Would you buy a horse with sweet itch?

If I knew no, its a constant heartbreaking battle. I have one with it I would never part with him and now 3 years later we have just figured out what works for him and it is managable, allbeit exspensive. But for some it's not even manageable.
 
my horse has sweet itch. I had her on loan first for a year and then bought her, it is mild though. As long as you keep on top of it, it is fine. SHe is fed a careful diet, has micronised linseed and brewers yeast, has a sweet itch rug and also some lotions and she has a full mane and tail and is quite happy and healthy.

It is mild though, probably wouldn't if it was very severe as i have dealt with horses like that and is heartbreaking to see. Also if the horse ticked every other box, then i don't see it as a huge problem.
 
Yeh I did, it was fairly bad when I got him was only just turned 4 and never had a sweet itch rug on. Pretty much no mane, top of tail all rubbed out, sore bleeding bits on face, ears and a bit on mane and tail.

6years later with careful management you would hardly tell he had it. Still has scars on his ears though. Has done well showing as well which I was worried it might affect that. Does take a lot of work though and can be awful watching them itch and itch when you've tried everything to help.

Not sure I would buy one with very severe sweet itch like a couple that I've known, but even they now don't look too bad with good management. Though they probably would be affected showing.
 
I did although I wasn't convinced (and still am not) that it was SI

If you think you're set up is suitable (away from standing water, not lots if trees and it's nice and breezy that's a good start) AND you think you can cope with it then there is not a big problem

In saying that it's time consuming if it flares up and mine has cost me a lot to get right.

I wouldn't swap him for the wield now but I do thank heavens my other pony is problem free!
 
Yes, have had two in the last six years that had sweetitch. Both were easily managed with rugs and the odd potion, despite living in a pennine bog. We have since sold both ponies on, and I did breathe a sigh of relief that they weren't here this summer in the wettest weather we've had for years.
 
Chloe was severe when I got her, similar to what Lissa describes. With management, you wouldn't know she has it for most of the year. I don't find it particularly expensive, either. Not sure I'd have two at the same time, but one at a time is certainly no problem if you're willing to do the research and feed/treat accordingly.
 
My nf had severe sweet itch when I bought him, his price reflected that and he is otherwise perfect. Am hoping to get on top of it before it starts this year so he does not have to go through what he did when I bought him and for the months after.
 
My friend bought a pony with sweet itch the summer before last. He ticked every single box, so we considered he was a worthwhile purchase. Plus, the dealer had reduced him by £600 to reflect the problem.

He'd rubbed a lump out of his mane and most of his tail, but she started treating him with Kill-Itch immediately and used a feed supplement, the name I can't remember, and she was on top of it within a month. She bought a very expensive rug which did no good whatsoever, so left it off.

She started treating him again last February and had no problems whatsoever last summer - no rubbing, and a nice full shiny tail. The only thing was, his mane never grew back neatly so she hogged him, and being a lightweight cob it really suits him - the hogging might have helped him, and it certainly made topical applications a whole lot easier.
 
No, never. It's awful for them and heartbreaking for us trying to keep them comfortable. The only thing that really controls it is SI rugs, which means they are hardly ever able to enjoy being naked. It's a nightmare all round.
 
I wouldn't buy an unknown horse, but may consider a competition horse that I knew well and had the chance to ride beforehand.

For me, I'd be prepared to do the management if I was 100% sure the horse was straight, sound and competitive
 
The pony I am thinking of getting for my kids and as a companion for my pony may have sweet itch. The man I am buying him from has said that he gets itchy from the flies and tries to bite himself. He has various creams to put on, but it doesn't seem to be severe as he has no scarring.
 
Yes I would, as like a few others have commented you may be able to get a discount on the horse because of the problem.

Sweet itch can be made very managible if it is dealt with correctly.

I have a shetland who gets quiet severe sweet itch, we manage it with a special rug and if the midge levels are particularly high he stays in during the day and goes out at night. We also rub Kill Itch into his mane and tail twice a day and we feed him marmite which also seems to deter the midges.

It just depends how far you are prepared to go to deal with the sweet itch as it can be quiet time consuming. Mild sweet itch is reasonably easy to control where as a more severe case can be quiet hard to control.
 
No, I wouldnt. Friends pony had to be PTS as steroids had to be used to treat SI and they triggered acute lami.

Its like a lot of things, you cope if it crops up after you get them but its not usually a good idea to take on known problems, you will have plenty of unknown ones to deal with as it is!
 
Titchy the wonder pony has it. I didn't know until I got there but to be honest I was expect it as his mane was too thin for a normal Shetland in the pics I had of him. I wasn't too worried as we are on a hill, no standing water, with few trees and rarely see midges as there is always a breeze. He also came with a SI rug. So I am hoping its not too much of a problem :-/
 
It would depend on how manageable it was, & how special the horse was in other ways. We had an ace first ridden on loan with it, managing her wasn't much extra work, just her mane & tail were never going to be fab. She had to have large chunks kept clipped cos mane & tail too dense to apply lotions too otherwise. She was a star of a fr, real one in a million so one like that I'd buy. Or if it was manageable & the sweet itch meant I got a cracking horse that would be out of my budget. But I wouldn't buy a random v average horse with it if it would be easy to find a similar one without sweet itch.
 
If it was the right one at the right price I would. We have two here now with pretty bad sweet itch which we have learnt to manage well so another would be no real bother.
 
I bought my boy knowing he had SI coz I liked him. I'd had him on loan before I bought him so got the vet to take some bloods and establish the severity of the allergy. In his case it was "mild to moderate" - but I would think more than twice about buying a horse with a severe reaction.

My boy has a lovely flowing mane & tail and to look at him you'd never guess he suffers from SI, so it IS possible and once you've got your head around the total management regime then its not so bad. The first year is the worst!!

The problem is that you can buy a horse without SI and then if it moves to a high-midge area, can develop the problem.

I've got a loan mare as well as my traddie and basically treat her as a SI case as well, to be safe, as she gets quite stressy when the midges are biting although she hasn't got SI. So she's turned out in a fly-rug as well during the SI season.

Before purchasing ANY horse in the winter months (when SI may not be obvious) I'd be very cautious unless I knew the horse/vendor anyway and ask if at vetting bloods could be taken for this purpose.
 
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