Horse purchase help

krismares

Chirping
May 18, 2018
33
64
59
Rural NC
We are considering a purchase of a five-year-old Arabian mare. My 11-year-old daughter has been riding her for two months to try her out. They have a great relationship. To our knowledge, there is no history of injury or breeding. We had an unbiased vet Complete a prepurchase exam. She was in heat that day, so the exam was less than ideal. The mayor was having a bad day. The vet completed the bulk of the exam, but had a question about her left front leg. She did not clearly pass a flexion exam. We retested a week letter later and she failed three tests on that leg. The owner took her back and had the mare re-tested by her regular vet (who also happens to be a local lameness expert). The owner’s vet said she passed and sent video. My barn owner’s trainer saw the video and said yhe mare did NOT pass (and this trainer knows and likes the vet that made the video and was terribly disappointed to see the video). My daughter has a great relationship with this mare and hopes to train with her to compete in English classes for many years.

So, I’m torn on what to do. This is a registered Arabian with good breeding and could be bred later as well. I’ve got 2 good vets in the area telling me 2 different things. My gut says go for it, but this will be our first purchase, so I’m being extra cautious I guess.

Horse people - HELP!!

(And the video I have is too large to upload)
 
Never accept a pre purchase exam by the seller's vet. Period. No discussion.
Not behaving for the vet because she was in heat is a cop out. She either lacks basic ground manners or was exhibiting pain from the manipulation. That alone would make me pass for an 11 year old. 5 is also too young and inexperienced as a child's mount. You just can't take shortcuts with preparing a horse for a child. It takes years to get them solid and trustworthy. I would be looking at 10+ year olds who've been there done that.
Teenagers ride their horses hard. Jumping will be a natural progression. If she has questionable soundness on one foreleg, how long will she be competitive? A breeding sound only Arab has very little value if that's where it progresses to.
How many horses have you looked at and how many has your daughter ridden? We all fell madly in love with our firsts but I'll be the first to tell you they weren't the right ones and more often than not held us back or necessitated buying a second one.
You are fortunate to have a trainer available to you who calls it like she sees it. Sometimes it's just a gut feeling that she picking up on but rarely is the gut wrong. Trust her guidance.
 
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If your gut says to go for it and your daughter has already made an attachment to it and you can see no problem with the leg then I say go for it.
Or you can get a third opinion from another vet and see what they say about the leg.
 
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My daughter has been riding for 6 years. This is not her first horse, just our first purchase. We have leased and ridden various lesson horses at 2 different barns.
 
I think by posing a question here for advice tells you everything you need to know...you have doubts about the horses soundness...take a pass. If your daughter is planning on show jumping especially. You've invested a lot of time/money into your daughters lessons..a show horse is a major investment. Follow ur trainers advice >save both you and your daughter the heartbreak..which would be worse later on. If you guys are attached to the horse..be prepared for the additional financial burden of trying to keep her sound. Personally..i would be concerned, especially w/an issue on a front foot, that the mare could fall/stumble. If the mare is bitch during flexion exam..to me..thats a red flag.
 
The best advice I was ever given is to never buy trouble. If you really like the mare, go ahead and buy her, but only if you are prepared to keep her for a pasture ornament if she becomes too unsound to use. Bear in mind that a horse that has unsound legs can fall possibly resulting in very serious injury to the rider.
 
I bought a 16 year old Quarter Horse about 7 months ago with minor arthritis because the owner said it didn't bother him and he could trail ride all day.
Turns out I started having problems with him, limping after riding for only 5 mins, bucking while loping because of his arthritis etc. I called they guy I purchased him from then the truth came out.... Turns out it was 5 years ago when they found out he had arthritis and he needed to give him "Bute" some kind of pain killer before riding or he would always limp. So I decided to sell him because he was no good for me.
I paid 1600 for him and could only sell him for 600 because I was honest with the buyer. So I lost out 1000 dollars. I would wait for the right horse.
I learned the hard way... Good luck.
 

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