Vetting report from yesterday

Casey76

Casey76

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Lots of lessons learned today.

Uschuaïa passed the vetting, though I think I really understated what I wanted to do, saying hacking and dressage for pleasure, perhaps if I had said Club Elite CCE (1m ODE) things might have been different.

U was very uneven on a small circle on both hard and soft ground on the right rein. Vet said she wasn't sore in her feet despite U nipping the vet on the bum when using hoof testers on the quarter of the front right hoof :rolleyes: Passed flexion tests on all 4 legs, though it was a very "soft" flex which was held.

Fortunately I had asked for xrays.

Front right foot showed ossification on the wings of P3 :(

Vet said "not a big issue, you will need special shoes with a big bevel to support the foot, and you should avoid riding small circles" But still said she was fit for purpose :eek:

U's owners pushed hard for a decision; I fluffed a bit saying I wanted my own vet to review the xrays. Owners started laying on the guilt "when can that be done, we have other people interested in U"

I turned that right back round and said "in that case, I'm very sorry but no, I wont take her"

Then of course I got all of the why? Vet said it was OK...?

I felt really bad, and that I had to justify why I didn't want her. Said that I wanted a horse to have fun on, not one that I would have to have special trimming/shoeing, feed supplements, potential vet bills, worry that she would go lame in 5 minutes etc.

Again got the "vet said the ossification was nothing"; said "if she was older, I might have understood, but not in a 5 yo"

Us owners were really disappointed and a bit upset that I wasn't going to take her, with Peer saying "I think you will really regret this" How do you respond to something like that? I said "Yes, possibly" as I really do like her, but why borrow trouble?

I've basically left it so that the vet will send a CD of the xrays to me at the end of the week, and I'm supposed to get my vet to review them, then get back with a definitive answer asap.

On reflection, I'm not going to bother. TBH, although I really like U, as soon as I said that I wasn't going to take her I felt a big sense of relief, which kind of indicated that she probably wasn't for me anyway.

Very disappointed though :(
 
I absolutely would have done the same, no point starting out with trouble. I agree, at 5 you don't want to be seeing those sort of changes.

I'm sure the right horse will come along soon.

Good luck x
 
Good on you to stick to your guns, especially when the owners started pressuring you when you wanted your own vet to review the X-rays. If an owner was like that with me I'd say no and walk away. I think you made the right decision, I had a horse fail vetting last year and the vet said there are plenty of healthy horses out there that will probably do the things you want to do without special shoes, or potential of going lame. It's just a case of finding them!

Good luck in your continued search :)
 
Their response sounds fishy. If they had so much other interest then why would they hassle you like that? I think you've made the right decision, she sounds like an (uninsurable) bundle of vets bills waiting to happen. And I wouldn't be too happy with the vetting vet either :o
 
Natch said:
Their response sounds fishy. If they had so much other interest then why would they hassle you like that? I think you've made the right decision, she sounds like an (uninsurable) bundle of vets bills waiting to happen. And I wouldn't be too happy with the vetting vet either :o
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This totally.

If the horse was fifteen and competing it would be different and worth risking, but at only 5 and technically already unsound it is not worth the hassle.
 
Ha! I thought that too Natch, as it is the first time other interested people have been mentioned, and I've been corresponding with the owners for almost 3 weeks now.

As for the insurance, it is slightly different in France - or at least the insurance I've looked at. It is things like 50% surgery fees, mortality etc, but no diagnostics. Most of the time it is so expensive that most people don't insure and just have a separate bank account for horse related stuff.
 
@Wheels; no it wasn't their own vet, but it was a vet who attends other horses at the yard. But she didn't know U though.

Like I said, I don't know if the vet would have said something different if I had said I wanted to do eventing rather than hacking... so from now on I'll be saying eventing - even if it is a pipe dream lol!
 
OP you've definitely made the right decision - the fact you felt relieved when you said no says it all :( Onwards from here :)
 
Avoid riding small circles?! At 5! That's shocking. Good decision under that pressure.
If you were to sell the horse on at some stage you can be sure that another vet would not say the same.

I bought a horse that the vet said made a slight noise in his wind. He never went lame though and he was hunted etc. Anything to do with the feet I would not ignore
 
minimilton said:
Avoid riding small circles?! At 5! That's shocking. Good decision under that pressure.
If you were to sell the horse on at some stage you can be sure that another vet would not say the same.
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I know, right?

My own vet is an orthopaedic specialist (just by chance!), but I don't think it is worth the consultation charge for him to look at the xrays.

As I said, why borrow trouble? If she is unlevel now, at 5, what will she be like at 6 or 7, even with sympathetic trimming/shoeing and riding.

I don't want to be riding "sympathetically" I want to be out having fun! (I did enough riding "sympathetically" when my old boy was recovering from a hock spavin)
 
What a shame, but I think you made the right decision for a horse of that age.

Apologies for the cliche, but if I don't feel absolutely 100% about something I don't do it.
 
I can't believe that a vet would deem a horse that can't/shouldn't do small circles fit for purpose for dressage! Definately walk away, sad though it is.
 
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