Are your horses still in sweet itch rugs?

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NellRosk

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I couldn't see any midges in the air tonight but horse is still a tad itchy. Don't know whether to take her SI rug off tomorrow or leave it for a few more days!!
 
exmoorponyprincess1 said:
Yes...will leave on until November on advice of many different people inc my vet. Pony isn't particularly itchy but don't want to tempt fate :(
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Nooo, I hate the bloody thing! I took it off late September last year and let her have a few weeks of naked loveliness but then when I clipped her she had scabs all under her winter coat from being bitten :(
 
Suzie86 said:
my pony is still really itchy, I'm sure it's usually stopped by this time of year!
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Nell's itching has eased off a bit but hasn't gone completely :(

Abby-Lou said:
Midges still around I was sat on top of a straw stack by a hedge been eaten alive on Sunday bring on the frosts !
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Whereabouts are you? I'm Yorkshire and has been chilly for a few days so I'm hoping they're rapidly dying off!!
 
Just taken my boy's rug off and he hasn't itched once today (he suffers chronically) I've watched him really carefully all day and he's not itched tonight in the stable either so I am keeping everything crossed they have gone now the weather has turned cooler.
 
Still very midgey here in north devon....this time of year can be worse than summer as its damp and relatively warm...midge heaven. Rugs staying on till we start getting frosts.
 
I would leave on for a bit, I'm getting bitten to death when I go up to feed at dusk. Hang in there for a few more weeks!
 
Still on, it was 14 degrees today and sunny. The evenings are getting cooler but I walked the field at dusk tonight and there were midges around.
 
NellRosk said:
This precisely, my unrugged horse is a fluffy beast but the SI one has literally no winter coat at all!!!
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That's the worry isn't it. I'd really like him to have the winter rug free and fluffy but as it is I either need to whip his rugs off now for him to fluff up or face that he'll have to be rugged all winter too :(
 
My trad has still got his on! and will do for the foreseeable future.

It was quite a still evening here tonight, and I very nearly brought him in as you could see the midges clearly in the evening sun.

What I will probably aim to do, come the weekend, is to bung on his Snuggy Hoods hoody, and then (probably, depending on the weather), pack him into his lightweight turnout rug and brush some Neem mixed with Pig Oil through his tail just to dissuade any midges hanging around; that seems to work well.

But for now, while this dry east-wind weather continues, he's out at night with just his sweet itch hoody on; mare is out naked.

If weather changes, time to clip!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
My trad has still got his on! and will do for the foreseeable future.

It was quite a still evening here tonight, and I very nearly brought him in as you could see the midges clearly in the evening sun.

What I will probably aim to do, come the weekend, is to bung on his Snuggy Hoods hoody, and then (probably, depending on the weather), pack him into his lightweight turnout rug and brush some Neem mixed with Pig Oil through his tail just to dissuade any midges hanging around; that seems to work well.

But for now, while this dry east-wind weather continues, he's out at night with just his sweet itch hoody on; mare is out naked.

If weather changes, time to clip!
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Waaa looks like it's staying on a bit longer then. She's in her Rambo hoody and a waterproof on top to keep her warm because it's chilly here. I feel mean that her coat can't fluff out to keep her warm!
 
Mine still has his on, under a lightweight turnout. We aren't getting midges anymore but do still get the normal flies during the daytime and having worn his rug all summer he gets quite sensitive to them landing on him once he's naked.
 
Leaving a sweet itch rug on won't stop his winter coat coming through...it'lljust be laying flat. As soon as you take it off it'll fluff back up ☺
I just use either the sweet itch rug or a low fill turnout at this time of year. I don't really see the point in using both at the same time. Mine goes naked for the winter ☺
 
I was going to say the same as HP - mine looks like she hasn't any winter coat but when I take her rug off within 24hrs she is fluffed up and looks like she never had a rug on (not a SI pony but wears a rug for different reasons). The coat will be growing it just won't fluff til the rug comes off!
 
_HP_ said:
Leaving a sweet itch rug on won't stop his winter coat coming through...it'lljust be laying flat. As soon as you take it off it'll fluff back up ☺
I just use either the sweet itch rug or a low fill turnout at this time of year. I don't really see the point in using both at the same time. Mine goes naked for the winter ☺
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I just put the LW on top to keep her warm because she can't fluff her coat out. And thought she might need the mane protection of her SI rug still!

dollyanna said:
I was going to say the same as HP - mine looks like she hasn't any winter coat but when I take her rug off within 24hrs she is fluffed up and looks like she never had a rug on (not a SI pony but wears a rug for different reasons). The coat will be growing it just won't fluff til the rug comes off!
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She might have grown a bit of coat but honestly, she's grown practically nothing compared to my unrugged one :( can just tell with the fineness when I'm brushing her.
 
My mini still has his on sadly. He's still itchy around his dock so it's too early to risk it. I'm grooming him as much as possible because his new coat is obviously making him even itchier. Another couple of weeks and hopefully it'll be off. The muzzle on the other hand....
 
Mine has been out of his this week and fingers crossed seems fine. Very chilly overnight here now and I haven't seen any midges for a few days.
 
Friends horse is. She left it off for 1 day and he burst through the gate trying to scratch. They are all a bit agitated in their stables too and stl seems to be load of midgies about
 
This is my first year with a SI horse, so interesting to hear what others are doing. My boy is still a little itchy, and is looking a bit of a prune clipped, in a SI rug and wearing mud socks.
 
Absolutely. I've worked too hard this year to keep her mane and tail so not prepared to lose it now. She's still slightly scabby under her forelock so she still has her rug on and I'm still using kill itch
 
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