I returned a missed call recently and found that it was a man who was interested in buying a horse which he had seen in my area.
He had never bought a horse before but had been advised by a friend that it was essential to have it vetted before going ahead with his purchase. He had made an offer for the horse ‘subject to vetting’ and wanted me to outline to him what the vetting procedure involved.
I asked him about the intended use of the horse and he explained that he had recently taken up hunting and had now decided he would like to have his own hunter rather than borrowing one from a friend or hiring one. His friend had warned him that while hiring a horse for the day was like a blind date, buying one was more like getting married – you needed to be sure that it was the right one before going ahead. He had hired the horse for a day’s hunting twice and had found it suited him so well that he would like to take the next step and buy it.
So he had agreed to buy ‘George’ (they were now on first-name terms) subject to vetting or, as he put it himself ‘got engaged’.
I gathered that this was a very meticulous man, we had already been talking for about 15 minutes and crucially, since I had called him back, I was paying for the phone call.
Since he was not familiar with the vetting procedure, I told him that I would email him a copy of the guidance notes on the examination and asked him to phone me again when he had studied these and understood the options available. These guidance notes can be helpful to an inexperienced buyer and can help to avoid any misunderstandings about what is and is not included in the process.
The vetting procedure was revised recently and as a result there is a new certificate available, along with a set of guidance notes which may be emailed or faxed to a potential purchaser in order to explain the procedure.
FIVE STAGES
The vetting is carried out broadly in five stages which are as follows:
1. The initial examination
2. Walking & trotting
3. The exercise stage – either lunged or ridden
4. A period of rest and re-examination
5. A second walk and trot
In stage one the horse is examined all over and the heart and eyes are examined with a stethoscope and an ophthalmoscope.
In stage two, it is walked and trotted and turned left and right. Flexion tests and trotting in a circle on a firm surface will be carried out if the veterinary surgeon considers these safe and appropriate. These may help to detect lameness.
In the flexion test, each leg is picked up and flexed for a period of time and the horse is then trotted again.
In stage three the horse is given strenuous exercise, either lunged or ridden, while the veterinary surgeon observes it and listens for abnormalities in its breathing.
During stage four, the horse is rested and the heart is listened to again.
In stage five, the horse is walked and trotted again and examined again for any lameness which may be more noticeable after the strenuous exercise.
BLOOD SAMPLE
Having read the guidance notes, which I had emailed to him, my client called me that evening. It was clear that he now understood the procedure more clearly.
He pointed out that, since there was quite a large sum of money involved, he wanted to exercise his option of having blood taken and stored. In the event of the horse going lame in the near future, he could then request me to have the stored blood sample tested for anti-inflammatory drugs.
In addition to the five–stage vetting, he also wanted the horse’s respiratory tract examined with an endoscope and wanted some X-rays taken.
I called the number which the potential buyer had given me and arranged with the seller to vet the horse the following day – unless of course it was too windy, which would make it too difficult to listen to the horse’s breathing.
When I drove into the yard the following day, I noticed that the owner of the yard, who was not a client of mine, was pacing up and down and pulling hard on a cigarette. I didn’t know whether this was normal behaviour for him or whether it was a warning sign.
What ensued will be dealt with in a future article…
Louis Hassett MVB MRCVS is in practice in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, and is a member of the Equine Group of Veterinary Ireland
Email: hq@vetireland.ie
Telephone: 01-4577976