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Original poster

2 or 5 stage vetting.......what would you do??

31 replies

razzdazz · 28/10/2012 14:13

Hello, I have just found a lovely little mare that I would like to buy and will be arranging her vetting this week. She is a 5 year old cob that I will be using for hacking and weekly/fortnightly lessons (due to her age). No interest in hunting, competitions and so on, mainly as I am not brave enough Blush. What stage vetting would you mumsnetters be having?? I will be paying £4000 for her. She will be blood tested with both options.
Thanks for any wisdom you may have.

OP posts:
Booboostoo · 28/10/2012 15:29

5 stage, you have nothing to lose. At this young age she should pass with flying colors. Not wanting to compete is irrelevant as at this age and price she should not have any problems or niggles and physically she should be capable of competing whether you are interested in doing this or not if you see what I mean. At the same time 5 is not that terribly young and I would expect her to stand up to 2-3 schooling sessions and 2-3 hacks a week as long as you kept everything short and sweet, so again I would tell the vet to be critical. This is not an older horse you want to retire to gentle hacking but a young horse that should be sound for a busy life ahead of her.

Hope she passes!

Butkin · 28/10/2012 15:33

We usually pay around that much for ponies and we go for 2 stage with blood test. I guess it depends on how much more the 5 stage is going to cost you. We've usually found that with young animals the flexion tests etc aren't really worth the extra but depends on cost and your peace of mind.

PebblePots · 28/10/2012 15:36

Stage 5, no question. you still need a healthy horse even for hacking & lessons!

Butkin · 28/10/2012 17:36

The difference between 2 and 5 stage (if you have bloods done anyway as insurance against sedatives/painkillers) are: a) the horse will be given strenuous exercise and then b) after a period of rest will be trotted up again and possibly given flexion tests.

Depends if you think - given the extra money - this is what you need.

frostyfingers · 28/10/2012 18:06

Some insurers I believe only take a 5 stage - don't quote me on that though. I've always had a 5 stage done, on both horses and on dpony, I just wasn't prepared to take the risk, and didn't have enough confidence in my own judgement.

Original poster
razzdazz · 29/10/2012 22:09

I have decided to go with 5 stage vetting as figured I am forking out a substantial amount for the horse so may as well go the additiona £320 (gulp) that it costs. Thanks for the advice, lets just hope it passes!!!

OP posts:
prelim29 · 30/10/2012 13:43

I have recently discovered you don't actually need a vetting for a horse costing less than £5k!!

SilverSky · 30/10/2012 16:29

I did two stage on my then 16yo but anything younger/pricier I would have gone for 5 stage.

DolomitesDonkey · 31/10/2012 17:02

5 stage with x-rays. Knowing what I know now about arthritis and how many are destroyed aged 5/6 due to starting work too soon and how many people will sell them on in between cortisone injections... I would never buy again without x-rays.

badgeorge · 03/09/2013 10:03

Have had an utter nightmare recently which resulted in having my new horse put down due to arthritis in the neck - 7yo ID gelding. First symptoms came on five days after purchase (from famous horse industry family), although final diagnosis took some time. Timing meant that I was not covered by insurance (during 14 day exclusion period) and as it was a private sale, it was not covered by the sale of goods act. Owner refused to take the horse back and the only other option would have been to take them to court and sue them for misrepresentation, but I could not afford to take that gamble. I felt I had pursued every avenue in this whole ghastly episode, but then someone suggested that the horse might have been injected with cortisone and the drug wore off after purchase. I had the blood sample screened early on and it came back negative for bute etc, but I don't know whether it was checked for cortisone or not. Am waiting for confirmation of that. Is this a well known scam in the horse industry? I am £10,000 plus out of pocket and have had to give up riding as a result.

Littlebigbum · 03/09/2013 13:37

for £4,000 I would go 5* but if someone is trying to rid you off 'they will' no matter what you do.

Backinthebox · 03/09/2013 13:55

I consider a vetting to be like having a survey done on a house - it is for the purpose of gathering information on what you are buying, best interpreted if you consider all of the information rather than just asking the vet for a statement of pass/fail.

Also please bear in mind that any vetting will only give you a report on the horse on the day the vetting is done. Ie only conditions that are present at the time of vetting will be noted. A condition the horse has had or may have in the future is not normally detected: I have had vettings done on horses that have have both a serious condition in the past (that would definitely have put me off buying it) not detected, and a horse who went on to develop a very serious condition not long after the vetting. I generally go for 2 stage these days, with a blood sample taken. You can get any horse to fail the flexion tests carried out at a 5 stage if you do it aggressively enough.

Littlebigbum · 03/09/2013 14:46

Question Didn't Razzdazz buy Maggie?

pipsy76 · 03/09/2013 18:14

I had a 2 stage and insurers told me would only insure to a value of £2999 without 5 stage.

By the way I'm putting Troy up for sale or loan if any of you are interested!

Search Troy on pony club classifieds!

mrslaughan · 03/09/2013 19:28

Ummm can't remember who bought Maggie - or was it Loves swimming that bought Maggie....anyway, it didn't end well.

Pixel · 03/09/2013 19:57

Was going to be nosey Pipsy but looks like they want me to log in.

pipsy76 · 03/09/2013 20:55

He's on preloved and horsedates as well!

pipsy76 · 03/09/2013 20:56

Sorry for hijack of thread razz, good luck with new horse

Ninetydegreeseastoflondon · 03/09/2013 20:56

Pipsy sorry to hear that hope everything is ok? May I ask why you are selling Troy? I always thought he looked lovely on the videos.

Littlebigbum · 03/09/2013 21:17

Troy, I love short backed cobs

pipsy76 · 03/09/2013 21:31

He is a star but I want to move on to horses and he's really just a bit too pony for me. I'm 12 stone and feel big on him on the longer hacks

Gilbertus · 03/09/2013 21:42

4000 seems a hell of a lot for a 5 year old cob!

LoveSewingBee · 04/09/2013 20:13

I agree with Gilbertus.

Seems very expensive for a cob for hacking.

Backinthebox · 04/09/2013 21:44

I paid more than £4k for my cob, he was advertised as 5, his passport said he was 4, but he was probably 3 when I bought him. He is a very unusual looking horse and turns heads wherever he goes, moves like a horse over 2 hands bigger (I was downsizing from a 17.3hh and couldn't bear to be on a choppy-strided little thing,) will jump anything you point him at (we haven't tried him beyond 5ft yet, but 5ft is no problem!) and the solidest, easiest mother's hack I could ever wish for. He is priceless to me, and I know I could have paid an awful lot more and not got such a good horse. A horse, like many things, is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. The real cost of a horse is not what you buy it for, but what it costs to keep.

'Just' hacking (if you do it properly Wink) is a skill within itself. I have been out hacking with a Grand Prix dressage horse who had never hacked before and we had to turn back because it could not negotiate it's way past a fallen log across the bridleway.

One thing I would point out to the OP is that if you are not brave enough to compete/hunt/etc, are you brave enough to ride a 5 yo? They need some education still, and can often have 'kevin' moments they need guiding through!

Gilbertus · 05/09/2013 09:54

ok I have paid £4k for ponies but they've been 'proven' iyswim. If I was paying 4k I would get a 5 vetting if only to put my own mind at rest. The only cobs I've ever seen for sale for 4k+ are on that crazy website where they buy young cheap cobs, do clever marketing then sell them on for a crzy markup disclaimer this is my opinion only