Would you buy a horse with Sweet Itch?

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djlynwood

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I posted a previous thread asking opinions on a 15.2 mare I was looking to buy.

I have been informed that the she has mild sweet itch on her mane, but does not affect her tail and it is managed buy fly spray and a rug in the summer.

I know its an ongoing management issue, but would you buy a horse knowing it has it?
 
ooh this is a hard one. I know a few people with ponies with sweetitch that is quite severe. There is no way I would want to take something like that on. If it is very mild then yes I might do. Shame its this time of year really, can you ask to see photos of her in the summer? Theres no way you could disguise my friends ponies condition in the summer, even in a photo.
 
Brandy said:
ooh this is a hard one. I know a few people with ponies with sweetitch that is quite severe. There is no way I would want to take something like that on. If it is very mild then yes I might do. Shame its this time of year really, can you ask to see photos of her in the summer? Theres no way you could disguise my friends ponies condition in the summer, even in a photo.
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thats a good point, will ask the seller if she has photos showing it.
 
With a description like that yes. Both our ponies have mild SI, and are easily manageable. They have rugs alls ummer when out, and a few lotions and potions.

This time of year is a great time to tell - if the horse has a raw, or rubbed mane or tail, then its been difficult to manage (remember some rugs rub the mane out though, so look for bald, red bits), if not its easily managed.

I'd never be put off a horse with mild sweet itch ever again, and nobody who came to see out pony for sale this year was either(we sent her fly rugs and potions with her).
 
Ys I would, my mare has sweet itch - it is easily managed as long as her sweet itch rug goes on early enough in the year. Then she wears it 24/7 (when not being ridden) until the midges go again - around this time of year. She has two sweet itch rugs which was expensive initially but it lets me keep one on her while I wash the other one.
 
I took a horse on loan with SI, although the owner swore it wasn't (not what the vet said lol) and I wouldn't have another, managable or not. We tried to manage it, with help from the vet but the last straw was when we took her to a show and on the way back tried to scratch the breach bar so badly she sent the trailer snaking from one side to another. She also dented my newish Range rover as she went backwards into it to scratch as we walked her past it. Lovely!! So no I wouldn't take on another.

Liz
 
Welllll, I had mine on loan from a trekking centre; knowing he had sweet itch, and liked him so much that I bought him - in spite of the sweet itch!

I think you have to bear in mind where you will be keeping any horse you buy coz sweet itches are worst in areas where its damp, next to rivers/water areas and trees. If you're on top of a hill and catch the breeze, or near the coast, its noticeably better. The worst place you can keep a sweet itch is near standing water, under trees, on flood plains/valleys or near forest or common land.

What you need to do is have a look at the area where the horse you're interested in is kept at the moment. If its for e.g. kept on a hill with plenty of air circulating, or near the coast i.e. in a "low risk" sweet itch area, and still is showing considerable symptoms, and you know that your place is, say, surrounded by trees and with an artificial lake - then leave well alone and don't buy!!! On the other hand if there's a lot of risk factors such as I've mentioned, then you might just find that the sweet itch is better at a different location.
 
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