at the end of my tether

You say the mare has cushings - is she being treated with prascend? If not I'd say that is the route to go. Skin complaints are one of the common problems associated with cushings. If she is on prascend I'd be having another ACTH test done to review the dose that she is on.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
I used to give them too her when she got fly bites but when the vet came out, they told me that anti H's don't work too well on horses, which is why they gave her the steroid injections instead! surprised me as I assumed it would have been an anti h jab they'd give her!!
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Many steroids work by preventing degranulation of mast cells, which is part of the allergic response.

Oral steroids might not be as effective as injected as they're metabolised too easily in the digestive tract. I'd be cautious with the benzyl benzoate if she has open wounds or grazes. Don't put it near those. You can safely put Neem oil on grazes and it contains natural steroids, too. Hope you find something which works. I might have missed this, but is she on unlimited grazing? My mare is much, much worse if I don't restrict her for 9 months of the year! I'm guessing yes, though, if she's a cushings case. Second the linseed, too!
 
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I'd be careful not to over rug her, its only going to make an itchy skin condition worse if she's too hot. If she starts losing weight feed more.

Definitely patch test the benzyl benzoate. If the horse is allergic to it, it can make the skin peel.

Mange mites come from foxes I think and harvest mites come from the environment.

As with lice, its not always easy to tell where a horse got something. I find its often the horse that has lice is the one who never leaves the yard for shows or hacking, yet they must have caught it somewhere and others in the field with the lousy one are fine. It also seems to often be that the horse with lice is old/thin/sickly.

Mites can burrow so far under the skin that they don't always show up on a biopsy never mind a scrape.

Head and shoulders shampoo is soothing for the skin, most contain zinc which is good but one contains selenium which is better. A bath in this weather won't be pleasant but a haynet during the bath, a final rinse with warm water, a few wicking rugs and some in-hand walking will get her warm again and once she's warm she'll dry.
 
Thanks for the advise guys. I went to Robinsons a lunch time. Stocked up on the linseed oil. Some chaff with no alfalfa. Got some shampoo and a spray which is apparently for mites, lice, ring worm and mud fever. So both horses can have that tomorrow as the boy has a bit of mud fever. Ill bath with warm water :)
 
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