AHH..sweetitch rant!!

D

Dizzydancer

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 July 2010
Messages
4,549
Location
Staffordshire
Visit site
Sorry guys just need somewhere to vent!

My little pony is out on loan to a lovely family (the mum is a vet nurse) and two young boys who love riding him. They have there own farm and he is so well looked after.
However last week we got a phonecall saying her husband and his dad have said he needs to go as he has been rubbing on the fences. He had the SI injection this year but like the vet said whether that worked and the rubbing is habit is hard to tell. They really dont want him to go they will be absolutely gutted and the kids keep running out to shoo him off if they see him itching on the fence, bless them. They are thinking of putting electric tape around perimeter, he will still have trees to rub on so not going to be left unable to itch.
Personally i think that they didnt rug him early enough when i look back but i am not up very often (in april he still wasnt rugged due to the rain).
I dont want him coming home as ino he wont be able to find another loaner very easily (and this was a friend of a friend) due to his SI.

Any iideas to help them manage him much appreciated!! I am thinking maybe get him blood tested to see if he has any other allergies which may be worsening his itching. But unsure of cost etc
 
I had a TB who had sweetitch. She wore a boett, without which she would be driven insane.

I assume he is now properly rugged, and by that I mean a really good SI rug, normal fly rugs are the next thing to useless.

Some people get very lazy with SI horses and decide to leave the rug off for a few hours, when in fact it just lets the midges get in and start the itch cycle all over again.
 
My horse has a touch of sweet itch but i manage to keep it at bay by feeding him naf d itch, he still rubs a little but certainly not to the point of making him self sore or breaking the skin.

best fly spray to keep the midges at bay is power phaser, i swear by it and wouldnt use anything else
 
If they are willing to put up electric tape to protect the fencing can you ask them to give him a second chance? If he has destroyed his rug you could offer to buy another. Power Phaser is effective but also a bit expensive. Benzyl Benzoate is cheap and very effective - you can get it on-line from Hyperdrug if the local chemist doesn't have it. Also emphasise how important it is to put on the rug at the end of Feb before he starts scratching.

SI is a nightmare!
 
Thanks guys. I think the electric fence is definately the option really and then next year to be much more prepared to prevent it. They went away a couple of weeks ago and she thinks he wasnt looked after as much as she does as its since then he has been doing it. He has go a rambo sweetitch hoody on. Dont fancy buying a boett for him to trash it! Whihc now he is itching he will no doubt do.
I will offer to buy a boett for next year if tey electric fence off aswell.
Thanks
 
A note re: rugging. At this time of year my exmoors are shedding like mad, so unless someone can groom this pony three times a day, be wary of making the itching WORSE. Ever had a haircut and had hair down your neck?

I had to completely re-address Chloe's diet and management when she came to me just over 2 years ago. She had open wounds and yet she was in a fly rug 24/7. That year was about damage limitation (keeping flies off wounds, trying to temper her immune system), but the following year she kept a full mane and tail (well, near as - she still likes the occasional itch, but we all know the difference between an itch and a Sweet Itch itch!!).

She's restricted from grass from May to end of October, is fed only Hi-Fi Lite with supplements (Brewer's Yeast 50ml scoop, Linseed 50ml scoop and Haylage Balancer 50ml scoop) and is treated with Neem Oil/Benzyl Benzoate 10% (I water it down). During coat shedding seasons she has a thorough groom once a day with a rubber curry comb, then a normal soft brush. I use the curry comb like I'm giving her a good scratch i.e. up and down, not in the direction of coat growth.

Hope that helps! As an emergency measure you could try the steroid injection (it didn't do much for Chloe - she'd had that in the Feb before I bought her and she had lots of sores when I first saw her in May).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top