Sarcoids help!

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DiamondGirl

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Just wondering if people could give me experiences, I'm looking at buying a gorgeous rising 4 year old, perfect in all ways except she has sarcoids. One group of four, slightly raised under her belly towards her back end, two on ehr chest again slightly raised and one thats worrying me the most, flat but about 3 inches from where her girth lies- this one almost looks like it could have dropped off? I'd be really grateful to hear experiences, particularly regarding management as I've heard flies can be an issue?

Thank you!
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our one has one on his sheath, we have had him two years now and it hasn't grown or caused any probs so far.I'd be worried if any of them are anywhere that could be rubbed by tack etc. I personally wouldn't buy another horse with sarcoids cos they can flare up and it can be quite costly with the stories i have read on here. We ended up with ours cos we didn't have a vet check done and did not look over him thoroughly.
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Please think very carefully about buying this horse! we have a lovely little mare who has sarcoids in her armpit i guss is the easiest way to describe it. Luckily they just miss her girth area but she has had these for a few years, she has had a couple frozen off and recently one that had grown to the size of a small apple removed via a band being put around it. The sarcoid did drop off but has left a huge open wound that is taking a while to heal, the vet has been out this morning to check and has had to cut away some of the proud flesh that has grown through the wound and is not happy as it looks as though the sarcoids are growing back throough the open wound.
We are looking into all the options for her and the vets have sent pictures to the specialists in liverpool and even they dont think they can help her.
Saying that she does have one further back on her tummy and that hasnt changed at all, but it really depends whether your prepared to take the risk.
I do also believe i am right in saying that if they are anywhere near somewhere that will interfere with any of the tack it will fail any vetting.
PM me if you want any more info on what i have told you
 
If you want to insure her, and have her vetted pre-purchase, the vet will report on the sarcoids and the insurance company will exclude them from the policy. So if in future you have any problems at all with them you will be unable to claim. My young horse was found to have sarcoids shortly after I bought him last year (not noticed by the vet as he was very hairy at the time - now I know why they didn't clip him!) but luckily they have resolved themselves and he is now OK. However, I would not have bought him if I had known about them. There are enough pitfalls and problems with owning horses without buying an existing problem.
 
DG there was a post on this just a day or 2 ago. I would strongly advise you to look up Professor Knottenbelt's (Liverpool University, knows everything there is to know about sarcoids, ragwort poisoning, you name it. He's a saint) article on sarcoids. This will give you a much better idea about what you are dealing with. Some skin conditions look like sarcoids but aren't and they tend to respond to Thuja cream etc. True sarcoids are a form of skin cancer and as the Prof says, the only predictable thing about them is their unpredictability.

If I already HAD a ned that developed sarcoids (Sunny developed one!) then you deal with it. But I wouldn't buy a ned with sarcoids as you may well be buying yourself a whole heap of expense, heartache and - eventually - an uninsureable and possibly unrideable horse. There's loads of healthy neds out there - hard as it is, I'd keep looking.
 
I took a risk and bought a cob with two of them (one on his sheath and one on his stifle) 5 years ago when he was 5 years old, they have both disappeared. My vet said sometimes they are common in young horses and sometimes they grow out of them (my words not his). I was given some cream to put on them by the vet that vetted him but I didn't use it as I'd heard that sometimes it's best to leave them alone. I wouldn't, however, have bought him if they had been anywhere near where the tack goes. My insurance company has excluded <font color="red"> ANY </font> skin conditions on him since they were on the vetting.
 
Youngsters often get warts - sometimes in vast numbers - as their immune systems mature, and these can easily be mistaken for sarcoids. But true sarcoids are potentially far more sinister and you can bet your bottom dollar your ned would be excluded from all skin conditions as pf says. It could prove a very, very expensive decision if you buy this ned. Have they definitely been diagnosed as sarcoids? If not, you could take a chance but if they have, you could be in a heap of trouble pdq x
 
They haven't been diagnosed by a vet and to be honest I have very little experience of them myself. The ones on her chest could easily be warts (although they could be 'lumps' too as they are still covered in hair and havent heard of warts or sarcoids like this). The ones on her tummy though look more like pics I have seen- one cluster of four small but raised (although still relatively hairy) and one flat and scaly that *may* have dropped off.

It would be a massive risk to buy her and usually I'm pretty sensible (I've turned down horses for less!) but there is something about this one thats got under my skin. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, buy her and could well end up with nore sarcoids and a big bill (I'd use this to negotiate price down though) or not buy her and regret that too as I cant find anything else that 'catches' me so to speak, that indefinable 'X' factor I guess!

Ah well, this one has me truely stumped!
 
I had to put a horse down due to sarcoids. They spread over a period of three years all over her muzzle (I had to use a bit-less bridle). They also spread under all her legs and around the girth area. Some sarcoids reached the size of golf balls. I lamb banded some of them which worked well, however it became a bloody mess of open wounds. There are operations where you can remove one or two, but it is costly. In the summer the flies attacked my poor horse and she was in distress and so I decided the best thing for her was to put her to rest. She was unrideable at the age of 16. I will never take on or buy a horse with sarcoids after that experience.
My sister has a horse who has one reoccurring sarcoid which she has removed every year, she does not find this a problem and so I think it is really upto you whether you are willing to take a risk; after all we all do when buying horses!
 
of the four horses ive had in my lifetime 2of the have had sarcoids so i think its more common than alot of people think.

My pony had one develop on the inside of her back leg, it was banded, dropped off and she hasnt had another since.

My current horse was bought with one that was banded on his sheath and they told me that he had had one frozen on his chest but it had fallen off. he passed his vetting and as far as i'm aware i dont have any exemptions on my insurance?

However, he isnt as lucky as my pony. the one on his sheath came back and was banded again but it turned nasty and was cut off, took ages to heel and he now has a scar. he also grew one on each side of his back legs that were frozen off last summer and returned (not in exactly the same spot) this summer. the theory on this one though was leg straps on his rugs promoting their growth. This summer they bled badly and he about to have aggressive freezing to kill all the skin deep down to kill whatevers hiding. he now gets fillet string only btw
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im not anti to people buying horses with sarcoids at all. however in this case i dont think i would advise getting it - sounds like theres a varitation in sarcoids there and you can get flat sarcoids so i think the one you describe may be a flat one and not infact where one has fallen off. Also when they are widespread across the body like Littlestabling92's poor horse they are a minefield. If you really feel this is the horse for you then get it vetted as they will give you the piece of mind you really need on it.

good luck
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What colour is she ? Grey? As they also sound a bit like melanomas.

I had 2 horses vetted in the summer and they both failed as they had sarcoids. I would never by a horse with them. If you are thinking about buying her this much, it should give you an idea as to how hard to sell her it would be if you didn't get on.

If you did buy her, she should be cheap.
 
my best ever horse had sarcoids, i bought her as a 7 yr old with them, it reduced her price quite drastically. i learnt lots of ways of managing them (pm me if you want), and never regretted buying her. i had her for about 10 years and lost her to something totally unrelated to the sarcoids.
this mare's price should be dramatically lowered if you do want her - they are totally random, can just disappear or multiply at a horrifying speed.
 
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