What do you expect when viewing a horse to buy?

[SusieT]

personally I wouldn't actually try and work with the owner to solve the corn problem - in my experience a horse who shows lame in a vetting for whatever reason tends to keep being lame, either from the original probelm (some animals do seem more prone to corns than others..) or from other issues.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm still surprised you didn't buy the horse that had corns. Corns are almost always caused by poor shoeing or under run heels (barefoot horses rarely get them) and are easily resolved by changing the shoeing/trimming style. If the horse is sound enough to go cubbing then the corns can't be causing that much of an issue. If the horse was perfect in all other ways and the vet didn't pull up a major conformational issue that could have caused hoof imbalanced, I'd have bought the horse and had a remedial farrier start shoeing it.

I personally still think you should go for this horse - it sounded perfect!

I must have missed that one sheesh Corns??? No reason to dismiss it - my mare had corns but it was down to a particular BAD farrier who gave her the corns. She had never had corns prior to him shoeing her and she never got them again after. This farrier wrecked my boys feed to the point of no help.

 

[kassieg]

Speaking from a selling point of view having sold mine & her leaving today if I'm selling anything that is a competition type I would always expect the buyer to want to try away from home, mine was taken xc schooling & from a sellers point of view who cares I would much rather they did this so I know the horse is going to the right place & there are going to be no unforseen issues when they go out & suddenly I'm getting a phone call! It matters to me that the people are happy with the horse because that way the horse will be happy!

From a buyers point of view jesus & bless you with 4 failed vettings! Not sure how people can let a buyer pay for a vetting if they even suspect the horse may not pass ! If they were are silly things then you have been truely unlucky!
As someone used to work at a dealers I can get on pretty much anything & get a tune out of it but I know within a few minutes when I get on something I really like the feel of. That said I would still expect to do everything with it because not every horse you like is suitable for the job you want to do! I would expect to know within the first jump if I wanted to pursue it further, then I would be testing for suitability to the job I want it for rather than testing if i like it

 

[Tiarella]

Its fine to maintain a distanced feeling before the vetting. If you're buying a horse for performance there are so many different things that you might not see that the vet might fail them on, if you've already bought, bonded with and are having a lovely time with the horse in your head it is just being hard on yourself.

Let yourself imagine the horse is yours. Can you imagine smiling at seeing her head over the door, feeling proud to be on her at a local dressage whatever anyone else is doing, or can you see yourself thinking "what I still really want is a tb/ buckskin/ stallion/ etc…. Decide if she is probably what you really want, then it makes sense to disconnect and wait for the vet to do their bit before you let yourself feel excited about her.

I did wonder why I don't seem to be getting any feelings for horses when I try them and before I get them vetted. I'm just like, it ticks the boxes, do I love the horse, no? It takes me a long time to feel any sort of bond. I used to work with horses so not sure that helps.

 

[Tiarella]

I'm still surprised you didn't buy the horse that had corns. Corns are almost always caused by poor shoeing or under run heels (barefoot horses rarely get them) and are easily resolved by changing the shoeing/trimming style. If the horse is sound enough to go cubbing then the corns can't be causing that much of an issue. If the horse was perfect in all other ways and the vet didn't pull up a major conformational issue that could have caused hoof imbalanced, I'd have bought the horse and had a remedial farrier start shoeing it.

I personally still think you should go for this horse - it sounded perfect!

I still think about her all the time, and haven't ruled her out yet. But vet, farrier and a few other people said not to buy her because of her unbalanced feet from poor shoeing. The vet would have passed her with no faults at all if she trotted up sound on last trot up, but because she was lame he wrote a good few lines stating how poor her feet were, I'd need X-rays, radical remedial shoeing etc....I'd certainly never be able to get the feet insured if they read the certificate and she is a lot of money for a 'thoroughbred chestnut mare' even if she is 100% in every way.

 

[southerncomfort]

I bought him and kept him of the yard for about three weeks in that three weeks I took him to dressage training and cross country schooling before I brought him home.

I think that is such a good idea if it can be managed. Not only do you get a much better feel for the horse but I think they would be far less likely to be very unsettled when moved as they already know the new owner.

 

[Amicus]

I still think about her all the time, and haven't ruled her out yet. But vet, farrier and a few other people said not to buy her because of her unbalanced feet from poor shoeing. The vet would have passed her with no faults at all if she trotted up sound on last trot up, but because she was lame he wrote a good few lines stating how poor her feet were, I'd need X-rays, radical remedial shoeing etc....I'd certainly never be able to get the feet insured if they read the certificate and she is a lot of money for a 'thoroughbred chestnut mare' even if she is 100% in every way.

Sorry you might have gone in to this in previous thread but did you discuss results with seller if they'd reconsider the price on account of the vetting?

 

[Tiarella]

Sorry you might have gone in to this in previous thread but did you discuss results with seller if they'd reconsider the price on account of the vetting?

Can't remember, I've done so many depressing posts recently haha! The horse isn't actually 'for sale' unless I buy her. She hasn't been advertised. She is by close word of mouth and they said I can try her and if I like her I can buy her as they'll know she will be wonderful for me. But other than that they will keep her and carry on hunting and BE next season - quietly sobs!

Eta - so no budge on price

 

[HashRouge]

I still think about her all the time, and haven't ruled her out yet. But vet, farrier and a few other people said not to buy her because of her unbalanced feet from poor shoeing. The vet would have passed her with no faults at all if she trotted up sound on last trot up, but because she was lame he wrote a good few lines stating how poor her feet were, I'd need X-rays, radical remedial shoeing etc....I'd certainly never be able to get the feet insured if they read the certificate and she is a lot of money for a 'thoroughbred chestnut mare' even if she is 100% in every way.

To be fair, I wouldn't be hugely thrilled about buying one with rubbish feet. Yes, it is usually fixable, but it can take a long time and they don't always come right.

 

[Tiarella]

The horse I tried yesterday had similar feet - I seem to attract them!!

 

[biggingerpony]

Bearing in mind both of mine were ex racehorses I did the following with my most recent purchase: I would see owner catch, groom, pick out feet, tack up ride in the school then I would ride w/t/c and then pop over a very small jump. I would then hack out by myself and w/t/c if I felt comfortable. Go back to the yard, untack, give a small feed to see what he's like with food then turn out. I had them 5* vetted before purchasing. Ask the owner as many questions as you can, I also got permission to look at his previous vet history and spoke to his old trainer.

I went with my very unhorsey OH and I knew as soon as I sat on him he was the one. I just felt so comfortable and safe on him despite his young age.

 

[Tiarella]

Tried the second horse again last night and really liked her! I would like to get her vetted but I worry about yet another failing and my 'horse savings' deteriorating even more! I've sent videos to my vet and chiro of her being ridden and so far chiro has noticed her right hind is a bit 'lazy'. She is very unbalanced, green and the school was erm interesting to say the least so didn't benefit her in the slightest.

No idea what to do!

 

[ossy]

What kind of failings are these horses having? The one you had on trial sounds like it was doing its job. Technically a vetting shouldn't be a pass or fail it should be whether it is suitable for the task you want to do. I've had my horse 8yrs it technically failed it's vetting on hind leg lameness which I didn't agree with. She's never had a days lameness in her life, dressages, events ect.

 

[Tiarella]

What kind of failings are these horses having? The one you had on trial sounds like it was doing its job. Technically a vetting shouldn't be a pass or fail it should be whether it is suitable for the task you want to do. I've had my horse 8yrs it technically failed it's vetting on hind leg lameness which I didn't agree with. She's never had a days lameness in her life, dressages, events ect.

She failed because of a corn and poor from feet. Vet didn't think I'd be able to do what I want to do on her - which is a lot less than what she as currently doing.