Who DIDN'T have their horse vetted?

Of the 3 horses we have bought we had 2 vetted.
Murphy first ever bought horse failed vetting but we still bought him and never regretted it. Have owned him 6 years and have only had 1 period of lamness although he does have other age related problems now.
Spike was my Oh's 2nd horse and we knew he had issuses anyway so although buying him chepa got him vetted which he passed with flying colours - turned out he had kissing spines and was opertated on early last year and (touch wood) is now fine.
Alee I bought as a 2 year old unhandled off the field so she wasn't vetted. She ended up as a 4 year old with PSD in both back legs and was unrideable. She was PTS late last year after an accident int he field.
I am still undecided on vettings TBH and it would depend what I was buying and how much I was paying although the above scenarios just go to show that it can really make no difference!!!
 
i had a pony vetted and it turned out to be way older and it had a heart mumur, so v glad there!

But having said that, the mare i have now wasnt vetted. She was genuinely 10 and was sound and healthy and was under £1000. When she had her jabs done my vet gave her a good once over and found nothing wrong. Its a personal choice.
 
I didn't have Ernie vetted. He cost me £1750 and had just come out of racing. I trusted the lady who sold him to me implcitly and he was a local horse so I didn;t bother.
 
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Doh, pressed the wrong key, the most I've paid for a vetting is £250. Are x-rays included in a £500 vetting?

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Think i must of got my numbers wrong guys, sorry that's what happens when you're typing in a rush.

By the way x-rays don't cost that much but like i said bit of a mistake i dunno why i had £500 in my head.
 
Only had one horse vetted-the expensive one.
But have just had 3 really bad experiances with vettings,
had one mare fail for a heart mermour, got my vet to check her after and he could just hear it, but it went after a lunge and he said if she wasnt a skinnie TB you wouldnt notice it at all, not worthy of failing a low level comp/ happy hack, just something you would mention.
Had one fail for dragging his toes - even though he was sound on flexion tests- 3 times on each leg !!?? they brought him anyway as they were there and could not belive what the vet was saying.
But then I sold a horse a couple of weeks ago who had done his tendon racing-not bowed but a obvious 'touch' the people buying him just wanted a 2stage to check everything bar his leg was fine, the vet didnot pick up on it and pass him! We all couldnot belive it and allthough if I went to buy a horse im sure I would notice some thing like it did worrie me!!!!

(Sorry for my sh*t spelling
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!! missed a lot of school
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I didn't because he was free and I had loaned him for 6 months previously. A year before that his previous owner (under the guidance of my riding instructor) had him vetted, so I saw no reason.

In the future if I was paying a lot of money for a horse and didn't know it's history I would for peace of mind.
 
Never had anything vetted, although prob should have done with the old lad - he was at least 6 years older than they said and had a multitude of problems - but they were the best 13 years ever with him!! Disnt have Melly done as I dont care if she has one eye and 3 legs! xx
 
Another guilty of never having an animal vetted, and no regrets either. Our most expensive was £1500.
 
Personal choice, but I would always have a horse vetted, and blood samples taken.

For me it's not just the price of the horse, but the amount of vets fees you could incur if a problem surfaces later.

I've had 3 vetted.
The first had very mild laminitis, which wasn't noticeable to anyone but the vet. The vet also reckoned it was the first bout he had had, so he probably would have passed an earlier vetting.
The second turned out to be older than I was told and had cataracts.
The third passed, and was healthy all the time I owned him.

A girl I used to ride with had 2 vetted. The first turned out to have a very bad heart problem. She had known the horse for ages and had him on trial, but apparently he could have dropped dead at any moment.
The second passed, and a week later was hopping lame. It turned out to have navicular and had been drugged to the eyeballs. She could not get any comeback with the vet as she had not requested blood samples.
 
Me neither.

I would have had my first horse vetted, but was at the limit of my (small) budget when I bought her many years ago. So I went without and was lucky - she's still with me now, aged 25, retired, but healthy and sound.

Of the others, I bought the three boys all as foals/weanlings, saw the studs where they were born, saw the sires/dams and figured that there was not a lot wrong with them, so never bothered with a vet.

The last one, Reine, I was given as a companion, but she's actually the dam of one of my boys so I knew her anyway.

However, I'm another one who would probably also get a more expensive horse vetted (not that I'm likely to pay that sort of money for a horse). Having said that, I have an old friend who paid £15K for a 4yo warmblood from Holland several years ago, impeccable breeding, fantastic confirmation, loads of potential - it passed the vetting, but broke down just three days after arriving in the UK and in the first year the owner's vet's bill came to £18K. Just shows that anything can happen at any time.
 
Never had one vetted in 30 plus years of horse ownership. If I went to see something I liked and thought there might be something amiss I would have it vetted though. Horse buying is all a big gamble so it's good to take a friend or instructor with you who is experienced as a second pair of eyes on the ground.
 
I usually have horses vetted unless they are young and i know ALL their previous history....however i broke that rule with one of my current ones - had him unseen and unvetted! But hes an absolute star, never sick or sorry!!
 
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1 shetland, 1 section D, 1 dale x and Tia cob X. Not had one vetted and never had a problem..

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hmmm! perhaps youve got something there. warmbloods and tbs break more easily! i guess a vetting is a good 'overview' but not a guarantee. plenty of serious conditions eg OCD, etc arent obvious on a vetting unless you take xrays. then, you can get a bad xray with a sound horse. or the xray wont pick up soft tissue problems which can be as bad as bony abnormalities

my dutch friend used to say, show me the perfect horse, with the perfect paces and perfect temperament, and il show you a horse thats simply not good enough!!
i think that sums it up well. not everything in life is perfect but you have to decide what you can put up with.

Caveat emptor - "Let the buyer beware"!!
 
i had my eventer vetted and he failed on left fore lameness- i bought him anyway as it was hardly noticable and the vet thought it was in his foot and could be corrected.
that horse has evented with me for 5 seasons and not had a single lame day (touch wood frantically!!!)

since then i have bought over 10 other horses and had none of them vetted and had no problems with any of them.

i wouldn't vet again unless spending over £5000 and even then might not!
 
None of ours were vetted, but they were all ponies, but prices individually ranged from £400 to £3500. One was cheap from stud, one we had been following about the showing world and had been very sucsessful even when we were viewing him although as a first pony it was his temp. that was most important. P+G came together after being lightly competed for not too much, Gingas history we found out and Pip looked sound
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. The others had been competing at international level and national champions before we got them, and were a group of 5. The only days lamness we have had is one day from one pony by the farrier.
The only 2 horses we had vetted, a while back, both passed with flying colours but both had to be PTS. due to serious medical problems soon after we got them, that they must have had during the vetting.
 
Never had one vetted, the two who have died young had both been with us 3 or more years and their illnesses were undiagnosable until the end. We have done fine in general and I see little point in having them vetted for hacking and low level competition.
 
I have never had a horse vetted, but have bought and sold quite a few (which all passed) and have had many dealings with horses that have been vetted.

My personal opinion is i can usually spot the same problems as a vet would pick up, so unless your having full x rays etc. waste of money for me.

I have also delt with horses which have failed the vets for various flexion tests/heart mumers etc and has all turned out to be a load of crap.

Common sense and good intuition is all you need.
 
I didn't have the current horse vetted and I haven't really ridden in 2 years because of it. She wasn't vetted as I swapped her at a dealers as the first horse he sold me was so awful and taking her was the only way out. He then agreed to swap this one for another horse plus money and I got that one vetted and it failed - a lot.

I tried to buy 3 horses this summer and even though they were all cheap I got them all vetted, the cheapest passed the other 2 didn't.

I will always get a horse vetted from now on, no matter what the price of the horse as I have had a really miserable 2 years because I didn't with the horse I've got stuck with now.
 
We have never had a horse vetted.... but i think it is a good idea really!!!

Our last two horses we have bought were vetted about 6 months before we bought them, yes they were being sold on quickly but we knew the people selling them (ie not a dodgy reason). Otherwise we would probs have got them vetted
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The other one was just under 4 when we bought her so we didnt think she had had much time to get problems.

And ponies we really didnt see the point at 12.2 etc
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I've never had a horse vetted. They can still be insured without a vets cert and i pay peanuts for them so never bothered. They are loved as much as any other horse vetted or not- and a vetting wont stop them being lame from injury etc. I always inspect them thouroughly anyway.

When i have sold them - people have had them vetted and they all passed -
 
I've absolutely no idea how many horses I have owned over the years; I have about 20 right now and many more have come and gone. I have never in all my years with horses had a horse vetted by a vet. I have had a number of my selling on horses vetted by prospective purchasers - all have passed with flying colours.
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I will never have a horse vetted by a vet - if there is something dodgy about the horse after I have performed my own vetting, then I walk away. Once in a while I have bought a horse knowing that there is something wrong with it; I have assessed the issue and decided it hasn't been a problem for me.

Each to their own. Some people vet (and I think if they are inexperienced at buying then that is a very good idea), and some people don't.
 
Never had a horse vetted either, and I have had plenty over the years. Never had any major problems with any of them, apart from a pony who had djd, but I was paid out 'loss of use' for her anyway.

If I was paying top dollar for something to compete seriously with, then I would probably have it vetted, but i would not consider it for cheapish leisure/riding club types.
 
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