Your failed vetting stories please...

S

SkewbyTwo

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 December 2012
Messages
178
Visit site
...what happened? What were you buying, what did you want it for, what did it fail on, and did you buy? And if you did, was it at a newly agreed, lower price?

I'd also like to know, for those who did buy, was insurance affected? And of course the obvious - did the horse remain sound/fit for purpose?
 
Had two fail vetting. One was an ex racer TB that went through the training but never raced as he was too slow. He failed on the flexion test and vet suspected something underlying in the hips. Seller originally wanted £5k for him, agreed on£2.5k prior to vetting and he offered him to me for free but I declined on the basis I couldn't afford treatment if something was seriously wrong and I would find it hard to make the decision to PTS.

Second one was an Irish cob that had a sarcoid the seller missed. Horse was priced at £3k and seller wouldn't budge on price so I decided not to buy.

In the end I got a yearling that I decided not to vet having spent nearly £600 on vettings already!

Edited to say horses were only going to be used for local shows and riding clubs!
 
I have had two fail on sarcoids, one part fail on high blowing and the vet recommended that I walked away as she felt their was a possibility of the horse becoming a head shaker and a beautiful 17.2 hunter that I really wanted but showed lame on a front leg at first vetting. I went back to see the hunter because the owner seemed genuinely shocked, had him vetted again still a touch lame that was two weeks later went back two weeks later vet out again showed lame same front leg and un level behind. I was really miffed and the owner was heart broken but she then paid for all three vettings as an apology for wasting my time so called it a learning curve.
 
Last edited:
Many stories but one stands out, buying for a client, a tough well hunted schoolmaster type when tried it was sound and moved very well behind but had recent wire scarring on it's hocks, the vet failed it on hind flexions and recommended not to go ahead, we bought it at a slightly reduced price as my instinct was that a horse could not move that well if it had problems, owned for 2 years with never a day off work through lameness, sold and at the vetting it flew through the flexion tests with the vet saying that for a 14 year old it moved exceptionally well better than most younger horses.
 
My welshie failed her vetting, mostly because of a weird patch of raised sore/ scabby skin on her hind leg. Bought her anyway and 8 years on shes never been lame on it and 5 vets haven't been able to tell us what it might be.
Tbh I do think you need to use your own judgement in a borderline situation. My friend recently bought a rather expensive young mare and had her specially vetted at huge cost by the local 'supervet' who passed her 100%, all he said was she had some fly bites on her face. They got her back to the yard and we all took one look at her and said ringworm. Her whole face was scared with it, all down her neck and far and away the worst case I've seen. I'm certaintly no vet but if it was obvious even to me surely the supervet should have spotted it.
 
Vetted a stallion possible OCD cancelled sale expensive at $750 but prob saved myself issues in the future. Only horse I have ever vetted and Ive owned 16 so far.

Apart from the horse I brought in Ireland had a clean vet cert, went to sell had broken wind.
 
Had a New Forest X pony vetted when we bought him 16 years ago as a first pony. He failed on a twisted front leg (it was obvious but I REALLY wanted him, I was 10), stiffness in his hocks and a heart murmer. I was heartbroken. We bought him anyway for £350 with tack and he went on to do all PC stuff, long rides and put up with being ragged around everywhere. Never a day of lameness in his life and he's 26 now - still twisted, stiff and murmering but very happy. He's retired but he still does Pony Club twice a month with an 8 year old girl from the village :)
 
one 14.2 failed a vetting when he came lame in front on flexion tests, boss really liked him as did his potential rider, spoke to insurance company and they said if he passed a second vetting and had clear xrays on lower limbs they would still insure him (he was 12k), passed vetting but small bone chip showed in xray-boss arranged to lease him-was never lame in the 18months he was with us but as he was bought to event and he used to just slowly stop in the middle of the course and nothing would get him going again he was not very good at his job-he loved dressage and was a true push button ride for even the most novice owner he went on to a strictly dressage home.

over this winter they have had 7 fail vettings out of 7 attempts to buy
 
From another POV, I was selling one which failed the vetting. She apparently had the start of a cataract which may be progressive, as well as being "lame" on a tight circle on hard ground (this was an unbalanced 4yo!). Oh, and they couldnt find her microchip so her good breeding was effectively meaningless.
Luckily the prospective buyers loved her so much they took her on loan with view to buy.
They had her re vetted by their trusted vet. She didnt have a cataract, she had slight scarring from an old infection which wouldnt affect her in any way. She wasnt lame. He found her microchip.
Its made me so sceptical about vettings now, I would always get a second opinion if I really liked the horse.
 
Went to see a novice eventer for me, it wasn't happy at intermediate and needed to step down. Liked him, well put together, vetting stopped at flexions. Advised to x ray. My own vet then looked at the x rays as well (and she is quite pragmatic) and swiftly advised I walk away. Then I had to tell the owner that according to my own vet and the local vet, her horse would probably have it's competition career over in less than a year and the x rays explained why the horse was not happy jumping at intermediate. I know it saved me money and heartache long time, but vettings and x rays cost over £640 plus 3 long trips which I reckon cost me well of £100 in fuel.
 
I got a two stage for my unbacked youngster. He passed but vet didn't do flexion tests as he couldn't lift his feet up. Funny as this was the first thing I did in his stable when I went to see him and had no problems!
 
A friend of mine went to see a SJ for her daughter, both fell in love with him. They had him vetted, and he failed on flexion of one of his fronts.

She put an offer in at half the price and bought him.

2 months later after putting some condition on he became difficult to ride and was diagnosed with KS. He then became a companion/light hack
 
I had two vetted which failed - the first was a PRE who was very pigeon-toed. I could see it in the photos before I even contacted her owner, but being inexperienced I thought that as she was 9 any problems would have emerged by now. She actually passed the vetting but the vet strongly advised me not to buy her, and said that I would have problems with her legs. He couldn't say if it would be in one year or 5 years, but it would happen, and he'd have to note it on the report so I wouldn't get insurance for her legs. Lost my deposit on that one because technically she had passed the vetting.

The second one had some flat sarcoids which the owner said hadn't grown in the last few years. I believed her because the patches were ver small, and were in places which wouldn't interfere with tack. She also had a thoroughpin which wasn't affecting her. She failed the vetting on the hind flexion test. I told her owner that if her own vet found a reason for the lameness which was easily fixed she should let me know and I'd get my vet to come out again when she was sound, but she never did.

I eventually found my current mare who passed the vetting without any problems. Vet missed a big lump on her poll which 2 years later resulted in an operation and care costing £4,000! I'm hoping the insurance will pay out, on the basis that the vet hadn't noted it on the report. Apart from this she's been as sound as a bell and never a day's illness SO FAR (touching all the wood I can find!).
 
I had two fail - one ex racer lame in front and one younster with signs of OCD. Third one was my current boy and I decided I loved him too much to stand it if he failed the vet. So i bought him without. ******* cost me a fortune in vet fees and remedial shoeing over the last 18 months but worth every penny :)
 
My horse failed the vetting- failed on hind leg flexions and X-rays showed bone spavin. The owners gave him to me for nothing so I thought it was worth a gamble. I've had him 3 and a half years and we are now competing at affiliated medium dressage- not bad for an ex racer who couldn't trot a circle when I got him! He has had no further issues with his hocks touch wood although I manage them very carefully! He's not covered by insurance for hocks but I'm a vet which kind of helps (I didn't vet him myself!)
 
I had already bought my horse (she was a riding school horse who had developed a nifty bucking habit) and they wanted rid of her, when I got the vet out to give her the 'once over'. After a flexion test he said she was 2/10ths lame, that this could be the cause of her bucking, and her lameness might be permanent.

I was totally gutted, I thought I'd bought a horse fit for the knackers yard.

Fast forward 11 years she has never had a day's lameness in her life, she is hacked up to 5 times a week, we do sponsored rides, I've taken her on riding holidays and we've just started doing trec. She is a bit stiff on her right side and would never have been any good for a career in dressage or showjumping, but for me as a happy hacker she is absolutely perfect.
 
Had one I was selling fail on a strained shoulder muscle which showed up on a flexion. Rested three weeks, buyer took him and he was sound as a pound when I last saw him, several years later.

I know of a riding school horse, 4, which failed on a front flexion and stayed in the riding school and was perfectly sound. Meanwhile, the prospective buyers bought another which passed with flying colours and turned out be extremely highly strung and totally unsuitable for the child.

Friend had £25,000 horse vetted and failed on one front flexion. Horse was tested and re-vetted and passed, but x rays then showed that it had pulled the tendon off both pedal bones.

Next one she had vetted passed, but x rays showed a bone chip. She rejected it even though it was sound at the time.

Different friends had a mare vetted which passed but had persistent back stiffness problems for a year. On x ray it had long standing kissing spines so severe that the only option was to put it down.
 
Last edited:
Had a freebie horse vetted, went for a two stage and she didnt even start the vetting before telling me he had a pretty bad heart murmer and that he could potentially drop dead whilst I was on him. We did a trot up which didnt go well either so stopped there. I was gutted, I had got to know him over a couple of weeks visiting him etc but sadly I walked away. He was pts shortly after that which obviously didnt make me feel great at the time but it was probably for the best. Still feel guilty though.

Desperate and even poorer fate took me a week later to a roughed off TB with a kind face. Couldnt afford the £600 asking price let alone a vetting on top so just brought him. Had him a year this May and I couldnt care less if he failed a vetting because I love him too much to care, lol
 
All my horses have passed their vetting's apart from my TB mare, who failed. She showed to be 1/10ths lame on a tight circle and had nerve blocks then X-rays to find cause, she was found to have a small amount of bone change in her sesmoid joint! However, my vet persuaded me to still buy her (paid a lot less than original asking price) and haven't looked back since. However, she can't be fully insured for vets so that's always something to consider, I also had her on trail for six week before making a final decision.

On the other hand...

A friend of mine brought a Grand Prix level dressage horse(£££££'s) who passed a five star vetting. Within days of him arriving at her yard, he had an accident in the field and never came sound again, he was eventually given to someone as a companion. It just goes to show that no matter how careful you are, you could still end up with a horse who isn't fit for purpose.

Assuming you have just had a horse vetted and it's failed but you still want to buy, I would get a second opinion, you need to also ask your self (and your vet) if realistically, this horse will be capable of doing what you want it to do e.g affiliate, if the answer is yes then give yourself a cooling off period and maybe see another horse to get perspective. Then if your gut instinct (not your heart) still says yes to the horse then I'd go for it or better still get the horse on trail. :-) Xx
 
I had a 5yo Irish TB vetted back in 2002, vet got as far as checking his heart and he was failed due to a heart murmur, it didn't go away with exercise. Apparently vet heard the murmur due to using an electronic stethoscope, couldn't hear it on the normal one..
Walked away at first, as I was looking for a new horse due to my old mare having various joint problems (she was 12 at the time) and the owner wouldn't pay to have it checked out, they said they would keep him as a hack if they couldn't sell as he was a nice horse. Couldn't get him out of my mind, and decided to take a punt on him using my theory that if the murmur couldn't be heard on a normal stethoscope it couldn't be that bad.. (no I'm not a vet!!) Managed to knock his price down by £1500, bargain :wink3:

Forward on 11.5yrs, I still have said Irish TB, he is 17yo now and actually going better than ever, just ramping up his fitness for the season, he will do some novice level dressage, hunter trials and a few ODEs this year at BE90 level. He has had his fair share of problems over the years (suspensory injury, fractured elbow and colic to name the main ones!) but his heart has never been a problem. His main job has been as a low level eventer, but we have also done pure dressage, drag hunting, team chasing over the years and even won a handy pony comp!! He really is my horse of a lifetime and I do not regret once taking that chance.. :biggrin3:
Re insurance, back then you only needed 5 stage vet cert if you wanted LOU, so getting him insured was not a problem (thank god!) The old mare is also still going strong at the age of 24 as well, albeit as a field ornament :smile3: however she did pass a 5 stage vetting with flying colours..
 
Had 5 horses vetted in total over time, 2 passed and 3 failed, out of the 3 bought 5 :) All only a 2 stage vetting

Horse 1 - failed on flexion badly, was an older horse and seller seemed a little un genuine so didn't go ahead (ended up trying to call me on facebook which was nice)
Horse 2 - pass, bought and then sold to a friend who still has him and doing well (ex P2P), only had a couple of injuries
Horse 3 - fail on 1/10ths lame trotting up a stony road with no shoes on, re checked 2 weeks later and fine so bought, is a typical accident prone TB (ex racer) and is my darling boy and is doing well when he behaves.. Has had lot of injury not relating to why he failed
Horse 4 - failed and shown to have heart issues, so didn't go ahead
Horse 5 - pass and bought for OH (still have him too)
 
I bought my beautiful cob 3/10 lame would not have passed a vetting, he had been hit by a motor bike and on top of stifle surgery had bone spavin in both hinds, had spent 1 year on box rest. I loved him and was prepared for him to be a field ornament, he has never given me a lame day since and i have had him 5 years, he is hacked, schooled, i wont make him compete because i think its unfair knowing his history, he is not on any drugs, i guess i was lucky.

This is a horse that won many many cob classes, the yorkshire show, the cheshire show, 5th at Hoys, his owner wouldnt stand by him because she thought he would never be sound again, her loss
 
Had one fail on a suspected changes within the stifle - I primarily had her vetted because I thought her action was a bit odd, although she was completely sound. She was vetted by my vet who advised against purchase in case it was a degenerative issue.
Had current one vetted partly because of a sarcoid I wanted the (different) vet to see but more because I am not so concerned about what you can see for yourself but more what you can't, eg heart, eyes etc. I am not convinced that current horse has matching back legs and he does stand oddly at times but he is completely sound and vet was happy that he was up to the jobs I wanted him for - ie, hacking, riding club, low level dressage and jumping.
 
You only have to search on here for my disasters...

Horse 1: Loved him. But in photos didn't look quite happy. Asked vet to check extra pressure points on the back as could just be the saddle. But he failed with sore back - not just muscular and a serious tooth infection. Also unsound on circle on hard ground.

Horse 2: Great ride. But on close inspection of the videos, some strange hock action on tight corners. Vet declared 'not fit for purpose' although she didn't actually fail outright.

Horse 3: Loved her too. Was petrified about flexions, etc. Beautiful girl. Vet scanned microchip, pulled out the stethoscope, listened, shook his head and said 'walk away'. Atrial fibrillation. Total shock to her owner, too.

Horse 4: Lame on circle trotting. Youngster who had done nothing. Had a large sand crack though. Had her shod at my expense to try again - owners were not the most helpful people. Failed on riding this time.

Horse 5: Passed the vets with flying colours apart from a few occult sarcoids. Best flexions she'd ever seen. Vet raving about him. Sarcoids weren't causing problems so purchased. He would have been worth ££££ if not for those pesky sarcoids. 3 months later he sits down in the field as he avoids a head on with a bolting horse trailing 3 fields' worth electric fencing and gets written off by the AHT with a crushed lumbosacral joint and a torn left hind suspensory ligament.
 
Had three fail the vetting...

1) Mare that I fell in love with and, definitely, one of the best horses that I've ever sat on. She had cataracts in both eyes and was practically blind. Vet said that she was too young (12yo) to be almost blind and that there might have been an underlying reason or genetic cause. The dealer offered her to me for very little money but I felt that I would be buying heartache so I decided against it. I think that she was PTS soon after :(

2) 5yo ex-racer that failed with suspected kissing spines/back issue that would be too costly to investigate further. I don't know what happened to him.

3) 17yo ex PSG warmblood. I didn't expect him to fly through the vetting but there were too many things wrong with him. 2/10ths lame in both hind legs... headshaker (I already knew)... early signs of cataracts in both eyes and broken wind. I walked away but he was sold for a reduced price with the the vetting record to what would be a forever home - he was advertised within a couple of weeks... He was then bought by a dodgy dealer that was asking 3times the money :(

Finally, I had become desperate and decided to but whatever horse I would find that would pass a vetting even if it looked like a giraffe. I ended buying a recently broken 5yo TB gelding in very poor condition that looked a bit like a giraffe but (oddly enough) passed a 5 stage vetting. I got him home and he started looking much much better but then had an abscess(es) from hell that have cost me in excess of £1500 and so far 4 months out of work... only had him for 6 months!
 
I've only had one fail the vet. He actually failed on being lame on one rein on a small circle but the vet who I knew well came to me afterwards and said she was glad he failed on that as tho she didn't think there was a major problem there was something that wasn't right that she couldn't put her finger on but was going to struggle to fail it 'on a hunch'... I went on to buy my present boy after this horse who is fab and I am so glad I got...
 
Had one fail on sarcoids - vet said to walk away as they were in all the wrong places. Was a lovely horse, cracking jump and a lovely 5yo - got offered to buy him once treated for less but vet said not to.
The next one passed, had advisorys for sweet itch and he made a noise when cantering but nothing serious enough to warrant a fail!
All my others haven't been vetted, am slightly paranoid about the ex racehorse because of it but so far so good!
 
I think Ive only ever had 2 horses vetted - 1 because it was expensive and the other because it was being bought unseen (based on a video) so I couldnt check it over in the flesh myself. Otherwise I normally just get the vet to check them over when they're next out (not much use afterwards I know).

I remember one of my horses failed a vetting, failed him on the flexion test on 2 legs. I was so horrified (this horse I competed every weekend and had done for 5 years prior), that I got my own vet out later that day who then passed him as fine! I take flexion tests with a pinch of salt as a result. That sale fell through as a result but he then got sold to someone else who I still speak to - he went for years perfectly sound (until age caught up with him).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top