The phrase "it failed the vetting" is used constantly and is almost always wrong. Your vet is not grading the horse. They are answering one question you set them: is this horse, today, suitable for the work this buyer intends? A horse can be entirely unsuitable for affiliated eventing and perfectly suitable for hacking three times a week, on the same examination.
What are the five stages of a vetting?
- Preliminary examination at rest. Eyes in a darkened space, heart and lungs, teeth and mouth, skin, limbs and feet by hand, hoof testers. Most of the findings that matter turn up here.
- Trot up in hand. On a hard, level surface, straight lines and turns, then flexion tests of each limb and usually a lunge on both reins on a firm surface.
- Strenuous exercise. The horse is worked hard enough to raise the heart and breathing rate, so the vet can listen for abnormal rhythm and airway noise that only appear under load.
- Rest and re-examination. Heart and respiration are monitored as they come back down, which is where some murmurs and rhythm irregularities show themselves.
- Second trot up. The horse is trotted again after the rest period, because stiffness and low-grade lameness are far more visible once it has cooled down.
A two-stage vetting is stages one and two only. It is cheaper and it is genuinely useful for a low-value or light-work horse — but it deliberately skips the part where the horse is stressed, which is exactly where hearts, wind and marginal lameness reveal themselves. For anything you plan to work seriously, or anything you plan to insure at a meaningful value, the five-stage is the one to buy.
How much does a vetting cost and who pays?
| UK | US | |
|---|---|---|
| Two-stage | £180–£350 | $250–$450 |
| Five-stage | £300–£650 | $400–$900 |
| X-rays, standard set | £400–£900 | $500–$1,200 |
| Blood sample stored | £30–£80 | $50–$120 |
The buyer pays, and the buyer chooses the vet. This matters more than any other procedural point in a purchase: the vet must not be the seller's regular vet, because they cannot both hold the seller's history and give you an independent opinion. A seller who resists you using your own vet has told you something important.
Which findings come up most often?
Lameness and flexion responses
The single most common reason a sale stops. A positive flexion — where the horse trots off short after a limb has been held flexed — is not automatically a diagnosis; some sound horses flex mildly positive. What matters is the degree, whether it is consistent, whether it repeats after exercise, and whether it fits with anything else the vet found.
Changes on x-ray
X-rays are optional and they are where opinions divide most. Kissing spines (crowding of the dorsal spinous processes), navicular bone changes, arthritic change in the hocks or fetlocks and bone cysts are all common findings in horses that are currently working sound. The question is never simply "is it there" but "does this horse show clinical signs, and how likely is this to shorten its working life for my purpose?"
Heart murmurs and rhythm
Low-grade murmurs are reasonably common and many are of no consequence. What raises concern is a murmur that changes with exercise, an irregular rhythm that does not resolve as the horse recovers, or any finding in a horse expected to do fast work. Vets often recommend an echocardiogram before advising, which is an extra cost and an extra wait.
Eyes
Cataracts, scarring from previous injury and evidence of equine recurrent uveitis. Some are cosmetic; some affect vision on one side, which changes how safe the horse is to ride in traffic or jump. This is one area where the finding is often clear-cut.
Wind
Abnormal noise at fast work — roaring or whistling — points at laryngeal function. It is a defined problem with defined surgical options, and it matters much more for a competition prospect than for a horse that will hack.
Sarcoids and skin
Extremely common, highly variable. Position is everything: a small sarcoid on the flank is a different proposition from one in the girth area or near an eye, where treatment is harder and recurrence more disruptive.
Why should I ask for blood to be stored?
A sample is taken and held, usually for six months, so it can be tested later if the horse turns out to behave very differently at home from the way it behaved at the viewing. It is testing for the presence of drugs — sedatives, anti-inflammatories, painkillers — that can mask both lameness and temperament. It costs very little and it is the cheapest part of the whole examination. Take it every time.
Something was found. What now?
- Ask the vet the two questions that matter: what is the likely effect on the job I described, and what would you expect this to cost me over the next three years?
- Ask what the insurer will do with it. Findings almost always become policy exclusions, so a horse you can buy may still be a horse you cannot insure for the thing most likely to go wrong.
- Consider renegotiating rather than walking. A known, quantified issue with a price reduction is sometimes a better purchase than an unvetted horse with unknown ones.
- Be willing to walk away. You have already spent the money that told you to; spending it and then ignoring the answer is the expensive mistake, not the vetting fee.