Kinda of OT - Sarcoids?

[Jennifer Thompson <jlthompson@earthlink.net>]

Hi,

I hope it's okay if I ask about Sarcoids on this list - I guess it's 
kind of off topic, but not really, since endurance horses get them too.  :)

A friend of mine (who isn't on RC) bought a 6 yr old chestnut arab 
gelding 2-3 weeks ago.  This gelding has some endurance miles on him, 
and did the Sunland ride two years ago.  When we went to look at him we 
noticed a quarter-sized, scabby, half-healed looking thing next to his 
eye, near the middle of his forehead.  We asked about it, and the seller 
told us that he got injured out in the pasture 4 weeks prior, and that 
it was healing up and would be fine.

After continuing to treat the injury after bringing the horse home, my 
friend had her vet look at it because it kept breaking open and did not 
seem to be getting better.  The vet took one look and said "That's no 
injury, it's a sarcoid tumor."

My friend is very upset.  She really likes this gelding and has started 
to bond with him.  The vet said that these tumors can get much worse, 
and that even if she is successful in getting rid of it, it may come 
back and keep getting bigger.  It's smack dab on the front of the 
horse's face.  :(   Not to sound shallow, but my friend is really upset 
that her brand new horse has this potentially huge blemish.  The vet did 
tell her that these are usually not life-threatening, so she is relieved 
about that.  He gave her some stuff to apply once a day for 3-4 days, 
and then she is to leave it alone for two weeks to see if it sluffs off. 
 The vet warned her it would look worse before it looked better, with 
this treatment.

So.....does anybody have any advice or experiences to share on sarcoids? 
 I've been looking up pics on the web, and the one this gelding has is 
not as nasty as a lot I've seen.  His is a very flat, sort of round area 
with just black skin and no hair, and a sort of uneven scaly surface, 
with two very small raised areas within the area that seem to break open 
and bleed a little.  He does not have the nodules or tumors that hang 
off the skin like I've seen in some pics.

Any advice on how to treat this would be welcome, as well as any guesses 
at prognosis.

Thank you,
Jennifer