Would you buy a horse with sweet itch?

As Clava said no, why saddle yourself with a problem to start with. Personally we could not have a horse with sweet itch as we live near a canal, so have midges in the summer, so it would be hell on earth for a horse with sweet itch to live with us.
But if you lived say near the coast where there is constant breeze it may have a slightly nicer life.
 
No, but then we are surrounded by hedges & trees and have very bad midges - so having a horse with sweet itch would be an absolute no for me. Plus the river that winds through our land dosent help :p

Depends where it will be kept; if there are very few trees etc. near you then you may be able to manage it fine, especially if have a fly sheet :)
 
No I wouldnt, well not unless the price was significantly lower than what the animal would be worth without sweet itch.
 
Depends, if the horse was exactly what I wanted in every other way...and the sweet itch was only mild then yes I would consider buying.

I know plenty of horses that live a good life, with owners that know how to care for them properly and try to prevent midges biting in the first place.

You may have to consider moving to an area that is more exposed and breezy. My yard at the moment is low lying with big thick hedges so it keeps out any breeze, also has ditches full of water. A woman came with a sweet itch horse and has since moved to a field on slightly higher ground and without our big breeze blocking hedges as he did suffer in the low lying fields.

I have known a horse that had very severe sweet itch and in the end was pts as he had such a poor quality of life no matter what the owner and vets tried to do to help him.

Swings in roundabouts :)
 
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Would depend on how bad the SI was and where I was intending to keep the horse.
My boy has SI and I wouldn't swap him for the world, and I knew what I was getting into when I bought him as I had previous experience of a horse with it.
 
I have considered it, we saw a horse that was on trial at the RS where we have lessons. The YO decided she didn't want it as it was showing some signs of sweet itch at their low lying yard, the owner said it had never had a problem before and a freelance RI who works on the yard but had also taught the owner on the horse for sometime backed this up.

We were very interested in the horse and our instructor who had a horse with sweet itch reassured us that it can be manageable if the horse is the right horse, and as it hasn't shown signs before if kept at a high windy yard it probably wouldn't have an issue.

The owner decided not to sell in the end so we didn't have to make the decision but it wouldn't completely rule a horse out for me. Boet rugs and things make sweet itch much more manageable now.
 
Yes, I did, and never regretted a minute of it. I'd have another again in a flash.

The vet passed him on his vetting even though he confirmed he had SI, and explained the condition to us.

With a Boett he grew a full mane and tail, and you'd have never known. He lived in a less than ideal place for SI, but it wasn't as bad as some places I have been at with horses. I would think twice if my yard suffered particularly badly with flies.
 
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No, no, and NO!

Sweet itch and head shaking are two things I absolutely won't touch with a barge pole.:( However much promise a horse has.
 
Enfys said:
No, no, and NO!

Sweet itch and head shaking are two things I absolutely won't touch with a barge pole.:( However much promise a horse has.
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My last boy was a head shaker and now I have an SI! Would much rather have them than most other problems, a lot can be done to help the horse. Whereas I wouldn't touch a horse (unless it was a baby) with a lack of manners if you paid me, can't be dealing with it.
And, circumstance depending, I would quite happily buy a horse with either condition again.
 
yes. i have one, apparently he was completely bald as a 2 year old, he is now 8 and i have had him a year, and bought him in the winter, knowing he got it in the summer, i knew the person i was buying him from so trusted what he said about how bad it got. sometimes they grow out of it. sometimes they suddenly develop it later on in life. we manage it with benzole, and it mainly effects his sheath area, head and mane. it was fine until i put him out out night then he started the 'itch scratch cycle'. have nt had to buy him a boett rug yet but if it got bad they are good. it has got alot milder over the years, and he is worth his weight in gold, a fantastic event horse
 
tasteofchaos said:
My last boy was a head shaker and now I have an SI! Would much rather have them than most other problems, a lot can be done to help the horse. Whereas I wouldn't touch a horse (unless it was a baby) with a lack of manners if you paid me, can't be dealing with it.
And, circumstance depending, I would quite happily buy a horse with either condition again.
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Lack of manners can be dealt with, living in a huge arable area as I do (tobacco especially irritates head shakers) and on the edge of a swamp with voracious mosquitos and a hundred other kind of bugs, I still wouldn't even consider either.:o I also buy to sell, no point buying horses I can't sell on, it just wouldn't make sense for me personally.
 
Rgoldenfilly said:
No as sweetitch can get worse as they grow older.
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It can also get better with age in some cases. A pony I learnt to ride on 10 years ago had a bald mane and tail, every year it has got better (obviously with better fly rugs too) and now you would never know he suffers from it! Some can grow out of it, and some horses may suddenly develop it even if they have never ever suffered from it.

As people have said, depends on the horse...but I guess same as I wouldn't look twice at sarcoids or melanomas.
 
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Yes and I have and he was/is a gem, he taught me an awful lot I had him from 5 and he is now 15, he is semi retired and on loan to a friend in the neighbouring yard and still winning with her too.

His sweetitch most definatly did not get worse with age, and as long as he wears a sweetitch rug ( currently a snuggy hoods which is 4yo ) and fly repellent when being ridden he is symptomless.

OBviously sweetitch is not always as manageable but if it had not been I would not have bought.
I would also expect the sweetitch to be reflected in the price ( which is the only reason I could afford my boy, as without he would have been too expensive )
 
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I had my boy on loan initially, and liked him so much I ended up buying him, even though I knew he had sweet itch. Tho' I did get the vet out and took some bloods first.

He's mild to moderate, and when I had him no-one had bothered to cover him up or anything and his mane and tail were a bit rubbed; however, with correct management he's now fine and whilst he needs just a bit extra TLC and managing in the summer, it is possible - and also easy for me coz he's here at home and I'm self employed so can see to him and bring him in if needs be. I certainly wouldn't have a sweet itch if I was working full time and had to leave them out in the field to their own devices coz this is where they start to get itchy and start rubbing on fences etc.

He's a super boy and I'm quite happy to take a bit of extra trouble with him to make sure he's comfy in the summer; tho' appreciate that for a lot of people sweet itch would be a big no-no.
 
Yes and no

If it was my only horse then yes I would buy, as you only need a decent rug or to keep them in during the summer. Plus you horse is always beautifully clean and some people really enjoy rugging up their horses if any livery yard is a barometer of rug liking!

No if you are trying to look after multiple horses as they are high maintenance. I would like to sell my boy with sweet itch, but not prepared to sell him really cheap as he will just end up in the wrong type of home!
 
No I wouldn't. After seeing my nan's pony literally drive himself insane and scratching till he bled from his tail and neck no matter what treatments, rugs, management etc we used I wouldn't.
 
I bought Sooty aged 6, he developed sweet itch at age 14, so not a lot I could do about it. A Rambo sweet itch hoody has been brilliant. One happy content pony with a full mane and tail. Unfortunately Mouse also suffers from it, but flatly refuses to wear any rug. So mane and tail gets plastered with a sweet itch solution which at this current moment I can't remember what it's called. But it's thick gooey stuff that the midges can't penetrate. It's a bit of a pain but wouldn't swop either of em because of it.....
 
All three of mine have sweet itch. The first one developed it after I got her but the other two I bought knowing that they had it.

The first one has it really severely but it didn't stop me getting the others. They are all managed with Boett rugs and whilst it would be nice to have them naked in the summer, its something they have to live with.

I wouldn't swap any of them for the world and would certainly get another if it was the right horse in every other way!

If no-one bought these horses, what would happen to them all.
 
I would also like to add in addition to my post earlier, when I came to retire my sweetitch boy and loan him out, I had no problems a lot of people wanted

He is now and was then highly sellable except I could not consider selling him, he owed me nothing. He is much loved in his loan home . Manabable sweetitch is an irritation, you do have to keep that rug on whatever the weather, however if the horse underneath the rug is worth it its an irritation worth putting up with.
 
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My old boy has sweet itch, i wasn't told he had it when i bought him though, but i wouldn't swap him for anything & he has taught me so much. We've been together 9yrs & he really is a horse of a life time for me, I'm so glad i didn't know about his sweet itch as i could have missed out. I do find with him it does depend on where ive kept him as to how severe it is, at the moment ive got the perfect grazing for him & hes sporting a lovely fully mane & tail :) & hes not had any lotions or potions on or worn a fly rug for the last 2 summers & wont this year either (fingers crossed).
 
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No way - wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. I had one I had to get rid of beacause of it.
It's a miserable disease and we are a midgey area, TBH if I hadn't have been able to sell the pony (was fully disclosed) I would have had her PTS.
 
Yes and we did. Now coming up to 4 years ownership with her. She truly was perfect in every other way and I don't regret for a moment. We show her too and she does well, holds her own in very good company... Only if you look very closely could you see the tail is not quite as full as it should be, but the Boett rug has been a godsend with her.

You need to be careful where you keep them, the more windy and exposed the better, but Yes I would consider doing it all over again if everything else was perfect. There is a lot of negativity on this post - I asked exactly the same question 4 years ago when we were offered her, and got many more positive answers than you have.
 
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