Vetting result - thoughts please

terrierliz

terrierliz

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If a pony seemed to tick every box but vet says 2/5 lame after flexion on one side but showing no sign of pain, heat or swelling - would this be a definite no for you? Pony is 14 and in good health. Thanks in advance
 
Agree with Herewegoagain, I've known a 13yr 14.2hh pony fail the vetting, the purchasers bought him at a much reduced price - he went on to do really well eventing. I think it does depend on whether you can take the risk re vets bills and what you want to do with the pony
 
My daughters Connie x arab failed flexion on her hinds at 12. She was purchased anyway. She was not expensive. The only lame days she ever had were when she caught a hind leg in her rug sursingle in the field, it swelled and she was stiff for 24 hours. Then at 27 she developed lami secondary to cushings and was PTS as we couldn't get on top of it. She was a fabulous PC pony on all junior teams and jumped xc up to 2ft 9 and SJ up to 3 foot clear. Her dressage was a work in progress😂 and she retired sound at about 20 but continued to hack barefoot for several more years.
Ifbthe price is right and nothing else found it wouldn't bother me.
 
MuffettMischief said:
There aren’t many 14 year olds that will fly through flexion tests.
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I would have to disagree with this statement. I vet approx one horse a week (and have done for the past 20 years), and flex many others every week for other reasons. There are plenty of 14yos that are absolutely sound after flexion.
 
Would the sellers be prepared to let your vet talk to theirs..just to rule out previous issues with the leg? Your insurers will exclude that leg which may make investigations at a later date expensive for you. I’ve got to be honest all the horses I’ve bought, the oldest was 16, passed flexion tests and a 2/10ths lameness in my mare (13yrs) last year has become an expensive and time consuming project to fix.
 
Sure if it was cheap enough, but I would only want to hack and pop the odd 2ft course or do the odd fun ride or beach trip.

If I was looking for something to compete properly on, then no.
 
Essentially there is something going on in that leg - so if the sellers are willing to reduce the price and it really does depend on what work you are wishing to do with the pony? What did the vet say about it?
 
I’d maybe get a second opinion. I had a pony on trial who had failed on flexion tests but was vetted again a month later and was fine, l think he was about 8 when we bought him and went on until he was well into his 20s.
 
Gosh, its so hard isn't it? I was thinking about my experiences with vetting ponies over the past couple of days, having started to look for a first pony for granddaughter.

One the vet said why buy trouble with a "leg" I did wonder when they were rubbing in leg gel after riding.

Another beautiful dun Connemara we took to a PC rally on trial and I hesitated to vet a 7 year old but did anyway. Vet came and said dismount immediately as it had a bad heart. I cried all the way when I took it back to the seller.
 
SusieT said:
I'd 100% not buy. One leg only is a massive red flag that there's something in that leg. Unless I was prepared emotionally and financially to retire them if there was something.
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I have to say this too.

I bought my current horse at rising 17 with failed flexions in both hinds (one 2 and the other 3 tenths, I can't remember which was which). She ended up lame 3 months later with a keratoma, and after recovery from that, the box rest aggravated bone spavin in her hocks. She's now sound for what we are doing (hacking out fairly sedately but regularly), and I don't regret her as she's awesome and just what I needed, but she cost me about £3k in vet fees in the first year!

But you have to be prepared that if you buy something that failed flexions, it MIGHT be something. One leg I'd be more worried about than both, as it's asymmetrical, and less likely to be stiffness from oncoming arthritis or something more manageable.
 
Gamebird said:
I would have to disagree with this statement. I vet approx one horse a week (and have done for the past 20 years), and flex many others every week for other reasons. There are plenty of 14yos that are absolutely sound after flexion.
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Ditto!
My 15yr old ex 3* mare always flys through flexion tests! And her legs are horrifically wonky :)
 
Will they let you have the pony on trial?

I had a pony vetted which 'failed' trotting on a tight circle on hard ground. The owners said it had never been lame in their (lengthy) ownership.

They offered to let me take her on trial for a month, that month happened to coincide with Camp.
I spoke to my , who had performed the Vetting, and he said go for it, if she stays sound over camp etc. he would advise purchase and that's what we did.

I don't blame owners for not wanting to allow a trial period but in these circumstances it's worth an ask.
 
minesadouble said:
Will they let you have the pony on trial?

I had a pony vetted which 'failed' trotting on a tight circle on hard ground. The owners said it had never been lame in their (lengthy) ownership.

They offered to let me take her on trial for a month, that month happened to coincide with Camp.
I spoke to my , who had performed the Vetting, and he said go for it, if she stays sound over camp etc. he would advise purchase and that's what we did.

I don't blame owners for not wanting to allow a trial period but in these circumstances it's worth an ask.
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They won’t let pony on trial and I am nearly 300 miles away so don’t blame them for that.
 
One of mine failed mildly on flexions behind, vet wasn’t overly concerned and said she wouldn’t expect most 12yo to not be mildly positive to flexions, especially as he’d team chased 2 days before the vetting. We’ve had no major issues and he’s out eventing at BE90. I had his stifle medicated around 2 years later as he started disuniting in canter which was resolved after medicating, but to me that’s just general maintenance in a horse of his age (15 now).
 
Ours did have a bit of a dodgy flexion on her hind age 14, I think 1 or 2/10ths from memory. We bought her anyway as she ticked all our boxes. We did xray her this year as she was very stiff over winter (stabled a lot unfortunately as limited turnout at our old yard) and she does have hock arthritis. Shes had Arthramid injections and honestly flying she’s competing at pony club with my daughter and doing amazingly jumping etc. so in her case the flexions were correct, there was something there. We took the risk though and don’t regret it for a second she’s a one in a million pony for my daughter and we literally couldn’t ask for more. We’ve moved yards so she has 24/7 turnout which I think also helps the arthritis. At 14 it’s very common and she’d been jumped a fair bit in her past. Good luck x
 
My boy was 2/10ths lame behind bilaterally on flexion when he was 13. He was diagnosed with hock arthritis but happily carried on hunting who he was 19 with treatment and careful management.
 
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