lame in his left hind when ridden and in his left fore in hand.
he's got a cleveland bay body on TB feet, and is carrying a bit of excess weight.

what would you do.....???? he was advertised as £4995 ono but i negociated £4950 for him inc ideal saddle worth £230.

i'm still really keen, he's such a lovely chap, i'm such in a muddle- help and advise please!!!!

I'd like to re-negociate. but to what sort of money???


Help!!
Thanks so much!

have posted in new lounge/ veterinary for extra help, sorry if you read it twice.!
confused.gif
crazy.gif
 
he's low milage and showing a lot of wear and tear! if your wanting to take a huge chance he will withstand hunting he needs to be a lot lot cheaper, he failed the vet big time so the price needs dropping more thn £45! thts like a slap in the face
 
Lame and you still want?! I understand if you think he's the right horse for you - but seriously, the price would have to reduce drastically for it to make up for the problems. If you're serious about him, sit down and work through the cost these problems will be to you, financially, effort-wise and possible future concerns they may lead to. That way you'll be able to work out the advantages and disadvantages and you'll be able to make a serious offer with reasoning why. I certainly wouldn't be paying anyway near that though.
 
i know its horrible when you have your heart set on a horse then it fails the vet, you try and ingore the problems but you need to think about it, if you want it as a hunter then it must be sound and stay sound in hard work and if its lame when you buy it you cant presume it will come completley sound, even though its hard to i would walk away, its not worth that kind of money and there are lots of sound horses out there!
 
I really wouldn't touch this horse - it's very young for spavins, a heavy body on weak feet is always going to cause problems, and there are plenty of sound horses out there if you're patient.

It's also overpriced and the discount offered is derisory for a horse that's lame in two legs!
 
If you like him that much could it be worth another vetting? I known horses that have failed by one vet then passed with another, I think some times vets try to cover them selves?

I would be vary wary of the Coffin joint problem my boy was diagnosed last year with arthritis of the Coffin joint he was only 13, He is now reduced to a happy hack, you know how the saying goes no foot no horse! I also have a Conni x tb who is a conni body on tb legs she has had side bone since she was 7. its not ideal!

I think I would be walking away, also as the problems have shown up on a vetting you can guarantee your insurance wont cover you if any thing was to go wrong, diagnosis last year cost £1200 that was not covered by my insurance as 2 years prior he had be x rayed & sent to a vet in Newmarket with suspected Ring bone, (turns out he didn't have it!) but the wording on the insurance is they wont pay for any thing directly or indirectly relating to Ring bone, (Arthritis) That little episode cost the insurance £1500, Its a lot of money when you don't have it!
 
Walk away - unless you have a bottomless pit of money you aren't mentioning.......he is nice.....but it will only cause heartache in the long run when you are attached to him and want to help him but can't afford to have a large, expensive lawn ornament.
 
I have decided to leave it, have rung the seller and left a message, will tell her that he's lame and i'm not prepared to take the risk. Have now rung a dealer ( with excellent rep) to ask him what's out there atm, he said for something i want i need to be paying £8k +!!
I said i haven't got that budget, but i don't mind a horse that is green, i enjoy a challenge, as long as he's got the scope and potential! He said he'll get back to me in a weeks time, he's going over to ireland to look at some horses so fingers crossed. I do agree with everyone after having a long hard think. I just hope something comes up in my price range.
Its such a shame, i really thought he'd sail through the vetting, just goes to show how important getting a vetting done is!!! especially with horses over £4k.

thank you to everyone who helped me and gave me their advice, i really appreciate it. X :-)
 
Think you made the right choice, difficult but the right one. My boy is and ID x TB and was 7 when I purchased him about 2 years ago. He had hunted but apart from that was very green, flatwork was very basic and though he has a cracking jump, he had no real technique or training, just steeplechased everything! He was advertised at £5800 and we agreed a price of £5400 and then after the vetting showed up a couple of things, only minor really but one was the fact he had great feet but had been badly shod which was easy to see. I negotitated another £300 off for this as said my insurance company would (and did) put an exclusion on all four feet (!) til my farrier sorted them out. About 6 months or so later, letter from farrier to insurance company lifted the exclusion but to me I was justified in reduction in case a problem arose within the period of the exclusion and I had to pay.
My advice is, agree a provisional price subject to vetting and negotiate final price when the vetting is complete if anything arises. Some things you may be prepared to compromise on if the price is reduced slightly. Good luck and sorry for waffling!
 
Do what I always do.....put a wanted ad in H&H with a box number. Ask for photos, videos, test sheets, results, put a maximum price.

I am always innundated and then you can trawl through them all and make a short list of the possibles and go and see the best. In the main people that can provide all this evidence are genuine and it saves alot of reading between the lines in for sale adverts.

Good luck Im sure the ideal horse is out there and may not even be advertised as such x
 
Lovely as he may be but at the end of the day if you wanting a horse to hunt and do XC/SJ etc then you are going to need a horse that is 100% sound.

There are hundreds of horses out there that will be in your price range which will be around 99.9% sound, a vet is almost sure to find the odd thing on a full 5 stage vetting but what he's found on this horse is quite detrimental plus you need a horse with a good confirmation to withstand the work load your asking of him.

The old saying goes ...no foot, no horse!! (legs in this case).

Your perfect partner will be out there, just take a little more time to look at least you did the right thing by having this horse vetted, just feel sorry for the person who views and buys it without a vetting...and pays full asking price.
 
Walk away. He is still quite young and has failed on a hell of a lot of things. To have all this wrong with him at only 7yrs old - there is no way he will withsatand hunting. A horse that is lame is worth nothing so there is no negotiating to do. If you really love him the only negotiating i would do would be to have him on loan so that when it all goes pear shaped you can give him back. Sounds awful but alarm bells should really be ringing. Given that he is actually lame I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole.
 
Don't know where in the UK you are, but my neighbours brought a bunch of horses from Ireland last year that they have been nurturing and training to sell. You can email me privately if you are interested and I could ask what, if anything, they have at the moment.
 
Just got the call from the owner of this horse. I told her what the vet report came up with and she was really really shocked! Well i think she's a bit silly because she didn't get the horse vetted when she bought him as a 2yr old, she said oh he was only 2, didn't think anything was wrong with him!!

Anyway, i said that i would keep in touch, only to make sure he's found a good home. Probably only a happy hacking one now!

spanish mustangs, thanks i will pm you.

gosh, this horse buying business is such a head and heartache! it was all so easy when i bought my other horse a year ago, he was the right price, sailed through the vetting soundness wise, and he's turned into a cracking hunter for me!.....
 
Well done for not going for him, there are plenty of other horses out there for you I'm sure. I was going to buy a horse that I used to ride at my weekend job and he had been lame with a shoulder injury. I went to buy him after a winter off and he had been sound in all paces. He was vetted as lame. I didn't buy him and I'm glad I didn't because he has been lame twice since and they have no idea why, but it has been manily when he is put back into full work. Just imagine potential vets bills...
 
Well.... don't know if anyone is interested.... but got a call from the seller today....

she's prepared to negotiate on the price...!!! oh no i hear everyone saying!.....

i said i'd think about it..... (so not yes and not no) and let her know, and i also said that i had already put the feelers out for other horses, she said she wants to sell him to me.
She's had an offer of someone having him on loan with a view to buy, to compete, but she wants to sell him.

OH dear!
If she went down to say a £1- 1500k i might be tempted, as who knows when he may break down, i don't have a crystal ball!!! And if he did break down, i'm sure i could sell him as a happy hack for that sort of money.....
 
The horse is lame it isn't even worth one dollar. In my opinion the purchase price of a horse is the cheapest thing about it. It sounds to me that the horse owner doesn't have another buyer just you. I feel sorry for the horse and owner.
 
Bear this in mind...you will never be able to get insurance for him now the vetting has brought all of that up. You will HAVE to declare that. So as and when he goes lame for one of those things, think about how much in vets fees it will cost to treat it...probably a lot more than the £3000 or so you seem to be saving.

There are enough good horses out there - you don't need to throw good money after a bad horse.

You might also want to ask yourself why he's for sale if he's so amazing...maybe she's already had her vet out to him and wants to get rid?
 
I think I would also be doubting her motives for selling. If I was in her position I wouldn't want the horse to go to a home where I knew he was wanted to do heavy work. I would re-advertise as a happy hacker due to problems. If you want one for hunting then don't buy him at the risk of breaking him. If he's not 100% now with all his problems he will never be up to heavy hunting where as if he's sold as a happy hacker he could be ok. I know you probably feel sorry for him but trust me walk away. I've just done the same from a pony for my daughter but I can't afford to buy one out of sympathy, as much as I'd love to! It's horrible. I hate buying horses and the majority of the time I hate the sellers for lying too!
 
I brought my horse 5 years ago this coming June. He is a 16.1 TB ex racer, he was 10 when I brought him. He failed the 5 star vetting on 2 sheets of A4 paper! The vet told me not to buy him as he wouldnt with stand riding club activities (which is all I wanted to do). I brought him anyway with 1k knocked off of the price (paid 2k inc loads of rugs and tack). He was actually lame on 2 legs at the vetting and had terrible hooves. When I first brought him his shoes only stayed on for 2 weeks and he was lame for at least a week after having them put on, it is only over the past 6 months that he is keeping them on for 6 sometimes even 7 weeks and only being sore (not lame) for a day or two. Since owning him we have done all sorts of riding club including ODE, he then went on loan for 6 months to a girl who hunted, did PC camp and every other PC/RC activity inc teams. He went on loan again to a girl who did a lot less with him and about 9 months ago he was diagnosed with spavin in one of his hocks. I took him back and since September have not had a day of lameness from him. I am taking him out jumping and he is fine! Proves that with determination and lots of work they can get through lameness!! I honestly think if he was used as a hack / retired he would have never come sound.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top