**To Vet or Not to Vet** - that is the question ...

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A cheap horse's vet bills cost EXACTLY the same as an expensive horse's ones do. I always do a vetting no matter what.

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Yep...that was kinda my point, but I'm mumbled on and lost the point
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LOL! Yep, that's my problem usually, too!
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I'm too busy writing reams under the "What were horses like back in the 70's?" thread!!!
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There are some of us that are confident in our own abilities -

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I don't think choosing to vet shows either a lack of ability or a lack of confidence. I am very confident in my own ability to pick a healthy horse that would pass a vetting, however, I also respect my vet and know he would do his utmost to ensure a horse he was vetting was fit for purpose.

Without an xray machine you are never guaranteed what you are buying, if I was paying any more than £5k for a horse I'd want all 4 legs xrayed as part of the vetting to be sure there were no weaknesses. I'm sure you are confident in your own ability but do you have xray vision?
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Even if a horse passes a 5* vetting, it doesn't mean that it can't go lame next week - but it is a starting point and at least you shouldn't be buying a horse with a bad heart, or anything too awful.

(I had a 7 year old pony fail the vet with a dangerously bad heart condition, and I nearly didn't bother as it was young, but it could have dropped dead at any moment and the vet made my daughter get off it during the vetting!)
 
If you don't get it vetted and it has a prob that is something you have to deal with (and pay out for!). No-one is saying that a cheap horse's vets bills would be cheaper - they are the same. My loan horses vets bills are bankrupting me at the moment. A problem may or may not get picked up during a vetting - like others here I have heard both good and bad stories.
 
Absoloutely. I am a firm believer that the majority of purchasers are not as knowledgeable as a vet who is used to seeing problems day in day out. For 20o quid (less in N. Ireland ;p) it shouldn't be a question
 
Always had vetted apart from Breeze who I paid £200 - she would not have passed as she was in needs of tonnes of tlc but I knew she would turn out ok and was sound.

It is not so much the vets fees, but I am the sort who keeps to the end and would like a horse I can ride to the end if possible so at least I have some hope that anything major would be picked up to avoid heart ache.

Apart from Chancer who was only 14 months, and could only have 2*, I always go for 5* vetting and take blood.
 
i always have a vetting done, esp to check eyes- heart- and lungs! no amount of general horsey knowledge will beat the experts, imo, could cost much more than a vettin in the long run if there is a prob!!!
 
Of cours a vet can make a mistake or a horse go lame after it has been vetted but at least on has taken all sensible precautions to avoid something going wrong.

I have had both the two horses I bought vetted and between them they have given me 36 years of good fun.

I would under no circumstances buy a horse without having it vetted first.
 
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I always get 5 stage vetting (or 3 stage if a youngster). Even if you are not paying much the vets fees can really mount up if there is a problem

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I agree!

Re the stages - depends what age you mean by a youngster. I had a full 5-stage vetting, including 24 x-rays, done on a 2yo colt. It's no problem, the 'strenuous exercise' element can be done loose-schooling or lunging if the horse is too young to ride.

I completely trusted the owners of the horse, and there was no reason to suspect that anything might be wrong with him, but he was very expensive and the 5-stage vetting plus x-rays was required for insurance. I would have had it done anyway, as there can always be something wrong that the owners haven't spotted.

And as several people have pointed out, however experienced and skilled you are, there are things that can't be seen with the naked eye, or heard with the naked ear! I defy even the most experienced and expert person on here to detect a heart murmur without a stethoscope!!

Also, the vet will take and keep a blood sample which can be tested later if problems come to light that were masked by drugs at the time of the vetting. However experienced you are, you can't tell just by looking that a horse is on bute/sedatives, and might be hopping lame/lunatic when the drugs wear off!

I would have a 5-stage vetting even on a very cheap horse, even if it were not required for insurance. Yes, the vet bills might be covered, but what about ending up with a horse that you can't ride because it's always unsound or unwell? Not to mention all the anxiety and heartache of having a sick horse!
 
Personally would always have a vetting of sorts done.

Yes vets miss things but I had and would get a horse x-rayed for OCD if it was high risk category.
 
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