Vetting Costs

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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Sorry if this has been done to death before but the search function isn't working properly for me!

Something "big" has come up.... If I get the go-ahead, how much would I be looking at for a vetting? Does 5-Stage still exist? X-Rays included? I gather it's not a case of pass or fail nowadays.
 
5 stage still the norm - depends on the vet and how much travel, 250-400 for most.

Doesn’t include any diagnostics - scans/X-rays - you pay for those on top if you want them.
 
Thank you.
What sort of price would x-rays be? And at what point in the horse buying process would it be considered necessary to have x-rays? I'm looking at a riding club/pony club type, mainly for unaff SJing, with a budget of around £2500.
 
chickeninabun said:
Thank you.
What sort of price would x-rays be? And at what point in the horse buying process would it be considered necessary to have x-rays? I'm looking at a riding club/pony club type, mainly for unaff SJing, with a budget of around £2500.
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Depends how many X-rays you take 😜 But for a standard insurance package with a good performance Vet you are talking 700-1k all in.

For a 2.5K horse I wouldn’t be planning anything other than a 5 stage. If something crops up and the Vet likes the horse but wants to rule something out they may offer you the option to X-ray specific areas.

The big problem with X-rays is they are not always clear to interpret what is significant. But an insurance company will exclude whole joints/limbs if there is the tiniest hint of something even if the horse is sound.

At the small sum of 2.5K just 5 stage and insure for Vets fees. If you can’t afford to loose the 2.5K spend any extra on LOU insurance for the first year (if you buy a dud you generally know pretty quick!)
 
ihatework said:
Depends how many X-rays you take 😜 But for a standard insurance package with a good performance Vet you are talking 700-1k all in.

For a 2.5K horse I wouldn’t be planning anything other than a 5 stage. If something crops up and the Vet likes the horse but wants to rule something out they may offer you the option to X-ray specific areas.

The big problem with X-rays is they are not always clear to interpret what is significant. But an insurance company will exclude whole joints/limbs if there is the tiniest hint of something even if the horse is sound.

At the small sum of 2.5K just 5 stage and insure for Vets fees. If you can’t afford to loose the 2.5K spend any extra on LOU insurance for the first year (if you buy a dud you generally know pretty quick!)
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Thanks again. Sounds like good advice that x-rays are really to be expected.
We have loaned the horse for 6 months+, so we are fairly sure of what to expect with it, so it's really future problems but a vetting can't really rule those out anyway.
 
I just had a 2-stage vetting done on my horse, which was priced similar to yours. Cost me £175 if I remember correctly. Was advised that a 5-stage wasn't necessary for the likely intended use - riding club, low level unaff dressage, light schooling, hacking etc. We did take bloods though, on advice from the vet.

The vetting only tells you what the condition of the horse is on the day tho... any problems we've had since (ulcers, back and hock problems) weren't picked up at the vetting - she passed the flexion tests and being trotted up etc.

Good luck - hope the vetting goes well!
 
chickeninabun said:
Thanks again. Sounds like good advice that x-rays are really to be expected.
We have loaned the horse for 6 months+, so we are fairly sure of what to expect with it, so it's really future problems but a vetting can't really rule those out anyway.
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Ah well that’s a bit different.
Is the horse currently insured under your name? If so I’d consider not vetting, or at least not formally - then you will get continuation of insurance cover.

I bought a good competition horse after loaning her for 12 months. I knew what I was dealing with and had my insurance cover so didn’t want to rock the boat on that. As I was buying her for dressage I quietly had her flexed and hocks xrayed and hind high suspensories scanned before buying. Had those been positive they would have been deal breakers.
 
I'm paying for lots of vettings at the moment:mad:
Average seems to be £200 to £250 for 5 stage only - this is Devon.
Xrays of front feet and hocks plus the five stage is around £500 - this is with one vet nr Taunton and the other vet near Lambourne.
I did pay about £900 for a whole set of xrays and a 5 stage.:eek:
 
I paid around £120 for a 2-stage vetting, because we stopped it before taking bloods. It would have been about another £70 for bloods. (I should have stopped the moment the vet told me the horse was nine, not five, but we live and learn.)
 
Rather than spend the money on vetting I would spend it on good quality insurance including loss of use insurance (below £2500 for many insurance companies you won't need a vets certificate for loss of use)
A vetting is only of use for the day and if you've had the horse on loan for 6 months and had dentist, physio, vaccination in that time you probably already know everything a vetting will tell you.
There are literally 1000's of example on here of people who've had vetting then within 3-6 months something catastrophic has occurred. I have one who passed 5 stage and was crippled with arthritis in both hocks only 4 months later

Decent insurance will be much more use to you longer term.
 
had 5 stage done in august for chance, he was in stock on Trent area (area does make a difference!) did have x-rays a they are extra but blood was included cost me £230 including vat

which let me tell you is cheap compared to here on isle of man!!
 
Recently paid £340 for 5 stage inc call out and bloods in Buckinghamshire. Was about £100 less for 2 stage. The vet called at end of 2 stage to tell me what they’d found & to confirm wanted proceed.
 
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