A constant battle against mites...

Our vet gave one of our horses an injection for the mites, never a problem since, and this was last winter. He will have another one if I see the problem rearing it's head again....
 
A fair number of off the shelf products tend to be a bit pants, they waste time, money and prolong itchyness.

This stuff really works, you have to get it from the vets on prescription, but I'd never bother with anything you could buy over the counter anymore.

https://www.pfizeranimalhealth.com.au/products/369/barricade-s-cattle-dip-and-spray.aspx

For healing the sore bits I use either Sudocream or Lincolns Tea Tree oil lotion.

Good luck :)

Just something to be very careful of using cattle products like this on ponies and horses, my sister treated her ponies and donkeys with some cattle tick/wormer product last year and her fell pony had a fairly violent neurological reaction to it. Basically he was on the verge of being put down as he was presenting brain tumour type symptoms.
If its not licensed for horses there is always the chance that yours could be the one that reacts.
 
I have been using sebolytic shampoo,put whole leg in a bucket of warm water for ten mins, then rub in shampoo and leave for ten mins,and then rinse off with cold water,towel dry,then sudocream three times a week.Once a month large dog pipette on each leg,of frontline. got my horse three months ago with mallenders,and very sore scabby legs from mites, he had ten days of antibiotics for the mite sores,just one leg would not heal he reacted to the sulphur in a shampoo I was recommend, and that was the leg I patch tested.The mallanderers has gone,three legs are very good,just the last one but we are getting there.He seems to enjoy his leg being done as I warm the sudocream so it is nice and runny and gently massage it in and he goes to sleep.Also bepathnon baby nappy cream is excellent at getting rid of stubborn scabs.
 
Haven't read all the replies but my boy had really bad legs when I got him - he had the injections from the vet because I was desperate but they didn't seem to help. I tried some fancy American product I bought at Your Horse live which stung like crazy (I have cracked hands so am a good test before I put it on my boy) and now I keep the mites, sores and anything else at bay with tea tree shampoo then Pig Oil rubbed into the feathers and Sudocrem on the sores. Total cost about £6 - one happy horse...
 
can i just ad to the mix that i was under the impression that mallenders is a type of psoriasis which is an auto immune disease -nothing to do with mites. its when you get extreme excessive skin growth and its scaly and can break open and be very itchy. theres a cob on my yard with it and shes treated with psoriasis cream and it keeps it at bay but if treatment stops it all grows back
 
I wonder if some of the owners addicted to Hibiscrub have ever used it on themselves? I have and it STINGS on wounds/grazes. I'm not surprised that many horses react to its use!
I'm not sure why OP started by using Hibiscrub for mites, as it is anti-bacterial. OP I'm glad you feel that you are getting on top of the problem, it certainly is an issue for those of us with feathered horses. I have had good results (after years of lotions and potions) with cooper's fly Repellent Plus on a cob and now am smothering Draft horse in Sudocrem with some success. She apparently had the Dectomax injections before I bought her but they didn't seem to be effective for her.

A second vote for Coopers Fly Repellent Plus for mites and Sudocrem for healing.
My cob has had his first year mite free since usng Coopers
 
can i just ad to the mix that i was under the impression that mallenders is a type of psoriasis which is an auto immune disease -nothing to do with mites. its when you get extreme excessive skin growth and its scaly and can break open and be very itchy. theres a cob on my yard with it and shes treated with psoriasis cream and it keeps it at bay but if treatment stops it all grows back

No ou are right in a way. My boy has a over exaggerated reaction to the mites. So. I am having to treat both conditions. Some horses do not get the reaction;hence they are easily treated with one treatment and don't get repeat problems. Others like my boy get a horrific attack with the slightest sign and then before we know it we are back to square one.

I am wondering if it is linked to the dreaded cpl?
 
Sorry I am late back to this. It's the DE that I use, it's for chicken mites and I think the brand is Nettex who have also brought out an equine version. I just comb and rub it into his feathers. I did try most of what has been mentioned upthread but nothing seemed to work.
I didn't fancy the injections and I have read that they don't work for every horse. DE isn't very expensive so it's worth a try.
 
Sorry I am late back to this. It's the DE that I use, it's for chicken mites and I think the brand is Nettex who have also brought out an equine version. I just comb and rub it into his feathers. I did try most of what has been mentioned upthread but nothing seemed to work.
I didn't fancy the injections and I have read that they don't work for every horse. DE isn't very expensive so it's worth a try.

Thanks for that info. Food grade DE can be bought in 25kg sacks (or less). It's so much cheaper than buying a name brand in a small container.
 
can i just ad to the mix that i was under the impression that mallenders is a type of psoriasis which is an auto immune disease -nothing to do with mites. its when you get extreme excessive skin growth and its scaly and can break open and be very itchy. theres a cob on my yard with it and shes treated with psoriasis cream and it keeps it at bay but if treatment stops it all grows back

I think I agree with this. I mare only gets the scaly skin behind her knees, no where else at all. The Dectomax injections didnt help at all and i found treating her with pig pil didnt help. none of my other three horses suffer with mites or mallenders/sallendars even though they all live together and share stables.
 
This has been a really useful interchange of ideas. Vanner and I were corresponding on the earlier thread about mites/flexuraol dermatitis and now I've even more ideas.

What interests me is that the 'old' and 'natural' remedies seem to be holding their own against modern drugs. Not biased either way, but certainly in my mare's case the over the counter remedies have worked better than the prescriptive ones.

Agree with comments about hibiscrub. I know its dearly beloved of many vets, but in my opionion its the equivalent of iodine 40 years ago - very painful for the horse.

(Just off to buy more Polytar shampoo)!!!
 
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