The Ins and Outs of Vettings

So you’ve found your ideal sparkly new eventer for this season. He does dressage like Valegro, bascules beautifully over 1.20 oxers and is brave as a lion XC. Best of all you click perfectly together like two pieces of lego. So what next? Sign the cheque and wait for the transporter to deliver him? Or exercise a tiny bit of caution and arrange to have him vetted? After all it’s your hard-earned pennies that you’re risking.

Believe it or not sellers want to sell you a horse. Some of them are desperate to sell you a horse. To this end they may do anything from ‘forgetting’ to tell you that the horse has a nasty sarcoid tucked away in his sheath (and you didn’t peer under there anyway, right?) right up to medicating the horse so that it appears magically 100% sound when you try it. Some sellers aren’t even bad-intentioned. They may have bought the horse unvetted themselves and may honestly not be aware of its heart murmur or cataract. Sure, the horse coped OK whilst they had it but if you’re parting with several thousands of pounds you really ought to be getting the full picture and the chance to make an informed decision.

I’m only going to deal with 5 Stage (Stage, not Star!) Vettings in this article as really a 2 Stage Vetting is not something that we’re encouraged to carry out any more (the VDS, who defend vets in the case of litigation, insist on a disclaimer being signed by the purchaser when a 2 Stage Vetting is carried out) and it’s not really suitable for assessing a competition horse.

Stage 1 – the horse is examined at rest in the stable. The stable needs to be easily darkened (eg. by closing the top door) so that the eyes can be examined in detail. The heart and lungs are listened to and the horse is closely examined from head to toe for lumps, bumps, surgical scars and just about anything else you can think of. It is not part of a vetting to carry out a detailed dental exam but most vets check the age roughly against the passport age and will check for wolf teeth, incisor abnormalities and any obvious dental pathology that can be detected without a gag.

Stage 2 – the horse is taken out of the stable. I like to have it stood up square on a flat clean surface so that I can make an assessment of conformation, hoof/pastern axis and foot shape. Then the horse is walked and trotted in hand, again on a hard flat surface. The dreaded flexion tests are then performed. People moan endlessly about these: the common complaint being that a vet can make any horse lame with enough pressure. However most vets know roughly how hard they flex a joint and for how long and are consistent in this from leg to leg and horse to horse. They are always going to be a subjective test but if I flex a horse’s hocks and it trots off 1/5 lame for a couple of steps on one hindlimb but 2/5 lame for 20 yards on the other hindlimb then I know that I am going to be suspicious about the second leg!

Stage 3 – exercise. This can vary a little depending on the age and stage of training of the horse and its intended purpose. For an eventer I would like to see it lunged in the school in small circles on both reins with or without tack but without any devices such as side reins.  I then like to see them ridden in walk, trot and canter on both reins showing small and large circles and changes of direction. The exercise finishes with a strong canter or gallop – enough to make the horse blow so that any wind abnormalities can be heard and then the heart listened to again to detect and murmurs that have appeared (or disappeared) with exercise. The horse is observed, and possibly listened to again, during the recovery.

Stage 4 – Rest. This is when the vet appreciates a cup of tea! The horse should be left untacked in a stable for 15-20mins and at this point I usually check the microchip, passport and draw the horse for the vetting form.

Stage 5 – The horse is brought out and walked and trotted again. I usually perform a foot examination to detect any tenderness after exercise and will re-perform the flexion tests if I have any concerns. I also back the horse up for a few steps and turn him in a tight circle to check for coordination issues.

I haven’t mentioned lunging on a hard surface. This is a controversial part of the examination and something where safety is a worry. Horses lunged on concrete in a small circle tend to slip and there is a risk of the horse falling over in the worst case scenario, and being reluctant to move naturally for fear of slipping at the very least. I have rarely been to a yard where I am happy with the facilities for carrying out this test although some equine hospitals now have purpose-built non-slip tarmac lunging areas which would be the solution to this problem.

At the conclusion of the examination a blood test can be taken. This is sent to the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket where it is stored for 6 months. It can be tested at any point in that time for anti-inflammatory or painkilling drugs or for sedatives. It is a very useful insurance policy for the vendor, purchaser and vet and something I always advise clients to do.

The only other thing to mention is ancillary tests – for horses over £10000 insurance companies usually demand radiographs. Standard views are generally taken of the feet, fetlocks, knees and hocks but it can take quite a bit of time to get the full set of pictures and this might be more easily carried out at an equine hospital. Equally the examination might throw up an issue that the purchaser wants clarifying – a mild noise made galloping might lead to the horse being scoped to determine the cause of the issue and the likelihood of it affecting the horse in its future career.

Lastly it is important to remember that horses are not passed or failed, but recommended for a purpose. I have vetted many horses which are suitable for riding club work that I would have turned down for FEI eventing. The job of the vet is to lay all the facts at the door of the purchaser and allow them to make their own decision. Some people wouldn’t care about a sarcoid providing it didn’t interfere with tack and the horse was capable of doing the job they wanted; a small cataract may not be likely to affect the horse’s vision but the purchaser may decide, on reflection, that they’d rather not take the risk. This is why I like to have my client with me at a vetting. It making explaining and discussing any issues much more easy and is much less likely to result in crossed wires.  Go on, take a day off work. Buying horses is important! It is also only a picture of the horse ON THE DAY, which is a very important fact to appreciate. The vet can only see what is in front of them at that moment in time. We’re clever, but we’re not soothsayers!

Hopefully your mega-star will have sailed through his vetting by now and you’ll be bedding down a box for him and preparing to go and pick him up. Perhaps, though, you’ll have discovered a serious problem and will be drinking a cup of tea and thanking your lucky stars you hadn’t handed the money over. Either way you’ll definitely be better armed for this season’s eventing than you would have been without a vetting.