Vetting and Insurance

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Padge69

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Can anyone advise me on having a horse or pony vetted and insurance if they are rehomed from a rescue centre? Usually, ''some'' of these horses, have certain issues, ie. dental, leg injuries, and believe this would affect vetting and insurance? Is that right? How do you go about it? I would like to rehome but if a horse has an existing injury or problem that won't be insured, what do others do? Thank you.
 
I wouldn't expect to get a vetting done on a horse being loaned from a rescue, you would hope they have already dealt with any physical issues, have done a proper assessment as to whether they can be ridden in the new home or are suitable as companion only, insurance will be required but may have exclusions based on the available veterinary history, any ongoing treatment may be paid for by the rescue centre, it will all depend on their T&C's for rehoming.
 
World Horse Welfare (and I believe Bransby, Redwings and HAPPA) give all their horses a 2 stage vetting before they leave for new homes. My insurance company (Petplan) accepted a photocopy of this as a vetting and have had no questions/exclusions as a result. As said by Be Positive, good charities won’t rehome a lame/injured horse to you, I tried to rehome an older companion from them but he trotted up 1/10 lame on vetting and couldn’t take him. This lameness was the beginning of a condition that led to extensive work ups and eventually euthanasia so, whilst I was disappointed at the time, they were working with both our best interests at heart.

With regards to existing conditions, horses are horses unfortunately. Regardless of being rescues or not, some will come with pre-existing issues which probably won’t be covered by insurance. It’s up to you to take the measured risk but I wouldn’t be deterred if it’s something that’s been resolved, any horse can get a dental abscess or a leg wound and it doesn’t mean they will again or that the insurance company will exclude all dental issue or wounds in the future (if they’re a good insurance company!).
 
Most insurance companies won't ask for a vets certificate if your purchase price is less than £4-5k. As you are planning on loaning from a charity the rehoming fee is likely to be pretty small so you should be able to get insurance without needing to do an independent 5 stage vetting.

If you want a full vetting for your own purposes then of course you will need to share it with them but if the vet finds anything really nasty it's likely you wouldn't go ahead with the loan anyway - presumably.
 
Thank you for your replies. I think I am just skeptical. If a 2 stage vetting is all that is required for horses under 4 - 5k then that's ok...I thought they had to have a five stage vetting as standard. I think its knowing whether a horse/pony has been treated for anything in the past and whether this would be excluded on insurance, but if it reoccurs then you could be left with a pricey problem.
 
Many insurance companies don't ask for any vetting below a certain value.

Coming from a charity it's unlikely that anyone will have a full vet history, you can only share with the insurers what you (and the charity) are aware of

Loaning from a charity gives you the comfort that if anything major and long lasting happens you do have the option of returning them rather than start expensive treatment if you aren't covered by insurance. If you find one you like that does have something causing an issue that doesn't put you off then I am sure you can have a pragmatic conversation with the charity about who pays for what if it's un-insurable.
 
If you are rehoming from a reputable charity I don’t think there is a point to any vetting as the horse will have thoroughly assessed and all issues known. You don’t need any vetting to get insurance if horse is not of high value(varies per company). I had a pony from a rescue centre for years, he was insured no problem then when I had him pts last Christmas due to injury, the insurance paid vet bill, death and disposal.
 
Polos Mum said:
Many insurance companies don't ask for any vetting below a certain value.

Coming from a charity it's unlikely that anyone will have a full vet history, you can only share with the insurers what you (and the charity) are aware of

Loaning from a charity gives you the comfort that if anything major and long lasting happens you do have the option of returning them rather than start expensive treatment if you aren't covered by insurance. If you find one you like that does have something causing an issue that doesn't put you off then I am sure you can have a pragmatic conversation with the charity about who pays for what if it's un-insurable.
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Thanks again for your reply. At the minute there doesn't appear to be any riddable rehomers in my local area, therefore, Im looking at those on Preloved, Quest etc to buy as well. The benefit of loaning as you say, is you can return to the centre should there be issues but should this be the case where I do buy, then I think knowing a 2 stage vetting will suffice, then that isn't too bad regards getting them insured. I suppose a horses veterinary history is the one to look for then you can decide on that?
 
teddypops said:
If you are rehoming from a reputable charity I don’t think there is a point to any vetting as the horse will have thoroughly assessed and all issues known. You don’t need any vetting to get insurance if horse is not of high value(varies per company). I had a pony from a rescue centre for years, he was insured no problem then when I had him pts last Christmas due to injury, the insurance paid vet bill, death and disposal.
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Thank you for you reply. Sorry to hear of your loss. I appreciate you sharing your experience. This is helpful, thanks.
 
Yes - if you are looking to buy then asking for a copy of their vets history is a good idea anyway. Anything on there to cause you concern you can halt the purchase.

You can share with your insurance company to make sure they are happy too before you buy.
 
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