Vettings - What's your opinion?

[Carefreegirl]

Last 2 horses I bought I had 2 stage. The first was unbroken and the 2nd just off the race track so figured no point having a 5 stage as she had only run 2 weeks prior. Insurance company wanted a copy of vets cert for 2nd one but the one before was about 15yrs ago so prob vert cert not required back then. If spending decent money I would have a 5 stage and poss bloods. A friend was buying a horse recently but vetting showed up a heartbeat of 49bpm after resting so worth the cost of the vetting to save her potentially quite a few thousand pounds.

 

[Miss L Toe]

Last 2 horses I bought I had 2 stage. The first was unbroken and the 2nd just off the race track so figured no point having a 5 stage as she had only run 2 weeks prior. I A friend was buying a horse recently but vetting showed up a heartbeat of 49bpm after resting so worth the cost of the vetting to save her potentially quite a few thousand pounds.

The average resting heartbeat may be 35 to 40, but is 49 a bad sign or is is just at the end of the "normal " curve.
When the vet went in to my mare's stable she it was obvious that she had an elevated HB due to his presence, this may have settled during the exam, which was so intensive, that I had to protest, she was being sold as a child's pony, not a three day eventer.
I agree I would not have a horse recently raced vetted, most are sold because they are slow, but they could also have had issues, eg wind/bleeding/lameness, so I think one has to be careful, particularly if it is the owner not the trainer who is selling.

 

[BBH]

I would never buy a horse without a vetting. It may be a snapshot in time but I want as much information as possible to make an informed choice. Its not just about lameness for me I want to know that the horse isn't blind, heart problems, deaf etc etc all things that can and will effect his life.

Its not just the practicalities of the horses health its more the emotional heartache when your horse breaks down and you've paid £000's to buy and keep him. I'd try and avoid problems at any cost.

Anything that protects people from dodgy dealers aswell is a good thing so if the new vet practices are more transparent and it becomes harder to sell horses so be it.

 

[Puppy]

I would never buy a horse without a vetting. It may be a snapshot in time but I want as much information as possible to make an informed choice. Its not just about lameness for me I want to know that the horse isn't blind, heart problems, deaf etc etc all things that can and will effect his life.

Its not just the practicalities of the horses health its more the emotional heartache when your horse breaks down and you've paid £000's to buy and keep him. I'd try and avoid problems at any cost.

/\ /\ This.

My vet failed a horse I was going to buy last summer (for several thousands of £s) and although upsetting at the time, I'm GLAD if it spares me the heartbreak of another LOU case.