whats peoples view on merlin?

[anitacollier]

ive found a horse (andulsian x), completely fallen for him and had him vetted. unfortunately he failed the flexion test on right fore, became severely lame. The vet thinks he has injured his humerus. The owner was completely shocked as she had shown him all season. she got her vet out, who said he had sprained his knee. now im curious whether to get my vet back out to reassess the right fore. any suggestions? i like him so much i may have blinkers on!! thankyou

 

[Louby]

Hiya, know how you feel as my horse failed miserably on his left fore on a flexion test. He was 4 yrs old then and I walked away gutted. After viewing more horses I went back and bought him as to be honest he was by far the best of a bad lot. Stupid I know but he wasnt expensive and I thought he was worth taking a chance on. 3 yrs on he hasnt had a days lameness touvh wood a million times!!! and he does more than just hack. He did recently come in with a swollen fetlock (right fore) and vet flexioned him and he hopped. Maybe thats just him or maybe he will have problems in the future. If this horse is very expensive I'd be wary as you will need a vets cert for insurance over £5k. You could negotiate the price or get your vet to have a look again.
Good luck.

 

[Accy]

If you really like this horse then i think you need to think very carefully weigh up all the pros and cons, I would look at others make sure of how you feel then if you decide to proceed them speak to your vet about all angles and get your vet back out to re access the situation.

Whatever happens good luck and try and take someone with you who is totally impartial the the whole thing who can give you some advice.

 

[Happy Horse]

Flexion tests are a very grey area and many horses show slight unlevelness afterwards but I would be concerned about a horse that was hopping lame afterwards. I would agree an amount of time with the owner to give the horse time to recover and then maybe get it reassessed if you are prepared to spend the extra money. Personally if the horse fails again I would walk away.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I wouldn't rule out the horse at all. As people have said, speak to the owner & set a rough time period for the horse to get better & then go back & check him again. In the mean time chat to your vet & see what he believes the problem to be & the prognosis. When the time is up go back & see the horse again & go for another vetting. If there's still problem it may be serious & I would walk away. Horses cost a fortune to keep when they are fit....even more when they aren't & you can't ride them.

 

[dixie]

Yep, I would agree with most what's been said.

My horse failed on flexion on the fore and 6+ yrs later I still have him and he's never been lame (touch wood). I've jumped him regularly too. However, I had him re-vetted after a couple of weeks (before I bought him) and though he failed again the vet had to try several times before he went lame.

Therefore, I think if I had a horse re-vetted I would walk away if he was hopping lame immediately but consider him if he was only mildly lame or okay at first.

Good luck, I know it's very difficult finding "the" horse.