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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
 
| What price of horse do you do a vet check on before purchasing? |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
  
Location: Texas | I don't vet check very much at all.. Pretty much when I make up my mind on one, I'm willing to deal with whatever baggage they may come with, and I also try to buy mares only so worst case scenario I have a back up plan.
However, I think it's a good idea to get them done on any value horse. It's good peace of mind and it can help prevent purchasing an unsound horse. |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Also should add..on the big purchase horses we always do one… Thankfully we haven't had to make very many big purchases. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 113
Location: Tx | Depends on what I am purchasing the horse for. I vet anything I will be using for performance but I also don't fully have them vetted. I have them flexed out and only do x-rays if the horse shows lameness in a certain area. I also only typically buy geldings so I need them sound because they aren't good for anything else. I bought 2 geldings of the same age in feb and march and only had 1 vetted. The other I got pretty dang cheap, I had history on him from previous owners (not the ones selling) and so if he doesn't work out for me or my kids to run he is a great mount for my husband. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I'm about half and half on who has had a vet check, but it had nothing to do with their price.
2 horse we bought from the Red Bluff Gelding Sale and they do their own very extensive vet checks on every horse (which you can watch), so those two we didn't do our own vet check.
One horse I bought as a yearling wasn't even halterbroke, so no vet check on her.
One we bought from a close friend as a 2 year old and I don't think my dad had him vet checked - if I were to buy a 2 year old now I would vet check it, regardless of price.
The horse I most recently bought I actually leased for 2 years first and was actively running her, so I already knew what was wrong with her so I didn't get one done on her when I actually bought her.
And then we had one other that we bought knowing he had a stifle problem, but we vet checked him anyway. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | I vetted a $1,500 unstarted 2 yr old filly and I am SO glad we did. She had OCD in her stifles. It saved me a TON of money and heartache. I later saw her advertised for sale and the seller stated she got hurt trying to jump a gate. LOL |
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | We do repro vet checks on open mares now, any price. One did have cysts that we passed on. I doubt they would have bothered her for a while, but there are a lot of mares out there so we passed. I will now do a vet check of the feet on any stallion we buy-laminitis reasons. We also do fertility tests on studs. The only prospect I have bought for riding really, is my show horse I bought as a yearling. Paid $1500 so I didn't bother with a vet check. I saw him in some videos etc. I personally would vet check anything $2500+ just because that to me is a lot to lose. Especially since I ride geldings and a crippled gelding is pretty much worthless. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | I only tried out geldings when I bought my last horse, and I get checked the ones I liked. They were both over $5k in price, but I would probably vet check any horse as I have no desire to try my hand at breeding anytime soon. |
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 Keep those crap slapping tails away!
Posts: 8871
Location: Around here somewhere... | I used to not vet any of them under $2000... Now I am a believe in vetting them ALL because a $1000 costs as much as a $10k horse to get sound and to feed. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | On 2 we did not. Both times I've regretted it bigtime. Not to say that a vet check would have prevented the situations that ensued, but it probably could have saved me some money. From now on, I'm getting a vet check 100% of the time. Even if the horse is free, once it's mine, it's my responsibility and if it has an underlying issue, I could be spending a ton of money or put in the awkward position of figuring out what to do with the horse. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | casualdust07 - 2014-07-25 12:44 PM
I don't vet check very much at all.. Pretty much when I make up my mind on one, I'm willing to deal with whatever baggage they may come with, and I also try to buy mares only so worst case scenario I have a back up plan.
However, I think it's a good idea to get them done on any value horse. It's good peace of mind and it can help prevent purchasing an unsound horse.
Lol I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this....
My last horse I bought, was off the track with a NUMBER of starts.... Rode him, wrote the check, drove home. LUCKILY for me, when I DID get him vetted - my vet said he'd never seen a sounder horse from a racetrack, and other than a few scars and a bump from a popped splint, he was good to go.
I regretted my choice not to vet him the entire drive home. I won't be doing that again. Lol. And I don't think I exhaled until my vet cleared him. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 974
Location: USA | I learned the hard way. I'd rather now spend a few hundred dollars on a vet check. If the horse flexes positive then I'll get X-rays. I'd rather be out a few hundred on the lameness exam then be out a few thousand on price of the horse plus whatever it takes to fix them bc I didn't get them vetted first. |
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