vetting a foal

Not had a foal vetted but had a rising 2 year old vetted earlier this year and was a basic 2 stage ears, eyes, heart checked seen walked up in hand and flex tests done and bloods also taken thats all. Had to get it done due to her value for the insurance.
 
Had an 8 month old vetted last year. He had eyes, heart and lungs checked and I asked the vet to look for any conformational defects that were glaring/important as I had never bought a foal before. She also checked his movement trotted up in hand.

She made some helpful comments about his conformation which I would not have spotted! She did not say "buy" or "don't buy" but when I asked she said "it would not bother me if I was buying!" which was very helpful. I would make sure your vet is independent (not the sellers vet) and knows what you want to do in the future.
 
Well, if it helps mine was living out in a field so the vet had nowhere to check his eyes in the dark so put a big coat and hood over his head and hers - she said it tested his spookiness very well:eek:
He also had to be trotted up down a country lane with lots of spooky stuff as there was no proper hard standing in the field - so again she felt a good test of temprement. He passed with flying colours and the vet loved him!:D I expected him to pass the actual basics but wanted a professional eye on him before I paid as I felt we did not have the experience to see all conformational faults. Hope yours does well!
 
I'll be honest and say that whenever I have bought a youngster (under 3yo and not backed) I have never bothered with a vetting...... I have bought about 5 youngsters over the yrs and been lucky enough not to have had any major problems, but that's MY choice...... the 1 youngster (weanling) I DID have vetted ended up being PTS as a 4yo due to DJD (or OCD I believe it's now called) in both hocks!

I have only ever had ridden horses vetted.

But, realistically, the only vetting which can be done on a youngster is a 2 stage..... (IMO)..
 
Please don't let a vet do flexion tests on a foal (or, under advisement any horse under 2) as there is pretty conclusive evidence that they can cause serious and potentially long term damage to the joints, particularly if the horse resists at all. It's not even a very good test for a horse that age in terms of "diagnostic" evidence.

Not long ago I saw a yearling permanently damaged by a farrier pull a leg up too hard for too long so whatever lingering doubts I might have had about the advice were put to rest.
 
I bought a my horse as a weanling, I was advised to have his heart, wind and sight checked.

I couldn't get him vetted - he was a good few hours from where I live- number of reasons including the local vet not giving me the best of impressions over the phone.

So I bought him, transported him to mine and had my vet look at him, included in the contract of sale that if anything arose from heart, wind and sight then he would be returned subject to a vets report.

He was fine. I agree I wouldnt have done flexion tests, I would just look at confirmation generally, including feet size shape etc, take into account has he been trimmed etc. when you see him move you will be able to look at straightness etc
 
I bought my mare as an 8month old foal, and did have her vetted. This ended up including stifle x-rays as vet was concerned there was swelling. However x-rays were clear so no sign of OCD. I'm glad I did it because I wouldn't necessarily have noticed that, and it could easily have been a problem. Presume it was just a 2-stage though.
 
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