Sweet Itch - 2 questions

vhf

vhf

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Firstly. An untreated unrugged horse in mid May 2008. Would you be able to tell if it had sweet itch?

Secondly. If you are selling, is there any requirement to declare that a horse has the condition? (beyond the moral one!)
 
If a horse has got sweetitch and isn't being managed properly this late in the year, it will be very uncomfortable and there will almost certainly be some hair loss from the mane and tail. We are having quite a midgey May this year.

I'm not sure if there is any legal obligation to declare sweetitch when selling but it may come under the trade descriptions act if it is withheld - certainly worth checking out!
 
If my horse (who has sweetitch) did not wear a rug, even for a couple of days, the signs would be easy to see, rubbed shoulders, broken hairs, sores and bare patches of skin.

I would imagine if the horse was vetted, the vet ought to notice these problems.

The problem is, I live in classic bad area for sweetitch - clay soil, ponds, woods etc., my friend down the road sold a top class pony very cheap because when it lived with him, it had all the signs of sweetitch, when it went to the new home, it never rubbed itself again !
 
OK.
Now add in some lice. And plenty of midge opportunities!

Would you be able to distinguish between the signs in a half-handled filly?
 
How old is the filly. Sweet itch oten doesn't start till after 2 yrs old.. A lice infestation could look similar to a mild sweet itch sufferer but severe sweet itch sufferers left untreated at this time of year will be a mess and have thicken elephant like skin on their manes, tails etc.. plus I imagine you'd be able to see the lice..
 
Thank you to everyone for your replies.
The horse is nearly 4.
Lice DEFINITELY present - enough that I could see eggs from 3 feet away in the rain. (Not the worst I've seen by a long shot though.)
Which is why I'm finding it difficult to decide if the raw tail and itchy marks were just that or something more...
The crest was possibly borderline elephant skin/slight ridge-ing, (hard to tell on jumpy hoss in poor weather) the only other thing that made me just wonder was the horse had a full even mane, but it was short and not thick, on a cob cross that hadn't been groomed, never mind tidied.
 
There is a term 'Caveat Emptor' which means buyer beware. Generally, the buyer buys at his own risk. It is the buyer's responsibility to check these things i.e. by inspecting the horse or having a vet check it out.

If the buyer directly asks you about sweet itch and you deny it she could sue you under misrepresentation. Be careful when you advertise not to say things like 'perfect condition' 'no ailments' etc.
 
I'm thinking then, that if a buyer (say me) were to directly ask the vendor and the vendor didn't give a categoric "no", then caveat emptor comes in in full force!
And likewise, if vendor were to give a categoric "no" then they could be in trouble - were you able to prove it...
Hmm...
 
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