Vettings

 

I like vetting horses – and I’ll do them within two working days anywhere in the practice area – think between Edinburgh Newcastle and Carlisle. I sometimes vet horses further away and it might need a little notice and a little planning.

If you ask me to vet a horse, I'll ring you back to acquire detailed instructions as below :-

	BUYER	SELLER	HORSE	PURPOSE	CONCERNS
NAME			NAME	EG.
ADDRESS			AGE	HUNTING
POST CODE			SEX	RACING
PHONE			COLOUR	EVENTING
MOBILE			BREED

 

The "CONCERNS" is quite important - a lot of buyers have had a bad experience. I don't want to repeat it. Sometimes buyers see something about the horse and want it explained. Either way, part of my job is to guide, re-assure and warn.

When I've got all the facts, I arrange the vetting - almost always within two working days. If the vendor is a client of mine I'll say so - the buyer can then decide whether he/she would rather get another vet.
If the buyer wants to be there while I vet the horse that's OK by me - it takes a lot longer to vet and explain as I go, but on the other hand when I've finished I know that the buyer understands what I've done.

Then I vet the horse. There's a standard procedure for doing this and I stick to it rigidly, as follows :-

  A   Look at the horse in the stable - looking for droppings (?normal) damage to doors & walls, general brightness, general attitude to people.

  B   Take the horse out, stand it in a quiet level area and walk round it looking at it from six feet away. (It is surprising how obvious some things are from a distance).

  C   Take the horse back in, and run hands over all parts of the body - you can find old scars and small skin tumors that way.

  D   Then go over the horse, feeling and looking from head to tail - examining everything and listening to heart, lungs etc...

  E   Then I have the horse taken out and trotted, walked, turned and backed up on a firm level surface.

  F   Then I have the horse saddled, bridled and galloped - ideally in a school, failing that on a flat field. I listen to breathing while the horse works, and check it as he stops.

  G   Then I go into a dark (ish) box and examine the eyes with an ophthalmoscope. While doing this I take a blood sample.

  H   Then after a few minutes, I repeat the trot, walk, turn and backup. Then examine the balance of each foot.    

The actual process of vetting takes about an hour. Reporting and form filling takes about half an hour - firstly I ring the buyer, normally straight away on my car phone. Then I fill in the standard "Five Stage Vetting" form and get it in the post, usually next morning, with the bill enclosed.

We charge £150.00 to £200.00 for vetting and reporting, more if it needs endoscopy or X-rays but we never do that without ringing and discussing, getting as we say "informed consent".

Our standard blood test is for presence of drugs to make a lame horse go sound; the sample goes to the lab and is stored in case it is needed. It almost never is. No charge for that blood test but any other tests that the buyer wants will be quoted for and done.

Usually when I vet horses the buyer is a regular client of mine; but I now do quite a few where the buyer is a complete stranger to me – these buyers find me from recommendation or from the website. Obviously my own clients trust me; but here are a few non clients that I have vetted horses for between April and June 2007 – they have all agreed to have their name here and they’ll tell you what they think of me.

Moira Barr Barrhead Glasgow 07798 856396	Gina Bardon Washington Tyne and Wear 07968 968385	Mrs Williams Abergavenny Wales 07894 324363	Lucy Crawford Burnt Green Birmingham 07774 090745
Linda Horne Carluke Lanarkshire 07778 579504	Jane Colles North Yorkshire 07712 530394	Lesley Mullins West Hill Aberdeenshire 07857 66371	Sandra Duguid Dunbar 01368 864328

 

But there’s more; in vettings the buyers rightly expect careful thorough examinations and a reliable account the pros and cons of the horses. But the sellers also have rights – they are entitled to punctuality, courtesy, gentleness to their horses, and a sense that the examining vet is being fair to their horses. Here is a short list of local sellers who are not clients of mine who trust me to give a fair account of their horses.

Richard Telford Ayton Berwickshire 07885 058451

Marian Beveridge Dunbar 07799 511407

Clair Rutherford Foulden 0798 347407

Caroline Powell Kelso 07966 059045

Mrs Beck Polton 0131 663 5803