would you buy a horse which had failed a flexion test?

My mare failed her flexion test. I had her x rayed as soon as I got her home and there was nothing to see. She was 5 and is now 9. Never shown any problems at all.

If you bent my knee for 30 seconds then told me to run in a straight line I couldn't do it! Can anyone honestly say they could!
 
I got my old jumping pony aged 6 as a vet failure on flexion.

3 years later, she was JA jumping all the big tracks and was purchased for 4 times what i had paid for her -AND -she passed the vetting with flying colours.

Flexion is a subjective part of the vetting - if you like the horses enough then maybe do some more investigation into the hock that failed.
 
I would. And did.

My mare failed hers on a back leg...and she turned out to be fab!

We think it was due to the fact they'd had her cramped up in a stable for two weeks...she was a bit stiff!
 
You won't get insurance on that leg. So take into account the cost of future vet bills.

What did your vet advise you to do? If they said no, don't buy it.

I wouldn't buy it - whats the point of vettings if you ignore the vet.

And I know plenty of horses that would pass a flexion test at 13.
 
Yes I bought a horse who had previously failed the vetting on a hind flexion and the sale fell through. We went to try saw the vet cert and then spoke to my vet and he assured me not to worry about it. Successfully evented for 4 years and never a days lameness.
There seem to be alot of positive posts from others who have experienced this. Good luck x
 
I don't imagine either of mine would pass a flexion test - 12 and 13 yrs respectively, but both hunt weekly in the Winter, and fun ride and show jump in the Summer.
Would I buy one that failed a flexion test at vetting? Depends on their age, what I wanted to do with them, and what the reason for failing the test was. Also if there is a possibilty of needing to sell on I may think twice.
However my 12 yr old passed his flexion tests with one vet, but failed with another vet a week later, so do think they are very subjective........
 
yes i would and have.

also bought one who failed on lameness on a circle on concrete and he has been the best horse i have ever bought.

there are plenty of cases on horses failing flexion tests one week and passing the next so i don't think they are at all reliable.
 
Flexion tests were originally designed to show whether the horse had been given painkillers prior to the vetting. If the horse went lame after the test, you were safe to buy because it hadn't been buted up......................................
 
Prince failed a hind flexion when i bought him, but hasn't had a problem since. I had him retested a few months later and he passed. Insurance company have insured the leg - i just had to send a copy of the vets notes after the retest.
 
Yes I would, have heard vets say that they can make any horse fail a flexion text depending on how high they hold the leg and how long, some don't time quite so accureately as they could. Although if it was your own vet may look at it a little more closely especially if you have a good releationship with your vet as surely they will be looking out for you.
 
I walked away from a lovely 11 year old mare who failed on one fetlock even though her owner was prepared to drop the price. (To be fair I already had two veteran ponies and my old mare retired due to arthritis at the time), but I really, really regret it as she would have been the most perfect mare for me and the chap I went on to buy (who passed the vetting with flying colours), has all sorts of question marks over his long term soundness.
 
I would speak with my vet and have a good think about what I wanted to do, but in principal (and knowing very well how my vet approaches a vetting), I would walk away if there were question marks over soundness. That is what I would be forking out a couple of hundred pounds plus for after all! My vet has different expectations depending on the age/experience of the horse and tends to look at how quickly the horse "goes" sound. so, he would expect an older horse with wear and tear to take more strides before it went sound. If there was a question mark, then my vet would stop the vetting, give the horse an opportunity to recover, and go again (if I had agreed this). This is on the proviso that he felt that the problems were a blip and not long term.

However, there is enough heartache with horses, and I was very picky when buying Goose - he passed a really stringent 5 star with flying colours and (without tempting) fate has stayed sound ever since. I have just seen too many people come to our yard with slightly "off" horses and have their hearts completely broken when the "minor" issue actually turns out to be pretty major and all they have bought is grief and a lot of vets bills. There is only one time when you can be (well in my case) hard hearted with a horse and that is before you buy it. Once you own it, it is, of course, your responsibility.
 
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