Would you buy a horse with sarcoids

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Merlotmonster

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HI everyone..

I have found a lovely coloured youngster by Pauldarys Top Tiger and having tried it several times, have decided to buy him. I saw him last in April and wanted to buy him then but she changed her mind as her other horse had gone lame and she wanted to see if he came right. Well about a week ago she emailed to say he was fine and so she would sell the horse to me if I still wanted him. I said great and went to see him again yesterday to make sure all was ok and to arrange a vetting.

I noticed a small wart thing on his neck which she said had grown at the sight of a bite. My sister thought it looked like a sarcoid and so had a look closer around his back legs and saw 6 more of these small lumps.

Im going to have him vetted but if they are sarcoids is he worth buying? I am gutted as he really is a stunning horse...however he is not cheap. Would you buy a horse with sarcoids or would you steer clear?

any comments appreciated!
 
it wouldn't bother me as long as they are treatable and you had a bit of a discount.
my 3yro has just been treated successfully for his one and my cousin (who is a vet) has one with sarcoids and she said she would rather sarcoids than any other issue as they are treatable.
 
6 sarcoids? Hmm I wouldn't my friend sold her eventer that had multiple sarcoids which were treated at a fair cost and came back repeatedly, he went for a pitance considering his talent. I think its the degree of unpredictability with them that puts people off some horse have one all their lives that never change some get them allover and if they appear where tack lies treatment can mean time off and expense of course. I'd get the vets opinion.
 
hi i was just about to post something similar. found a lovely young horse but it does have a couple of sarcoids and is at the top of my budget. personally it does nt bother me as i want to keep her to event long term but if things dont go to plan im worried that her selling on price would be affected. so just wondering how much sarcoids effect price as again she is nt cheap!
 
Speak to your vet - I have bought one with the odd sarcoid in an area that is easily treatable but another had them in it's eyes and that would of cost £5000 to treat, if you haven't already I'd have a 5 stage vetting done.
 
I bought a horse with sarcoids, but I got a considerable discount on her, and I was lucky in that they didn't return after treatment. She only had 2, I'm not sure how I'd have felt if she'd had more than that, it does depend on where they are. Treatment can be costly so get all your facts before you decide what would be a fair offer if you do decide to go for it.
 
As they are pre-existing they would be excluded on your insurance. I'd get the vet to have a look at them and discuss further with them. As they won't be covered if you purchase the horse you'd have to pay for the treatment out your own pocket.

With my first practice I paid £78 for each tub of liverpool cream (both horses treated same time with different strengths of cream) plus visit fee and application fee. With new practice I was £37 visit and £28 for applying cream. For each "round" she was treated 4-5 times in a week plus visits just to examin her/them which was £12. It all added up but thankfully she was covered by insurance!

I bought a gelding with a sarcoid and it cost £470 all up (wasn't covered by insurance) for it to be treated. Thankfully it only needed one round of treatment, didn't come back and he had no others.

My mare developed them. Originally she had 2 small ones but they came back after first treatment along with another 4. She took, in total, 4 rounds of treatment and couldn't be exercised due to their position (girth and between hind legs). They are all finally off with the last one falling off around 2-3wks ago but the "holes" are still healing and the areas are slightly swollen.

It might just be worth keeping in mind that they might not go immediately and depending on their location it might affect your ridden/comp plans.
 
A lot of the top tiger horses seem to have sarcoids ! Which proves it must be genetic. Anyway, from what ive heard of the TT horses it is a constant battle to keep them under control and its v likely that they will always have the odd one popping up here and there - its just a case of keeping on top of them and getting rid of them immediately , the day they appear - and i mean immediately. Otherwise it gets so expensive and very painfull for the horse . Costs can be anything from 100 to 5k. Anyway glad to hear you are back riding again and Please keep us updated on how he gets on ! Lots of pics pls !
 
i would, but i would expect it to be reflected hugely in the price.
the only predictable thing about sarcoids is their unpredictability. some will stay dormant for years. some can be treated and will disappear for years, or for ever. some will suddenly go rampant and get really nasty.
i bought a mare (grey in siggy) with a few, noticed at vetting and still passted, and they were a menace for years, it was a constant battle to keep them under control. didn't stop her going a very long way, but still...
 
Well, if you are desperate to have a Tiger bred horse (Apparently all prone to sarcoids per another poster?) and can get him cheaply it might be worth negotiating. Use the existing sarcoid condition as a reason, because you will not be able to insure for it. Tough on the present owner who might lose money but that's how it goes. At least if you both take a hit for treating the sarcoids it evens it out a bit. However - there are plenty of other fantastic horses without pre-existing conditions - so think very carefully. It will be twice as difficult to decide if you get attached to him and involved with the owner. I would say look around a bit more.
 
HH had a huge cluster on the inside of his thigh and also one on his flank, but I used Sarc-Ex and also some Crossgates cream (k9h works for them, pm her) and they've gone. I did get his price down accordingly.

I think they vary so much that veterinary advice is advisable if they're prolific or in troublesome areas.
 
Agree with all of the above, really does depend on the horse and the price! I sold my U21 dressage horse for a much reduced price due to him having sarcoids between his back legs, they never bothered him in the 6 years i owned him, but because he had them i had to reduce the price accordingly. He passed a 5 stage vetting with them though, vet just made the new owner aware of the risks.

If i wee buying again, for myself i would just expect a reduced price, if buying to sell on i probably wouldn't buy something with sarcoids, unless it was very cheap and very nice!
 
I had 2 cheap horses vetted last summer and they both failed on Sarcoids. I wouldn't buy one with them. If you don't get on with the horse you will struggle to sell him - just think how hard you are having to think about buying him. We have also had horses with sarcoids which in the summer flies have attacked and they end up as a bleeding horrible mess as the sarcoid has reacted and then erupted. If they start doing that you are looking at having to stable them all summer as well.

The second vet explained sarcoids to me like this....

They are fairly sure that the virus is spread by flies

They think that horses that get sarcoids have something missing in their make up - they aren't sure yet what, otherwise all horses would have sarcoids.

If a horse has even one sarcoid it means that it is suspectible to getting more sarcoids, what makes a horse get more sarcoids, or the ones they have start erupting no one knows yet.

The closer the sarcoid is located to the core of the horse the more successful they are to treat. Once treated though they could come back.
 
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I always thought sarcoids meant a vet's failure anyway.

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Horse don't pass or fail vettings anymore. Although you do still have the bit where they say if they think the horse would be suitable for xyz.

The vet lists everything he finds wrong, the insurance company excludes everything on the list, and you have to make a decision if you want to take a risk on the horse
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I bought Soap at 6 and he was clean then a few months later a sarcoid popped up by his sheath I had the vet treat it with liverpool cream, and it has sucerssfully been removed and not come back (touch wood)
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My vet said that 30% of the horses he sees have them and that they are most active between the years of 4/5/6 so I would be concerned that if he is young there is a chance there are more sarcoids to come... and also he seems to have them in tricky locations eg where legs/tack rub. Being coloured are they on his white bits? are you sure they are sarcoids and not melanomas?...
We have a horse on our yard atm who is being heavuly treated for them it has clusters all round it's back legs on the inside, under the armpits, girth and a huge tennis ball shaped one right in the middle of his chest. They are currently at the scabbing shelling out stage and look horrific! so if you have the £ the strong stomach to face the treatment and you really like the horse then get it but imo if it has that many at such an early age I would be put off. Sorry that's probs not what you want to hear
 
I have just bought a horse with a sarcoid above his eye. I knew that the treatment is expensive but I got a discount on the price of the horse and I loved the horse. He has huge potential as a showjumper and I decided that he deserved a chance regardless. If it was the perfect horse in other ways then I would not be put off although I wouldn't buy a horse with a sarcoid if I didn't think that it would do the job I wanted it to as they can be very difficult to sell. Be wary of sarcoids around the eyes as treatment expensive, I took my new boy straight upto Liverpool for treatment and by the time its done it will stand me at about £5k for vet fees. However I am really chuffed with him he is a lovely young horse and I am going to keep him long term as I wouldn't want to sell a horse with sarcoids. If its your dream horse then I wouldn't be put off although everyone I knew told me to steer clear - I just liked him too much and want to give him a chance.
 
Thanks for all your comments...it certainly gives me a lot to think about. I spoke with the vet who is doing the vetting next wednesday and they are going to look at them specifically. My gut feeling is to walk away if they are sarcoids as there are just too many unknowns with potentially expensive treatment ahead. Whilst I adore the horse Im not sure I want that hassle even if she reduced the price to be honest. Its all very annoying as he is lovely in every other way.
 
I bought a 4 yo who developed a sarcoid at 5 which we managed to get rid of she is now 16 and we never had a recurrence. 3 years ago I bought another mare who already had one in the same place beside her elbow as due to my experience with my other mare I was not worried. We sold her this Spring and she again passed the vetting and in that time the sarcoid never changed. However there are so many types and some spread easier than others, I think I would be wary if there were a few.

But don't give up yet they could be some sort of treatable wart or something
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I would say it depends on your vet
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My horse had a good sized sarcoid right on his flank, very obvious and not a place where you'd want a big scar. However, my vet treated him with the human vaccination injections (is it German measles?) and within a couple of weeks it hadn't healed, it had utterly disappeared. No scar, no big bill, no trauma, it just disappeared. And that was several years ago, with absolutely no sign of any recurrence, scarring or anything else to tell you he'd ever had a sarcoid.
 
When I bought my horse last year he was just recovering from having had ringworm so a few suspect patches I noticed were put down to being the left overs of the r/w and he was 5 stage vetted and the vet made no comment on the patches of skin.
After a few months the patches were looking more and more like sarcoids but weren't growing or being a problem so I just kept an eye on them.
This year he is 6 and he has several more sarcoids in between his back legs and I'm gutted to find this week that he has a little one by his front legs right where the girth goes. It isn't bothering him at the moment but I will obviously be watching it carefully.
When I was looking for a new horse I did rule out another one because of sarcoids so am a bit gutted this horse has them and is still gaining them.
On the other hand, he was by far the best horse I went to try, has ticked all the boxes and will probably take me on to do novice BE which I never even imagined I'd do. So on that basis I just look at it as, if thats his only fault then it could be worse. Luckily my insurance will cover the vets fees as and when he'll need treatment. And I just have to accept that if he ever needs to be sold I'll seriously lose money on him, but hopefully I won't need to do that.
It's a tough one though, I'm not sure what decision I would've made if I'd known. If you can't insure against the sarcoids I'd probably be on the no side
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How old is the horse? If it's young I would walk away, especially if the bloodline is prone. My horse had 3 small lumps when I bought her - Vet reckoned they probably weren't sarcoids but couldn't confirm without biopsy. I took the chance - after about 2 years they started popping up eveywhere & I haven't been able to ride her since last October when she had her first course of Liverpool Cream treatment for sarcoids on her back, under her girth & 2 large ones that rubbed together between her back legs.
She's also on her third tub of Sarcex (£25 for about 3 weeks supply) which so far isn't making any visible difference at all.
 
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