Pricing a horse with sweet itch.

[lindsayH]

My friend's horse lives with me (she moved out, he didn't!) and as it has just been sat in my field for a year I'm trying to get her to sell or at least loan it. It might help if I could give her some idea what he's worth but I have no idea as I've never sold one with sweet itch and I wouldn't buy one with it! Can anyone give me a ballpark figure?

He's 15.1hh, rising 13yo, piebald cob. 100% load/clip/farrier and usually good to catch. Good to handle but can be a little grumpy and lift a leg especially when itchy. Fully feathered etc at the mo, but has rubbed his mane and looks scruffy. All the good pics she has of him are when he was competing a couple of years ago and was fully clipped/hogged. Will go in an outline and has jumped 4' (although often from a trot!). Competed dressage, showing and show-jumping at local level. Would hunt if you could ever get him fit enough. Totally unfit at the moment as he just has a plod round the block once a month or so. 100% in heavy traffic and was regularly ridden by a 3/4yo child on the lunge and lead rein. However, he is capable of a small buck going into canter especially if you gee him up a bit.

This is NOT an ad, it's not my horse, it isn't currently for sale and may indeed never be for sale! Any ideas? I would never buy it but surely it must be worth something? Do you think it would be hard to sell and she would be better loaning? I seriously doubt she will ever regain any interest in him and therefore I think she would be better selling.

Thanks!

 

[JenTaz]

selling would be easier as if he goes out on loan he could very easily come back, i would say in the 2000-3000 bracket somewhere in between, ive never bought or had to sell a horse with sweet itch so not totally sure but if your friend is to sell if he has a scruffy mane that would have to be sorted like just hogg him and then the feathers would have to go to, sounds a nice enough wee horse though, but if it was me that the horse got dumped with friend or no friend after a year, i would have sold him already.

 

[bexwarren24]

Sweet itch would de-value him but if he is safe enough for a novice (maybe not a complete beginner with the little buck) then £1500-£2000. Well, thats what i would pay anyway.

 

[Bills]

If it was me I'd attack him with the clippers, tidy him up and sell him on. There are plenty of people out there looking for a safe horse of his type to do a bit on. Depending on how bad the sweet itch is I would advertise him for about 2k.
My old man gets a touch of sweetitch and rubs his tail a bit but he just rubs the hair off a bit, nothing serious so that doesnt bother me, whereas my friends horse is so bad she rubs herself completely raw and gets horrible sores, and she spends on a fortune on lotions and potions, that I wouldn't buy!! But everyone is different!

 

[lindsayH]

Thanks Jen. I'd also thought about getting the clippers out and shaving him to within an inch of his life! I know there are people out there who like feathers though so wondered if it might limit the market. After all, you can shave 'em off but not stick 'em back on! Also he has no muscle at all and I'm worried he'll look unbearably weedy without a mane. Friend does pay for his hay/feed etc and he's no trouble, just totally wasted.

 

[lindsayH]

Thanks for the replies. His sweet itch is pretty bad. He leaves his tail alone but rubs his face and mane and bites his sheath to bits (I'm always amazed he can reach it with his teeth). He would be much better if it was properly managed and had a proper boett instead of a fly rug etc. It's the main reason I want him to go, he needs to be in a one to one home and managed properly.

 

[gummybear]

If his sweet itch is that bad, I would also hog him and take all feathers off - it will make it much easier to manage, treat and Im sure the horse would be more comfortable then. In an unfit condition, I would think you may get around the £2k mark for him but even fit, I wouldnt have thought would get more than £2,500 but I could be wrong.

 

[abbieandfiona]

Maybe put him up for 2,500 and if someone wants to buy him then take off the price for a boett rug which for his size would be in the 300 mark. I would hog him if hes that bad at least then the new future owners will be able to restart with the mane and treat the skin underneath as well. Could your friend find someone to start riding him now before he gets advertised so hes started workng again?

 

[mystiandsunny]

He sounds really sweet - sort of horse someone would take on as a project. Anyone who already has a horse with sweet-itch won't be scared of it, but it will affect value quite a bit. Also, the 'usually' good to catch def will. I know most people won't touch anything that can be iffy in that area!

 

[lindsayH]

He sounds really sweet - sort of horse someone would take on as a project. Anyone who already has a horse with sweet-itch won't be scared of it, but it will affect value quite a bit. Also, the 'usually' good to catch def will. I know most people won't touch anything that can be iffy in that area!

Yes, if she does decide to advertise him I may suggest leaving out the word 'usually'! To be fair, there's only been 3 times in the last year I've had to chase him for 5 minutes before he would be caught and he comes instantly to a bucket!

I'll do some research into clipping/hogging for sweet itch. I had to confess I had vaguely thought the hair might offer some protection. If that isn't the case, I'll get her to whip it all off.

He does sort of have a sharer, my 13yo neighbour who brings him in for a groom saturdays and sundays. She's only been riding him once a month though, although that may go up a bit now it's summer. She only plods anyway.

Thanks for the input. Will pass it on, with a figure of around 2k in mind.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Selling a horse with sweet-itch you will lose a lot of money and from the sounds of it he's got it pretty bad. you know you have to declare that he has sweet-itch when selling.Owning a mare for the past 8 years with sweet-itch, I cann't ride her in summer as she tries to rub herself up against anything that releives the ITCH and because of the mild winters she still is very itchy in December.This is the first year because of the very cold winter, she's been a happy bunny till now, it's gotten hotter and the midges are out in full force. just wish I'd known when I bought her that she had sweet-itch as I'd never had bought her.

 

[thatsmygirl]

I tried selling my mare With sweetitch for about 9 months with no joy. As soon as the word sweetitch was brought up nobody wanted to know and in the end I sold her for £500 as nobody would buy for for a decent price. She never had it bad and only rubbed her tail bold but never raw but people picked up on it and ran.