Would you buy a horse un vetted?

[sjdress]

After months of searching I have finally found a lovely horse. However he is slightly over my budget which hasn’t left me anything for a vetting. Would/have you brought a horse un-vetted before? Horse is under 5k and to be an allrounder.

 

[be positive]

Yes I have but if money is tight you are taking even more of a risk as anything that could be preexisting will not be covered by insurance so the vetting costs could be a minor consideration in the long run, there are usually ways of finding the money for at least a 2 stage with bloods taken if a 5 stage is stretching too far, have you tried getting a bit off the price?

 

[Rowreach]

Yes, loads of times, but never because I couldn't afford to.

 

[ycbm]

What do you mean you can't afford it? What will happen if it gets ill before your insurance kicks in?

I never vet, but it's because I can afford to lose the money if everything goes pear shaped, not because I don't have it.

 

[DabDab]

Yes, loads of times, but never because I couldn't afford to.

Yep, Ditto for me.

I've only ever had one horse vetted, but I mainly buy unbacked youngsters that are a punt at the best of times, and I don't insure

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I always vet and insure...I know it s only a snapshot of the horse at that time but I like my vet to have an input.

 

[ponyparty]

I bought mine unvetted but only because I had known him for over two years... I wouldn't buy an unknown unvetted.

 

[milliepops]

I don't vet but I buy very cheap horses (less than £1k) and just take a punt. If you've over stretched yourself to buy this one I'd feel a bit nervous about not vetting.. . It would have a big financial impact if you found a significant problem.

 

[WandaMare]

I might take a chance but only because I could afford to pay if something were to go wrong, otherwise I definitely wouldn't take the risk.

 

[9tails]

As others have said, not in your situation. I'd find the money somehow as it's a big risk if funds are already tight.

 

[ihatework]

Yes, loads of times, but never because I couldn't afford to.

Same here.
But in your situation it’s probably worth scraping together the £300 ish to Vet

 

[Otherwise]

Have you asked local vets how much a 2 or 5 stage vetting would be? Are you planning on insuring? Insurers may want a vet certificate depending on value, you'll have to phone a couple and see if they need it. I might take the risk of not vetting for anything well under £2k but otherwise no, I'd cough up for a 5 stage.

 

[xDundryx]

I buy mine un vetted purely because like milliepops I take a punt on a cheapie. If the horse was anything over £1500 I'd get a 2 stage, for £3000+ it would be 5 stage (still not expensive for a horse but rather have the money in my pocket than wasted on an underlying problem)

 

[Ranyhyn]

Yes once and I dearly wish I hadn't.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I've always had a vetting, but that's usually partly down to being an insurance requirement due to the value of the horses I've bought. As others have pointed out, in your shoes I would absolutely have a 5 stage vetting done as it sounds as though you're stretching yourself to the point that you'd struggle to cover a vet bill if insurers deemed it pre-existing.

 

[bliss87]

I had one horse vetted as a 4 year old and he failed and got told he wold be lame within months due to having poor feet, at the age of 18 he tore his tendon messing around in a field other than never had a day lame until that point

Never had anything else vetted since

 

[Cortez]

Yes, but I am prepared to suck it up if there is anything that goes wrong down the line.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

No I would never buy a horse without a five stage vetting.

 

[Boysy]

Yes I would and have and all current ones were un-vetted but they were all cheap as chips (under £1k) they were all under 5 bought from friends and I knew 2 of them very well before I bought them.

In your shoes absolutely no I wouldn't and I would also be very worried about anything going wrong once you've bought it if you are stretching the budget to buy it in the first place :-(

 

[alibali]

Only if I could afford to lose all £5k if the horse turned out to have serious issues either by spending that amount putting it right or having the horse pts if unfixable. In your position definitely not.

 

[AFB]

Yes, of 3 horses I've bought I've had one vetted:
1 - passed vetting with flying colours, only suitable for light work a year later (suspected DDFT damage in foot)
2 - not vetted, companion pony
3 - not vetted, had a fair trial before handing over any money, still no issues 8 years later

Moral of the story for me was that a vetting is a snapshot in time, my issues wouldn't have been picked up unless I'd had an MRI as part of the vetting. Not going to happen on a £2k horse.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Yes but not because I couldn't afford it.


Will the vendor accept a slightly lower offer?

 

[BunnyDog]

Ok so maybe the US perspective is different but for what it's worth here's what I do.

I ALWAYS will vet now. Even on the $1k or so horses. Now mind you I am usually buying for resale (Not Cudo though). I have to have my ducks in a row so I know that my own money is best spent on THIS horse in front of me. I have to feed it, house it, shoe it, pay for shows etc, therapies and love on it and that all costs money. I want to know that I have invested wisely and am not paying gobs to house a horse that won't do my level of tasks or be able to recoup at least some amount and go on to make others happy paying to keep it as well.

That said I have acceptable limits on some things. And absolute no fly zones on others. But at the end of the day I have to have enough comfort in the horse in front of me to say "sure... I will keep you well cared for with my funds and in return my hope is that you stay healthy, happy and enjoy the tasks that I ask of you." The vettings bring me to that level and I insure as well so that I have some help with the bigger end problems.

I have bought without vetting before but I would say that those experiences and what happened on later much more thorough vettings have changed my perspective and made me much more cautious with my funds.

I am a proponent of vetting free horses as well. Lord knows the regular expenses you will invest aren't free so it's best to know what you have going in with those as well.

Em

 

[Orangehorse]

If you are stretched then yes definitely. I knew of a horse that had been a successful competition horse on while on loan, having decked its owner so she never wanted to ride it again. The loanee was very small and light, and told the buyer to have the horse vetted. The buyer did not have it vetted, took out a loan to buy it, and then it was a veterinary disaster with the new owner, so she had a big debt and no horse.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I've had five "forever" horses in my life so far, and none of them have been vetted. Having said that, I'm a bit of a hobby rider and only insure for Third Party/liability.

My most recent horse (August last year) was a very nice'ly tempered just-backed youngster which was going for much less than I'd expected and so I snapped her up PDQ and took a punt.

However, during the horse-searching quest this time around, I've tended to play safe and have them vetted as have been looking for stuff around the 3K mark and that's a lot of cash (I think it is) to throw away on something that's gonna be a crock in a few months after purchase: I fell in love with a few horses but the ones which I thought would sail through their vetting, just didn't - so a good job they were vetted basically!

If I was OP and spending that sort of cash, i.e. 5K'ish then yes I would Deffo have a vetting; be daft not to IMO especially if wanting to compete.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

After months of searching I have finally found a lovely horse. However he is slightly over my budget which hasn’t left me anything for a vetting. Would/have you brought a horse un-vetted before? Horse is under 5k and to be an allrounder.

1. Depends on my experiance
2. Age of the horse
3. what I want to do with it
4. If it is LWVTB

If the answer to

1, was limited then I would at least take someone with me who had experience
2. Old horse 18+ no I would not out of work 2 stage - or simply 2 stage
3. If I was in serious competitions I would
4. I would loan first then have a 2 stage before buying (based on new livery)

 

[Puzzled]

Yes, have bought several unvetted. Why don’t you ask for a health check, our vets Do this, they just listen to heart, lungs and look in eyes and watch trot up (no flexion done). You can flexion test yourself or ask seller for permission to access the horses vet records and see if it’s had any treatment done...get this in writing.

 

[{97702}]

I have done so - a £600 ex-racer who was subsequently PTS for being mentally unbalanced as well as unsound.

For the scenario you have described I’m afraid I wouldn’t dream of it - you have too much invested in the horse to then find there are problems....

 

[VRIN]

As suggested - ask to see vet records. This is probably a better indicator of underlying or existing issues as its not just a snapshot in time..

 

[Quigleyandme]

I had my horse five stage vetted with extensive radiographs at Troytown which he passed. Arrived in the U.K. a week later with a snotty nostril. Gave it time to resolve itself. It didn't. Swabbed and put on course of antibiotics. Resolved for a while then returned. Now under investigation for tooth root abscess or primary sinusitis. He is not poorly with it, all vitals normal and horse happy in himself. Moral of the storey....vetting is not a guarantee. S**t happens.