Should I vet my lwvtb horse

[college girl]

I’ve had a horse on full loan for the past year and now I’m looking into buying him. Would it be silly of me not to get him vetted. I know he had colic in 2015 but has not had any problems since then. I am hoping to compete him in the future when I have transport if that would contribute to the deciding factor.

 

[be positive]

A tricky one for you and the owner, you both take the risk that something shows up that has not caused an issue but may become one in the future, for you it means you cannot insure for whatever it is, for the owner they have a horse that is now very much reduced in value that they may get stuck with if you don't wish to buy or continue to loan, if it is currently fully insured the risk is less as any treatment can be undertaken within the next 12 months.
I think you both need to make an informed decision based on the above and the value of the horse, I would usually always recommend a full or at least 2 stage vetting but in this type of situation it can go wrong very easily if the vet finds something minor and makes a big deal out of it, even a tiny mark on the skin can potentially be a sarcoid, it is why I would always suggest vetting a LWVTB horse before commencing the loan most people would not consider doing it that way round but it does cover everyone more fairly.

In this situation I would probably get a basic health check, trot up and flexions done by my vet but not call it a vetting and take it from there hoping that nothing shows that is of any concern.

 

[laura_nash]

Are you planning to insure for vets fees? If so, check if you need a vetting for that as I was caught out many years ago in a similar situation. Didn't vet a horse I bought as I had been riding her for over a year (and knew the owners and history). Then three years later the insurance refused to pay out on something as I hadn't had her vetted (it was E&L though).

 

[claret09]

main deciding factor would be how much you are paying for him. I had known my boy for two years before I bought him and knew his history having spoken to his breeder and the people who had him as a youngster. I didn't pay anywhere near his market value I didn't have him vetted. he has always been insured for injury and treatment. he is now 21 and still on a competition horse insurance policy. we go out and compete regularly so I always wanted him on a "proper" policy. I don't have loss of use (he didn't cost me that much = so value isn't important = what is important to me is to know that he is covered and a can have any treatment if necessary. it does cost me a lot to do this but to me it is worth it

 

[Shay]

It does come down to cost of the horse and what you want to insure for - which is also impacted by his age. If you pay more than a few thousand and want to insure most companies will insist on a vetting (and will promptly exclude anything that is mentioned.) If you want loss of use then you will have to have a vetting - although in practice loss of use is very difficult to establish in a leisure environment and my personal recommendation would be not. If you only want third party liability and opt to self insure for vets fees then you don't need a vetting. If the horse is older than 15 you would struggle to get insurance for more than accidental injury anyway and that might be a factor.

Talk to the owner and call a couple of companies to see what they require.

 

[college girl]

Thank you everyone. I think I’ll decide to have him vetted to be on the safe side as he’s not cheap and still a youngster.