Vetting a horse you know well

If you were thinking of buying a horse you have known and handled since birth and ridden for over a year, would you still have it vetted to check for heart murmurs or anything else you think you may have missed? Would you have a 5* vetting or a more basic one or none at all? (btw have no reason at all to think horse might have heart mumur, just one of those things you can't see!)
 
AmyMay

AmyMay

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I was interested in buying the mare I had on loan whilst Amy was preggers. She was out of my price range, so didn't pursue it. But I've known her all her life, and ridden it extensively.

Basically new all about her - so no wouldn't have had it vetted.
 
If it was very expensive then I might have it vetted but for most horses I could afford, it wouldn't seem neccessary if I knew the horse and it's history.
 
Even though you know the horse well, it wouldn't hurt to get him checked over. Regarding the level of vetting see what each level involves.

Better to be safe than sorry and it will put your mind at rest when he passes his vetting
 
You might need it vetted for insurance purposes?

My friend had a lovely horse on a short loan with a view to buy. We all really liked it, but when she came to getting it vetted it failed being 2 10ths lame!. Not one of us could see it, but the vet said it had week suspensory ligaments. Would probably have broke down when she started eventing!.

vets may spot things you don't

Fi x
 
I would certainly have it vetted. You dont know what sort of problems may lie underneath. Even if you have known it for a long time, you dont necessarily know if it has any underlying problems
 
Thanks for your advice everyone. I think I will contact the his vets and ask what sort of service they can do as a basic check over. This isn't something I need to do immediately but need to make the decision in the next few months. Despite having ridden all my life, he will be my first horse. I plan to keep this horse for life and just want to know that we will be able to do at least the lower levels of affilliated dressage and SJ. Anything beyond that will be a bonus
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I don't know what I'll do if anything bad did come up because I love him! But I really don't want to buy and then get two months down the line and find something that makes him unrideable or not fit for what I want to do - mind you, looking at some poor peoples horses on here you just never know what is around the corner. At least if I do everything I can however I'm giving me and him the best possible chance!
 
Don't just look at it as an "either/or" situation - look at it like having your mechanic check out a car you're thinking of buying.

If he is sound doing what you want now and has never given you pause for thought in the time you've known him it's unlikely the vet will find anything to worry about immediately but if there is something brewing it will give you a chance to consider what you may or may not be willing to live with. Worst case scenario, if something worrying does show up, you will be able to gauge whether or not the good outweighs the bad AND start early managing the concern properly.

I would recommend it for the sake of your relationship with the seller as well, as presumably you know him/her and are on good terms. I know that sounds slightly counterintuitive but the sellers have no idea what's going on inside the horse either. If, god forbid, something does come up later having a clean bill of health today will prevent the sneaking suspicions that can start in such situations.

It's too bad vettings have become attempts at crystal ball readings. The reality is anything alive ha irregularities and imperfections - it's part of life. Not every pimple ends in disaster. By the same token everything starts somewhere so a horse can easily be sound today and compromised tomorrow. There are no guarantees. BUT having the most information you can allows you to make the best decisions, no matter how you proceed.

I hope it works out well - how lucky you are to have found a horse you want to have forever.
 
I bought Ron about 4 years ago from a friend. I had exercised and schooled Ron for him, and had been around the horse for about 3 years prior to buying him. Before that his history was basically unknown.

I did get him vetted, mostly for the insurance requirements. the guy i bought him from said he was sound, but that he understood that it wasn't anything against him that i wanted the horse vetted.

Sure enough horse came up sound and i bought him, but glad I did get him vetted - you never know what's lurking!
 
When I bought Grace I had her on loan previously for four months... I didn't have her vetted, however for insurance I did have a two stage done later in the year. It all depends on your insurance to be honest.
 
Again really good advice, TarrSteps, you're right, I do know the seller very well and I'm sure she'll understand. Thanks for the estimated price, and certainly agree with you there on £100 well spent! Heart, eyes, lungs, legs and trot up sounds just what I'm looking for - I'm not worried about x rays etc as the horse had a kissing spine operated on 2 years ago so when that was diagnosed he had various bone scans, x rays etc which would have picked up anything else unusual I'd have thought.

I will also look up insurance but it seems hard to do anything like that until you have actually agreed to have the horse and can input all the current owners details etc. I tried to get a quote as an idea on SEIB online once and its not like car insurance etc is it, just type in the reg no. and go! Was a very long process and I didn't have all the info to hand and also didn't want to be putting in sellers information into something I was using as an estimator if you get what I mean! Seller couldn't give me an accurate indication of what she pays already as she pays for all 5 of her horses (all different types!) together and isn't sure what the breakdown is.

Keeping my fingers crossed, if its right for me to have him the pros will outweigh the cons and yes, I am lucky to have found a horse I want for life! Shall I buy him a ring?!
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sorry taken so long to post reply, HHO being naughty and not letting me on!
 
im insured with NFU and had a 2 star vetting on my youngster which they were more than happy with.

i only wanted the things like eyes, ears,lungs etc vetted as he wasnt broken.
if i knew the horse well i would probably do the same thing unless horse was very expensive!
 
I didn't have oscar vetted before I brought him - last owner had him 5 stage vetted and he'd been stuck in a field for a year so knew there was probably nothing else to report.....
 
No he's not very expensive (its still a lot of money to me but not expensive compared to most of the horses in H&H these days!). His owner has told me the price she'll put him on the market for but she'll sell him to me for cheaper as I've put a lot of work into him. I think a 2 stage sounds like a good idea, thank you
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