Vetting Advice Please

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Miss_Millie

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I am having a 14 year old vetted before purchasing. I am assuming that 5* vetting is the way to go? A friend advised me that she may not come back completely clear due to age. I will only be using her for hacking, lesson once a week and fun rides, not doing competing or anything like that. I assume the vet will tell me what is general age related stuff vs. what is out of the ordinary.

Any other tips of what to look out for during a vetting?
 
Vettings aren't pass or fail , the purpose is to find out if the purchase of the horse represents an acceptable level of risk for the buyer. E.g if the horse is found to have mild breathing noises (roar ) but is intended as a happy hacker, the will provably recommend it for purchase, but not if the horse is intended for 3 day eventing at high level.

So there's no such thing as "come back clear". It really depends on the condition of the horse and the intended use.
(The vettings are either 2 stages or 5 stages , they're not star ratings ....)

Only thing to look out for is to listen to your vet - ideally you'd use your own vet with whom you have a relationship- and discuss any of your concerns with them.
If your vet doesn't recommend the horse for purchase then don't purchase it- otherwise there's no point in paying for a vetting.
 
as above plus how much are you paying? Cos that would influence me. If it was £2k I would get a 2 stage. If it was £15k the a 5 stage.

Also if anything goes wrong are you prepared to have a field ornament? Theres lots to consider and a lot of it is down tom your attitude to risk and what you can afford.
 
Parrotperson said:
as above plus how much are you paying? Cos that would influence me. If it was £2k I would get a 2 stage. If it was £15k the a 5 stage.

Also if anything goes wrong are you prepared to have a field ornament? Theres lots to consider and a lot of it is down tom your attitude to risk and what you can afford.
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The horse is 5k. Thank you for your advice everyone.
 
Miss_Millie said:
I am having a 14 year old vetted before purchasing. I am assuming that 5* vetting is the way to go? A friend advised me that she may not come back completely clear due to age. I will only be using her for hacking, lesson once a week and fun rides, not doing competing or anything like that. I assume the vet will tell me what is general age related stuff vs. what is out of the ordinary.

Any other tips of what to look out for during a vetting?
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I strongly recommend you get bloods done so you can get them tested if you end up with any issues after purchasing.
 
vets like to know what you are expecting the horse to do and usually give their decision with regards to that. my friend bought a 16 year old horse for hacking and pleasure rides and maybe pop over a log or 2. our vet took notice of what she wanted the horse for and said she was fine but if he had been vetting for someone who wanted to gallop about and compete he wouldnt have recommended purchase, so let your vet know everything first, good luck and fingers crossed we will soon be seeing pics of your new horse.:)
 
I had two horses vetted earlier in the year (5 stage) ; one vetting automatically included bloods the other didn't. The first one where we didn't buy the horse wasn't a "fail" but said recommended as suitable for a family horse subject to further ophthalmic investigations as the vet found small bilateral cataracts. The horse was only sales livery and the person selling her told me that I was inexperienced in vettings and the owner wouldn't want to have further investigations done. I spoke to the vet afterwards and he said he wouldn't buy the horse for his personal use without further investigations. I felt that if I did take this advice into serious consideration there wasn't much point in having paid for the vetting and decided not to to proceed with the purchase, as much to with the attitude of the seller as potential concerns about the cataracts.
 
You can get bloods with two stage, too. Just make it clear what horse's intended use is to vet and try to be there so if necessary you can discuss, but normally vet will ring you if you can't make it and discuss over phone. At 5k, you may have to go with 5 stage for insurance. Depends on provider (or if you want to insure!).
 
It might be worth discussing what you actually need in a vetting tbh. At the age of the horse you are vetting you may be able to cherry pick 'additions' to a 2 stage to get all the info you need. I would probably want a 2 stage but with bloods and foot x rays but that is just personal preference. Maybe discuss with your vet about what you actually need to know and how to get that info. Parts of a 5 stage vetting may not be relevant to your needs. I have had 2 stage, 5 stage and no vettings done on various horses - for each situation there is a level of vetting that is most appropriate. At 14 y/o my key concerns would be around maintenance issues such as arthritis so I would want x-rays of feet at least but I wouldn't need the full gallop under saddle work if there were no questions about heart or wind health!
 
I'd always recommend a five stage examination for a ridden horse - it's generally not a lot more expensive in the grand scheme of things and I've vetted plenty that are okay on the lunge/straight line but then a lameness or discomfort is evident ridden, or they flex badly following exercise etc. If the horse is found to be unsuitable in the first two stages then generally the vet will stop the exam at that point.

Personally, I wouldn't x-ray if you are planning on insuring and not spending enough to require it (I doubt for £5k they would ask for xrays), as chances are in a 14 year old horse there will be some x-rayable joint changes, which may not be causing a problem, but if they are found the insurance company will likely exclude those joints if there is a future lameness (potentially even years down the line).

Best of luck!
 
BronsonNutter said:
I'd always recommend a five stage examination for a ridden horse - it's generally not a lot more expensive in the grand scheme of things and I've vetted plenty that are okay on the lunge/straight line but then a lameness or discomfort is evident ridden, or they flex badly following exercise etc. If the horse is found to be unsuitable in the first two stages then generally the vet will stop the exam at that point.

Personally, I wouldn't x-ray if you are planning on insuring and not spending enough to require it (I doubt for £5k they would ask for xrays), as chances are in a 14 year old horse there will be some x-rayable joint changes, which may not be causing a problem, but if they are found the insurance company will likely exclude those joints if there is a future lameness (potentially even years down the line).

Best of luck!
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Good point!! I hadn't really considered the insurance implications of x rays as I don't generally insure. If @Miss_Millie is planning to insure then x rays might not be so clever :) Good luck with the vetting whatever you decide.
 
Anything the vet does find wrong/off will be excluded on insurance from then on too, so please consider if you're willing to accept the responsibility for those issues. For example, my daughter's pony was noted to be slightly pigeon toed during his vetting, and now I can't claim for front limb lameness associated with his ever so slightly quirky conformation.
 
The way that I see it is that there is no completely healthy adult horse, in the same way that there is no completely healthy human. I use my own vet, or if buying from abroad I am careful to explain exactly what job I need the horse to do, and then we talk through the issues and decide which are acceptable. If I have to use a different vet then I conference in my own vet if there is an issue that I am unsure about. Luckily he is also a friend so this is easy.

I don't insure, so no issues on that front, but I always prefer to know what I am buying, so for me to spend a little extra for vetting is well worth it.
 
For a 5 grand horse , if the vet finds a reason for something to be x-rayed I would just walk away.
At that price you can expect a sound, injury free horse without suspicious lumps and bulges that a vet might recommend radiographing.
 
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