Vetting an ottb

[Debsflo1]

Daughter is considering a young ottb .
Shes experienced and patient .
In no rush but as the horse is very green , only raced once and only 4 is it worth doing a 5 stage vetting or just the 2 stage.
Thoughts please.
I've only ever had 5 stage as I'm super cautious but am aware vetting is only good for the day

 

[muddybay]

I always do 5stage and you need it for some insurers!

 

[doodle]

Def do a 5 stage.

 

[Debsflo1]

OK even though horse is not worth much atm ?

 

[muddybay]

OK even though horse is not worth much atm ?

I think it's better to be safe than sorry! I've known heart defects sometimes to be picked up on 5 stage which you wouldn't have got on a two stage

 

[poiuytrewq]

I always think that if a horse is not worth anything and your hard as nails maybe not, however you can get a freebie who turns out your horse of a life time and causes heartache, which can be worse than loosing money.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I would do a 2 stage and take bloods. I have an ex racer and when he was vetted the vet was very thorough.

 

[doodle]

Even if cheep they can still have underlying issues. I guess the exception would be if you have the money to loose and pay for vet bills. Of course a vetting dosnt guarantee nothing will go wrong. It also means if you claim on insurance, if you have a vetting, they can say it’s pre existing. Tom was very cheep and was 5 stage vetted when I bought him and then by new owners when I sold 6 months later.

 

[be positive]

OK even though horse is not worth much atm ?

Unless you are prepared to pts if anything goes wrong it costs the same to treat a cheap one as an expensive one, insurance may cover but not if it proves to be something that might have shown at the vetting.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

For the price difference between the two and the fact that even the price of a 5 stage is a drop in the ocean compared to owning a horse I would always go with the 5.

 

[Debsflo1]

Neither of us are hard as nails but daughter has had to spend a lot of her savings moving away due to covid as she's a nurse.
The horse looks v green but sweet and I wasn't sure if needed.
Trying to be sensible
Do they check heart on a 2 stage ?

 

[Sossigpoker]

I'd be happy with 2 stage as it will check heart , lungs , eyes and soundness.

 

[criso]

I would. Even if the horse is cheap, if it develops an issue most people will try to diagnose and treat which could be much more than the horse cost. A lameness workup at a specialist vet hospital will be more than a 5 stage even before you treat. Something underlying could be picked up on the 5 stage and if it doesn't but something develops later, it's easier with insurance as they are less likely to argue underlying condition.

Some of the people who don't have a vetting and take a chance are prepared to cut their losses and pts or stick in a field if the horse develops a problem.

 

[criso]

2 stage will check the heart at rest, 5 stage will check heart (and lungs) after exercise.

 

[doodle]

The difference between the cost of a 2 stage and 5 stage is about £100. To me that is a very well spent £100. I had a horse vetted that I had totally fallen in love with. He had had an operation with seller said 100% was no issue now. When vet dug it turns out he was bilaterally 2/10 lame and the mri showed changed that would cause issues. We trotted up and he was lame behind. I hadn’t seen it, owner denied it. I could have very easily bought a crocked horse.

 

[AmyMay]

The difference in costs between 2 and 5 stage is not that much. Always go for a5 stage vetting, regardless of how cheap (or otherwise) a horse is.

 

[muddybay]

Neither of us are hard as nails but daughter has had to spend a lot of her savings moving away due to covid as she's a nurse.
The horse looks v green but sweet and I wasn't sure if needed.
Trying to be sensible
Do they check heart on a 2 stage ?

To my knowledge they only examine the heart at rest

 

[ycbm]

Neither of us are hard as nails but daughter has had to spend a lot of her savings moving away due to covid as she's a nurse.
The horse looks v green but sweet and I wasn't sure if needed.
Trying to be sensible
Do they check heart on a 2 stage ?

If you are short of money to do a full vetting, and neither of you are hard as nails, then I'm very sorry but I'd question whether an off the track TB is a wise choice. They can be expensive to keep even if they stay well.
.

 

[Debsflo1]

If you are short of money to do a full vetting, and neither of you are hard as nails, then I'm very sorry but I'd question whether an off the track TB is a wise choice. They can be expensive to keep even if they stay well.
.

I have a walking vet bill different breed so well aware any horse can have issues.
Its more related to being very young that I was wondering about the vetting.

 

[muddybay]

If you are short of money to do a full vetting, and neither of you are hard as nails, then I'm very sorry but I'd question whether an off the track TB is a wise choice. They can be expensive to keep even if they stay well.
.

I agree they can be very expensive horses on feed, rugs, training ect in the grand scheme of owning a horse £100 is not much it's less than a months livery and it'll be a lot more if there's an issue that's not covered on insurance because of the vetting

 

[Debsflo1]

Yes hadn't realised there was little difference in price......been a few years since I've had a vetting

 

[doodle]

Tom was very young and green. The hard exercise was difficult as he could never bother his backside to put in any energy. Rider was knackered. Your potential horse has been ridden. All they need to do is work hard enough to get their breathing and heart rate up. They don’t need to be going beautifully.

You seem keen for everyone to say just do a stage 2

 

[Debsflo1]

Genuinely not ....if I was I wouldn't have asked .

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Remember to advise the vet that if there is something pretty obvious (that will hinder the horse and give you exclusions on insurance) at the start of the vetting, then to stop and advise you.

 

[ycbm]

I have a walking vet bill different breed so well aware any horse can have issues.
Its more related to being very young that I was wondering about the vetting.

I was thinking as much of feed, rugs, losing shoes, frequent shoeing, big changes in shape so saddle fitting/exchanging charges, trainer help, ... I've owned quite a few straight of the track and that's my experience with them.

Apologies if the input isn't helpful, please ignore it.
.

 

[Equi]

I would probably want a 5* done on a young cheaper ottb horse, esp if they have only raced once. Why have they? Was something wrong with the horse physically that it was not fast enough? If your daughter intends to keep the horse, its better to know all the dirty secrets before becoming emotionally invested.

 

[laura_nash]

Its more related to being very young that I was wondering about the vetting.

A 4 year old ottb is quite different from a barely handled 4 year old though.

I only had a 2 stage for my boy when I got him as he was too fat and unfit to do the 5 stage but I would always go for a 5 stage if there aren't practical issues. For me it's vet or don't vet and if your vetting 5 vs 2 stage is on the basis of do 5 unless you can't.

 

[be positive]

I would probably want a 5* done on a young cheaper ottb horse, esp if they have only raced once. Why have they? Was something wrong with the horse physically that it was not fast enough? If your daughter intends to keep the horse, its better to know all the dirty secrets before becoming emotionally invested.

That is worth asking, it may be 4 with only one run but it could have been in training for 2 years or so with numerous issues stopping it actually getting on the track, it is fairly unusual for a horse to have just one run however slow it seems in the race if it showed some talent at home they tend to get a few runs to see if they get the hang of it, after all it takes months to prepare them so worth having a couple of tries.

 

[ycbm]

Good point BP, I don't think I've ever bought one with only 1 run. I used to buy 3 or 4 year olds at Doncaster which were too slow, but none of them only ran once. Once at 2 isn't that uncommon, then leave it to 3 to see if it improves with age, but you'd want to see at least a couple of runs at 3 before they give up on it just because it's too slow.
.

 

[Melody Grey]

Vetting aside, it’s always worth seeing if previous owner will share vet notes. The last OTTB I nearly bought had ended up with a dealer. On digging, found a broken fetlock in training and then returned for one race before retiring. On the second viewing it was apparent he was lame on that leg- so didn’t even get as far as a vetting but glad I knew the history. May have been unrelated but glad I knew!