Vettings? Worth it or not?

[L&M]

Another thing to consider is how much you trust the 'seller' - our recent purchases have been from families who were happy to divulge an honest vet history, but I may be more sceptical if buying from a dealer….

 

[kc100]

Yes! Always, regardless of what you are using the horse for. The amount for the vetting is nothing compared to the cost of something major that can be found during the vetting. Plus most insurers need a vetting now anyway so might as well get it done.

My friend had a cob vetted she was planning on buying as a happy hacker/confidence giver type - turns out he has OCD in his hock (vetting showed stiffness so got him x-rayed). He was going to cost £5k as he's a lovely type, maxi-cob super safe and with a temperament to die for. £5k is a lot of money to pay for something with OCD! So she's got him on long term loan instead, saved herself £5k and when he starts to struggle (his OCD is very minor vet said, gave it a 1 on a scale of 1-10) he can go back to his owner for a quiet life.

I had my WB yearling vetted when I bought him, only stage 2 of course, but I wanted the peace of mind that I wasnt buying something that wasnt going to be fit for purpose in 3-4 years time.

Friends of mine who have bought cheaper horses without vettings always seem to get stung - one at my yard is currently forking out thousands for investigative work on her horses back, vets cant figure out what is wrong but he definitely has KS plus poor conformation (a vetting would have flagged that), plus further issues they are nerve blocking to get to the bottom of. She just wanted him as a happy hacker/low level horse too.

Yes vettings are not cheap, but nothing about horses is cheap - why not give yourself the peace of mind that the major things have been checked. Yes things go wrong in the future that may have been missed in the vetting, but providing you go with a good vet that has been recommended then I think it does save you money in long run.

 

[glamourpuss]

Horse 1 - bought aged 3. didn't have vetted. Vet checked eyes & heart at vaccinations. Also flex tested him for interest...was horrifically stiff behind, suggested it could be start of OCD or arthritis in hocks. 16 years later after a full career of affiliated eventing, dressage, show jumping & hunting I retired him as he had started going unsound due to DJD in a fore fetlock. Up to then he'd had 3 episodes of lameness in his whole working career. Hocks never caused any issue.
Horse 2 - didn't have vetted, but I could see he had terrible feet & weak conformation. My heart definitely ruled my head. He's now done a suspensory & we've discovered navicular changes. Although neither of these things would've been discovered at an ordinary vetting any way so who knows.

 

[Landcruiser]

I had a 5 stage for my first, and got completely stitched up by the (very well known) vet, who was in the dealer's pocket as it turned out. I paid £300 to learn that my new horse was 7 years old max (he was really at least double that according to dentist and other vets). He was also sound and a good proposition. Within 6 weeks he'd gone lame, and several thousands of pounds and a few years later I now have a field ornament who has never been riding sound for more than a few months at a time. He has evidence of old injuries which the vet didn't mention and I was too inexperienced to spot. Don't get me started!

 

[Goldenstar]

Horse 1 - bought aged 3. didn't have vetted. Vet checked eyes & heart at vaccinations. Also flex tested him for interest...was horrifically stiff behind, suggested it could be start of OCD or arthritis in hocks. 16 years later after a full career of affiliated eventing, dressage, show jumping & hunting I retired him as he had started going unsound due to DJD in a fore fetlock. Up to then he'd had 3 episodes of lameness in his whole working career. Hocks never caused any issue.
Horse 2 - didn't have vetted, but I could see he had terrible feet & weak conformation. My heart definitely ruled my head. He's now done a suspensory & we've discovered navicular changes. Although neither of these things would've been discovered at an ordinary vetting any way so who knows.

What makes you think that the navicular pain would not have shown at vetting .

 

[catkin]

and that's before we get into then huge list of things a vetting can find out that the vendor might have no idea about .

This is so true - even with a youngster bred by people you know! Happened to me.

Last few horses I've bought have been babies - a two stage is usually worth it even for them - at least you've got an idea if there are any obvious weaknesses - it's then up to you what you do about it.

 

[conniegirl]

I don't bother with vettings unless I'm paying more than £3k for a horse and then I would have xrays and bloods done as well (and then only because the insurance will require one). I've a lot of experience and normaly take a friend or my sister with me to stop heart ruleing head (with my latest one she was absolutly no help at all, her words where "if you dont buy him I will!").

I've had 4 horses vetted and tbh if i knew then what I do now I wouldnt have bothered.

Pony 1, lovely 8 yr old 15hh arab passed a 5 stage vetting with flying colours, bought to be a show horse. 6 weeks later was lame on all 4 and it was found he had an old spinal injury that rendered him a very light hack only. Bloods tested and they came back clear.

Pony 2, 10yr old 14hh connemara, failed a 5 stage vetting mainly on flexion tests. I bought him any way, insurance excluded both hocks. We had 10 years together doing medium level dressage and county showing with never a day lame!

pony 3, Lovely coloured SHP, 3yr old so only a 2 stage done but he passed with flying colours. he actualy had a fractured pelvis (discovered whilst attempting to break him as he was a very bad bolter) that the vet said had been there for many years. He died aged 7 when his heart just stopped. Postmortem showed an enlarged heart.

Pony 4, stunning show cob Failed vetting on supposed navicular changes in his feet so I didnt buy him. A friend of mine bought him, got a decent farrier to see to his feet and they so far have had 15 years of showing, one day eventing and general fun, the horse is now 27 and still in full work with no signs of navicular!

So I no longer bother with vettings as they have let me down every time.

My current lad has not been vetted and so far he has been one of the best buys i've ever made.

 

[glamourpuss]

What makes you think that the navicular pain would not have shown at vetting .

Because the navicular changes have only been discovered as a result of requesting specific X-rays. Prior to doing his suspensory he was sound & eventing.
I hate to be one of those posters who add information...sorry! Basically horse did suspensory didn't improve with box rest etc, as the insurance claim was open we decided to really dig to see if we could find a reason why. He's never blocked for the foot or anything & the changes didn't show on the 1st lot of foot x-rays he had done.
That said he is the horse that I do wish I'd had vetted, like you say SOMETHING might've been thrown up....who knows!

 

[Goldenstar]

Because the navicular changes have only been discovered as a result of requesting specific X-rays. Prior to doing his suspensory he was sound & eventing.
I hate to be one of those posters who add information...sorry! Basically horse did suspensory didn't improve with box rest etc, as the insurance claim was open we decided to really dig to see if we could find a reason why. He's never blocked for the foot or anything & the changes didn't show on the 1st lot of foot x-rays he had done.
That said he is the horse that I do wish I'd had vetted, like you say SOMETHING might've been thrown up....who knows!

Many horses fail vetting because the vets find heel pain with the hoof testers it's the thing I have had horses fail with the most .

 

[ghostie]

Have had mine vetted and it has mainly been worthwhile. Most recent purchase was a highland pony youngster so just got a 2 stage. It highlighted a couple of things which didn't stop me purchasing but were useful to know. Only problem is insurer used it to add lots of exclusions! Horse had mild diarhorea as had just come in from grass to hay and now all gastro illnesses are excluded as are skin conditions as vet found a couple of very small bits of hard skin which could be sarcoids but then again may not be. No problems have transpired in either area. It is a bit bizarre that if I hadn't had him vetted no exclusions would apply. I now have to go through the hassle of trying to get exclusions removed in a years time- at least the gastro one.

If I were you I'd write to the insurance company and ask for those to be listed. Last horse I had vetted it transpired the horse had had a previous abccess. Insurance company duly excluded abcesses - I wrote and asked them to reconsider as one didn't make further ones more likely and they removed it. Lots of other people I know have had similar experiences - insurance companies seem to just slap it on to see if they can get away with it but often remove them once challenged

 

[Merlin11]

If I were you I'd write to the insurance company and ask for those to be listed. Last horse I had vetted it transpired the horse had had a previous abccess. Insurance company duly excluded abcesses - I wrote and asked them to reconsider as one didn't make further ones more likely and they removed it. Lots of other people I know have had similar experiences - insurance companies seem to just slap it on to see if they can get away with it but often remove them once challenged

Thanks. Yes I did query it but they said they can't be removed until renewal. At that stage I can get the vet to confirm that there have been no problems and they may then remove them.

 

[MargotC]

Didn't have my first vetted. Had a full vetting on my second. Neither had problems show up at a later date that would have been caught at time of vetting, but in the case of my second horse I at least knew the state of things going in. If I were to purchase again I would at the very least get a two stage done just to ensure I wasn't about to hop aboard a horse that might keel over. Probably a full vetting as I'd rather be safe than sorry, and by experience I do know some sellers can be a bit "forgetful" about facts - one horse I tried was described as fully sound by both seller and seller's vet and seller's farrier, but a quick search found seller describing foot problems on an online forum a couple of years before. I had deliberately asked about full medical history including temporary issues but it goes to show it also pays off to do your own research.