Vetting horses pre-purchase.

[S_N]

Anyone had this experience. I recently sold my horse (he was right old git, so please be happy for me now) and the vet that did the 5 stage vetting on him, not only disbelieved me on several issues, but also concerned herself with what items of tack/rugs/boots/feed bowls etc were going with him. She also never used hoof testers on him, barely listened to his breathing/heart after canter phase and did not ask to see him back up. (I sure as heck wasn't going to remind her to do these things, after all a. she's the pro and b. she might find something). To top it all though she nocked £1,000 off the asking price!!!!?????? Is that even the vets concern???? Is it even ethical????? This was a 16.3 IDxTB gelding, 12yr old proper schoolmaster, ex-county standard MW hunter, who'd been there done that got the T-shirt, going with tack (Newish sabre bridle & Falcon saddle) and rugs. Yes he was a git on the ground - woman buying knew that before she came to see him, but was a charming ride. All for £3,000. What do you all think to that??

 

[Snowberry]

sounds odd to me! We always have our ponies vetting and never once has a vet asked what tack was coming with it or even try to renegoiate(sp) the price! Nothing to do with them, unless you were having him valued by the vet?
Did you ask the vet why they'd devalued him? Did he find something?
Surely a vetting isnt about manners? Its to check that all the bits are where they should be and that he will be suitable for the purpose that he is being bought for?

 

[slinky]

Was it the womans own vet? Could have been a scam?

 

[S_N]

That's what we thought, but ironically we recommended this practice to her as we didn't use them but knew someone that did!!

 

[S_N]

Yeah this vet said that he had arthiritis in one back leg, that was it. So what, horse was 12, had lived an active life - give him a joint supplement. It also transpires that she has 2 horses of her own, but both were given to her, so maybe she didn't know how to value a horse. When I say git on the ground I mean hard to catch (sometimes), pulled faces, tried to kill dogs and blokes. He was sooooooo grumpy, had back, teeth, feet, saddle etc checked out. Although he was an angel for the whole vetting!! She only wanted him to learn from and hack out, maybe do pre-lim dressage - no jumping at all!! Anyway I suppose happy ending of sorts as sold him for £2,500, no tack, but went with turn out rug. I was just incensed by this vet - she argued about laminitis rings with me, (see veterinary section). Well I suppose I kept my lovely tack!!

 

[tessa1965]

What a little Hitler. Probably had PMT and it was none of her concern regarding the tack etc. She should have discussed these things with her client not you. Perhaps she wanted the horse for herself!!!! I should sell the other goodies on Ebay and have a good slap up weekend on the proceeds!

 

[S_N]

Sounds about right - the woman that bought Tal said that the vet had commented that had he been 8 yrs old she would have been tempted to fail him so that she could buy him for herself - How freakin' corrupted is that!! As for ebay, did think about that, but fortunately bridle fits new horse and saddle has been used to trade in for new one - actually made on this deal too, which is a huge bonus, as bought the saddle on ebay really cheaply and saddler has valued at £250 more than I paid. So no grumbles there at all at all!!

 

[virtual]

It's up to you whether you accept the money the person is offering - just because the vet said it should be £1000 less doesn't mean you had to sell him for that. It is quite usual to use things brought up at vetting (like the arthritis) as a bargaining tool for price reduction, but this is usually done by the buyer and not the vet.

 

[Tia]

Honestly......I would report this vet. This is not standard procedure and in fact she didn't even perform the correct 5 stage from what you say. If I was you I would write a letter to the RCVS and tell them everything in a very clear and concise fashion.

 

[S_N]

Good idea, I'll have chat with my vet first - I hate to rock boats. Also it would be a case of my word against hers I suppose. But I will keep you posted. Thanks everyone.

 

[Tia]

Yes you do have to be a little bit careful especially if you live in a small community as you never know when you will have to have dealings with this other vet practice. Maybe what you should do is a bit of investigating - find out who the Partners are of this vet practice and maybe approach them informally instead. Maybe this woman is just a locum and if she is making boo-boos like this then it is definitely in the practice's interests to know.

 

[LauraBR]

Are x rays part of a 5 vetting? If not, how did she manage to diagnose arthritis?

 

[S_N]

X-rays are additional to a 5-stage. But he was clicking a bit, esp. after flexion on that hind leg - but wasn't un-sound on it.

 

[juliebrewer]

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm not bad for £3000, but you did not have to drop the price, you could of stuck it out.. The vet is there to advise the buyer and they do ask for the price etc. Maybe the vet thought he was'nt worth £4000. who knows..

 

[Tia]

This post is 2 years old - any reason to have raised it from the dead ?

.