20/02/2025
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Pull up a chair, it’s time for another chat 😅
I’m thankful that I don’t have to make a living from horses. It’s a hobby and interest for myself and Donal. I don’t know how people who do rely on it to live, deal with the stress these days!!
Most vettings have become absolutely ridiculous. Years ago I started refusing to take horses to vet clinics because the time taken for these vettings was often the majority of my day between travel and waiting around. There are many vets that cover our yard (including all the big clinics) so either your vet comes here or you choose another vet. I don’t have time for that.
If I don’t believe a horse will pass a vetting, I wouldn’t present it for one. I don’t want to waste my time nevermind your money!! My eye is good enough to see lameness and I can do my own flexion tests if I’m unsure. But what is a vetting? Is it a rigid test that every horse should have to meet the set criteria of? Or is it fluid based on whether the horse is suitable for the job? It should be the latter but the world of litigation is making it the former!!
I recently had a lovely “pony” day at a friends house with some of Jessica’s friends from school. The kids had a ball, the horses and ponies were saints and everyone was happy. Would any of those horses have passed a 5 stage vetting?! Probably not!! Are they suitable for the job and absolutely adored?! 100%!!
Uneducated buyers (and some educated ones….) view it as a lifetime guarantee 🫠 horses have minds of their own and can literally decide to kill themselves in the stable 🤷♀️ so when it was sound at the vetting and isn’t sound 4 weeks later it doesn’t mean the seller scammed you or the vet was incompetent (yes I’m sure both of those do happen occasionally) - more likely the horse has been a tw@t womble and injured itself!! Or developed ulcers as a result of stresses from moving and then compensatory movement/pain.
Why does a riding club horse need 5million X-rays?! Why does any horse need 5million X-rays…. But seriously…. So many horses will have less than perfect X-rays but are PERFECTLY sound for their job. If you need X-rays for Bob the cob because you want loss of use insurance…. do you really need it?! Insurance companies try to wangle out of paying LOU and the cost of the premiums you could put that money aside instead in case the worst happened.
I’ve banned vets from the yard not over sour grapes but for shocking treatment of their client, the buyer!! Had one proceed with 5stage vetting/more X-rays only to then “fail” the horse on an X-ray he didn’t like from an existing set we had provided prior to the vetting. Taking nearly £1000 from the client when he could have said that before coming to do the vetting and charging her a nominal fee. Needless to say multiple other vets didn’t agree with that finding and the horse was sold a week later!! As is the joy of X-rays when everyone has an opinion 🫠
Buying a horse is not a light decision. It is a very expensive purchase (whether it’s £5k or £500k) and the costs of keep/management etc etc are huge. The blame culture needs to STOP 🛑 as long as you haven’t been sold up the swanny when you bought it, accept responsibility for the living breathing liability that it is when (yes when, not if) something goes wrong.
Modern day management, unsuitable arena surfaces, egos, age classes, bad farriers, keeping up with the Jones’ all contribute to the breakdown of our horses. It’s very rarely one thing and it’s very rarely the fault of the vet or the seller!!
We need to start taking responsibility or we can kiss goodbye to this sport because I for one am getting very tired of doing it….
Professional and personal schooling, Irish Sport horses and pony Sales specifically Connemara ponies and ISH including sales prep
