Loss of Use Mark - should i be worried and what is the horse worth?

I often hear about people claiming loss of use and think why?...loss of use does not mean useless horse. It can be a simple as a scar on a show horse or a stiffness problem with a dressage horse.

As long as your horse is happy doing what you want don't worry. It may however make her harder to insure or sell so you really need to know why LOU was awarded
 
I'd be more worried she was stolen at some point. If she looks like she is going ok then don't worry about it. Only a full 5 stage vetting can tell you if there is a problem. It may have just been that she had an injury that meant she couldn't jump as high, which would indicate she may have been quite good as non competitive owners don't tend to insure for LOU because it adds alot to the premium.
 
If you have some information on her, see if you can trace back the old owners or vets and see why she has the LOU on her. I am just a bit sceptical because someone has tried to remove her identity freezemark.

Maybe contact the major freezemarking companies and see if they can search for her by her registered name, ofcourse providing that is her real name. You could also try putting her name into the BSJA site or call them and see if they will give you the details of her owners.
 
I posted a similiar thread a while back as a livery at mine also has a LOU, she is on a view to buy and i was worried new owners to be (albeit, fantastic peeps but never owned and fairly novice) didnt know what was going on. Anyhoo, its since come out that mare has LOU for a broken leg. We have looked hard into everything and mare was an eventer worth a few bob, got an injury and owner got 10 grand payout. Owner to be told she had this happen years ago and is now 12 yrs old and when she buys mare will get a full vetting. I was worried but since we have looked into it, i am not too worried now as we know mare cannot be insured on that particular leg, or for the line of work she was used for when the injury occurred.
 
If the horse is an ex BSJA horse and has loss of use then I think you will find it will be a problem with legs. I wouldnt jump the horse until you have a full vetting to find out the issue and the reasons why LOU.
 
It could be an injury anywhere. I had a terrible accident team chasing on my first horse Phi, i fought to keep her alive and she recovered well to live a happy, healthy life, however I had her stamped LOU as she had; a chipped vertebrae in her neck, nerve damage to her shoulder and spinal chord damage after flipping over a solid fence. :(

My a-hole ex at the time made me sell her to my old RI (she had offered to take her on and keep her for life and breed from her) but i wanted her stamped so hopefully people would maybe take it easy with her/ be aware of what happened, even though she was supposed to never be ridden again. Unfortunately both Phi and I were majorly let down and RI started riding her again and sold her on... who knows where she is now, i just hope she is safe and pain free. Sorry if this puts the wind up you :eek:. Some LOU stamps are done to claim insurance money , so it may not be too serious. If you can do some detective work and find out, it'll put your mind at rest. Good luck. :)
 
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