Vetting for paddock condition horse

[S.AAnderson]

Hi everyone

As C19 restrictions being to ease up here in Australia I am hoping to restart my search for a new horse. There is one gelding which I particularly like the look of, but he is currently out of regular work and in paddock condition. I have been speaking to his owner fairly regularly the last couple of weeks, and she has emailed me a load of photos/videos of him being ridden and out competing prior to his 'holiday'. He was turned away a couple of months ago due to lack of time and not injury (so I have been told).

I have never purchased a horse in paddock condition before and it makes me feel a little nervous. How does it differ in terms of trialing and vetting procedures? Would you make a point of paying for xrays & blood work? I just plan on some happy hacking and low level competitions where time permits...nothing too flashy!

Thanks

 

[be positive]

I would not advise a happy hacker to buy an unfit horse if at all avoidable, horses often change once fit and what seems to the the ideal horse will be totally different once fit, if the owner is completely genuine it should be possible to get it back up to a reasonable level within a couple of weeks, if it has only had a couple of months off and no injury he will not have lost that much fitness, that way everyone can be happy knowing the horse has the best chance of a good home and you can try him properly before buying, I would still expect to see him twice if possible.

A full vetting is possible, the fast work is only required to get the heart rate up so if the horse is not fit it will need less than a fitter one, I would always take bloods to store, it covers the seller as well as the buyer if anything goes wrong they can prove it was not on drugs, over here xrays would not be done for most low level horses and even higher level ones may only get a few if there is a clinical reason to do them or if insurance wants them so I would not get any unless the vetting threw up a question, but if it did I would probably pull out anyway.

 

[S.AAnderson]

I would not advise a happy hacker to buy an unfit horse if at all avoidable, horses often change once fit and what seems to the the ideal horse will be totally different once fit, if the owner is completely genuine it should be possible to get it back up to a reasonable level within a couple of weeks, if it has only had a couple of months off and no injury he will not have lost that much fitness, that way everyone can be happy knowing the horse has the best chance of a good home and you can try him properly before buying, I would still expect to see him twice if possible.

A full vetting is possible, the fast work is only required to get the heart rate up so if the horse is not fit it will need less than a fitter one, I would always take bloods to store, it covers the seller as well as the buyer if anything goes wrong they can prove it was not on drugs, over here xrays would not be done for most low level horses and even higher level ones may only get a few if there is a clinical reason to do them or if insurance wants them so I would not get any unless the vetting threw up a question, but if it did I would probably pull out anyway.

Thank you. An excellent point regarding the change in character once fit, I'm certainly not wanting to 'over horse' myself these days! I think I prefer the idea of being able to jump on and go too...which wouldn't be the case here.

I'll keep watching the market as I am sure more suitable horse will be advertised in the coming weeks (sadly).