Would you buy a horse with

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dickybobx

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A sarcoid.
I am looking to get another horse. He is great but he has a sarcoid in his sheath on the willy. He is 5

I don't know what to do. Go a head or not ?
Any thoughts would be great x
 
Probably not what you want to hear, but no, there are plenty of horses around for sale without problems. I would steer clear of one with sarcoids personally.
 
I do buy horses with sarcoids but have embrace the fact it's more likely to cost £1000s rather than £100s to deal with them .
 
I did, because I liked him a LOT. He was rising 4 at the time, and had a tiny (size of a dried pea) sarcoid near his eye. Was fine for a few months (seen by vet who said if not broke don't fix it...my thoughts exactly), but then he caught it, it was exposed, bleeding and started to spread.
Vet contacted Prof Knottenbelt by email with pics, and he had BCG injections. During that time he had developed a couple of flat ones on his sheath too. The injections worked, over the course of a few months.
You'd never even know now (he's 8) that he had it, and the ones on his sheath disappeared during treatment for the periocular one, and he's had no more.
It's a risk, and did cost me as much as it cost me to buy him, but he was certainly worth it as he's a cracking lad. Bear in mind that they are unpredictable, and I was lucky :)
 
ETA: You also have to think about insurance. My insurance company (as I'm sure is true with most) counted treatment for a "condition" only within a year of it first being LOGGED. As it was logged with my vet on him first examining it, and saying leave alone unless, I was covered for only the first few weeks of the actual treatment.
 
I bought a 4 yr old with a sarcoid on the end of his sheath. He is now 11 and it is still a small sarcoid at the end of his sheath, never done anything.

Actually, thinking about it, I bought another 4 yr old the year before that who had a sarcoid at the top of her leg. That one did grow, but for about £250 it was treated and died. She never had another in the following four years we owned her.
 
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I bought one of mine at 4 years old who had a sarcoid in a similar place. It has never caused any problems and I got him at a very cheap price because of it.

If the horse is amazing and the price is right I would check with the vet and if there are no other problems go for it.

:) :) :)
 
Brought my 7yo with a sarcoid on far back chest before girth but far back enough not to notice without head to toe examination which was only found in vetting but we Sarc-Ex supplement it went within a few months.
 
Yes and I have. would again if it was the right horse as it will often put a horse into the budgeted range that would otherwise be to expensive
 
I always said I wouldn't and then I found the perfect horse, that I would never have been able to afford otherwise and it's not a decision I regret at all. As long as the price reflects it, I would go for it :)
 
My horse had sarcoids it cost about £600 to treat them. She cost me very little to buy and is a fantastic horse but truthfully I wouldn't do it again.
In fact I have just rehomed one because of her sarcoids which developed incredibly quickly.
 
Yes, I did this year, half what he should have cost. I have so far removed ten ranging from tiny to nearly an inch across, some on his sheath and some on his belly. One on his face is currently healing in nicely and I have started removing the last remaining seven. The method I use, a cheap chemical, appears to have a success rate of 100% over the years I have used it on multiple horses. Of course I can't possibly recommend other people to do what I do, but two vets have told me that the result I get looks identical to Liverpool cream and I would be prepared to share privately with any vet who wants to know about it. I'm convinced that Liverpool cream with nasty chemicals like arsenic in it are completely unnecessary for most sarcoid removal.
 
No never. I did once. He only had one. But 2 yrs later he had several. When I needed to sell him I lost an absolute fortune and he was difficult to sell because if them
 
I suppose the thing is that any horse can develop sarcoids just because they aren't there when you buy it doesn't mean they couldn't develop in the future. The up side is that treatment protocols are developing/changing all the time from radioactive wires through to the use of acyclovere (spelling) cream which is basically cold sore cream like zovirax. Treatment costs vary wildly and the treatment depends on the type and location of the sarcoid itself.
Whilst I wouldn't be devastated if I bought a horse and it developed them I don't think I would purchase a horse with them unless it was absolutely perfect in every way and the price very much reflected the issue so that I could put the money I saved on the purchase price towards possible treatment in the future.
I wold also discuss it with my vet particularly in relation to the location and type of sarcoid to be able to identify whether/not it was likely to be treatable easily and whether/not it was one of the more aggressive types.
I suppose the answer is don't write it off but be sure you are making an informed decision.
 
Many horse develop sarcoids at this age which then disappear completely within a few months.

I've had two. One was a HUMONGOUS stalked monster, the size of an orange. I wrapped hair around the stalk to cut off the blood flow, and sure enough it fell off, never to return.
The second horse had a flat one on his chest, about the size of an old 50p. I didn't watch it that closely, as it wasn't in an important place, but it arrived when he was 3, and had gone before he was 5.
 
If there was a possibility I might sell the horse on then no. If I was intending to keep the horse for life then yes. (Of course circumstances change)
 
I bought a mare who developed one almost immediately!! Wouldn't have changed my mind as she's my forever horse. I agree if you think you'll be selling on I would be more reticent.
 
cptrayes said:
Yes, I did this year, half what he should have cost. I have so far removed ten ranging from tiny to nearly an inch across, some on his sheath and some on his belly. One on his face is currently healing in nicely and I have started removing the last remaining seven. The method I use, a cheap chemical, appears to have a success rate of 100% over the years I have used it on multiple horses. Of course I can't possibly recommend other people to do what I do, but two vets have told me that the result I get looks identical to Liverpool cream and I would be prepared to share privately with any vet who wants to know about it. I'm convinced that Liverpool cream with nasty chemicals like arsenic in it are completely unnecessary for most sarcoid removal.
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Hi Cptrayes - not a vet - but interested in the treatment you used. Could you PM me what you used? Many thanks.
 
no, too many future risks I would say. Enough worries about problems you don't or can't know about without worrying about the once that are already there!
 
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