Buying a pony with sweet itch

We loaned one. Drove me crazy but she was amazing. So I guess the answer is, how many other boxes does this animal tick for you? I would also ask how bad it gets. For our old lady it was an irrititant but some horses are literally driven insane by it and can have a complete personality transplant.
 
By law sellers have to tell you if they have it. Maybe try it on a trial or loan and see if it affects it's ridden quality and if you think you can deal with it.
 
Yes, absolutely! Some of the best ponies I've known have had it. This week at camp there were 6 ponies who suffered from it (out of 40) and by using Boett rugs, fly spray and various lotions and potions they all had full manes and tails and looked very well- none were itching, despite being stabled 24/7 in a midgey area :)
 
No. From a purely selfish point of view it takes alot of time and effort to deal with. It also costs a fortune in lotions, medications and rugs for severe cases. I have seen some so severe I would genuinely question the quality of life of the affected animal. I would never knowingly buy on with the condition.
 
I know many people who would buy, but me personally wouldn't. my friend has recently bought a pony, but wasn't told it had sweet itch & it's been awful I also have know a few others that has it bad.
 
After my current one with sweetitch, NO never again. I feel sorry for him rugged up from head/tail in baking hot weather, If I take his rug off to groom and he gets bitten I have no rug left and no fencing left. It's costing me a lot off money and tbh I'm sick off it but I love him. I would never sell him, loan yes with a careful eye watching but he has it bad and tbh I would rather pts than sell as who knows where he could end up. And he's only 2 yrs :(
 
I have in the past bred a mare that went on to develop sweet itch, I sold her when she was 10, she didn't suffer badly, but I would never have another, it was completely heartbreaking to watch and manage, and I tried everything.
 
Got a pony with chronic sweet itch. Love him to bits as he's my child hood pony and have had him 20 years. After struggling with him in the past and present, and seein him do agrevated this summer, I wouldnt buy one with it again! It takes up so much time, and have had to electric fence all my post and rail and make a 'no mans land' around the gate as he literally runs on everything. Have tried every thing including he sweet itch trial injection and nothing worked! Even had to section him off in the paddock as he got dangerous barging and scratching up people! It's made me prefer the winter months tbh!
 
Depends on the severity. Both my stepson's ponies had it mild to moderate, and it was easily managed with rugs and potions. I have to admit that I have been glad that they have been sold on this year as we live in a pennine bog, and with the wet summer, even those without sweet itch are suffering. If you live somewhere not so wet in a breezy area, you may not have too many problems...
 
i had a pony on loan for my daughter that had sweet itch. once her rug was on, there was never a problem. I did feel sorry for her though, as she was always in a rug, in winter she was rugged, as she was clipped, and then was in a rug all summer for her itch, she didnt seem to mind, but i felt sorry for her. It didnt affect her riding though, so yeah, i prob would buy one depending on the pony.
 
Yes I did because she was so perfect in every other way. I would consider doing it again too.

Where you keep them can make a huge difference to how bad they get it. For us, since I moved her to her "summer grazing" in May, this has been the best year we have had for not rubbing etc etc in the 5 years we've owned her. Yet this yard is only 2 fields (as the crow flies) away from where she was beginning to really suffer.

She has Boett rugs (all bought secondhand) on during the day and a cotton sheet when she is in her stable overnight. I give her brewers yeast and cider vinegar which I believe do help her. Don't really bother with lotions and potions.
 
No. My Friesian who I lost in late April developed sweet-itch when we moved to the UK when she was 18 months old. For 19 years it was the bane of her (and my life) as got more and more severe. It's expensive to manage and extremely time consuming.
 
Depends on the severity and the pony. Was sent a 14"2 connie x to back last year who has sweet itch. Turned up with no mane, bog brush tail and scabs all the way along his tummy and all over his face and nearly pulling my stables down with his constant scratching, the vet told me it was quite a bad case but not the worst he'd seen. Bit of TLC, a boet/sweet itch rug (we swap between the two when ones being cleaned) and a generous smothering of kill itch every couple of days and it pretty much cleared up. This year, having caught it early and got the rugs on he has a beautiful mane and tail, barely any scratching and two tiny scabs between his front legs. Doesn't effect his work in the slightest and doesn't give me any more hassle putting the ointment on and keeping the rugs on than any of the other horses we have, it's just part of his routine. Now we've got people coming to look and I don't think anyone would have realised he's itchy except for the rug. It hasn't put people off (that they've said), once I explain the small amount of up-keep. He's a fabulous pony and his performance isn't at all effected. I'd consider how you plan to keep your pony though. Obviously I'm on the yard all day, have the time to do the little extra bits, he comes into a stable out of the flies for the day and put out in the least midgy paddock as that's what aggravates his.
 
We have an old pony with it, if kept rugged it is not an issue. He damaged his rug and I was slow to replace and soon had the itch, I could not then rug him again until I got rid of it (or the itchiness part) as he destroyed every rug being put on. I found that olive oil slathered over him (neck /whithers/spine/rump/tail)stopped the biting, and protected his skin against rain. In a few weeks (4-6) the hair grew back and i was able to rug him again.

It is a pain because they also damage fences as well as rugs and it looks unattractive, but given that in the 5 years we have had him I have only allowed his itch to get bad once, I can say it is manageable.
 
tbh i dont know what the fuss is about. I am yet to meet a horse whose sweet itch is not controllable if managed correctly the problem is most people dont. We have had some severe itchers over the years and none of them have been a problem. Electric fence paddocks without anything to rub on (water troughs, trees ect should all be removed) a flexible water bucket which they cannot rub on should be used in place of a metal trough. Good quality fly spray (either deet or coopers) sprayed on daily and a good quality sweet itch rug. What most people do not know is that most fly rugs on the market DO NOT keep out the midges they only keep out larger insects such as horse flys. you need rugs like the boet or a decamp at minimum and they should be on as soon as temperatures come above freezing in the spring. if your get them protected before the midges come out you will break the cycle. they only need bitten once for a reaction to take place and the reaction from one single bite can go on for months. nearly every case of bad sweet itch that we have had has been down to us not getting the rugs on early enough. we now get them on as soon as it stops regularly freezing overnight. as for them getting hot in the fly rugs we find the opposite. Ours are all out in them atm and have been noticeably cooler than those without rugs on during this hot spell as both the boets and the decamps reflect the heat out.
 
I agree - getting the rugs on early enough is the key. Ours had to have them from early March until October. Another thing is that is a good idea to have a spare rug - if they get wet and you take them off the shivering horse to dry, the midges are all over them and the itch starts.. Have a spare to swop them into while the other dries.. Finally, remember that they can get bitten when ridden, so have some lotion on crest and tail etc. We used to find Equimins Biting Insect Lotion good.
 
We had a 15.2 WelshD x TB who we bought as a four year old. We liveried next to a river and a mill dam and over the next few years she deveoped reasonably mild, but increasing sweetitch. For other reasons we removed all added sugar and cereals from her diet, one interesting side effect of this was that all traces of sweet itch stopped and she never suffered again. There may well be something in the name of this problem, those old boys who named it knew something.
 
Only if I was certain I had a suitable environment to ease the scratching and limit exposure to the damn insects.
Although my horses condition is mostly manageable, I know that I would never buy another sufferer.
 
Not if I could help it but if the pony ticked every other box then I would consider it as I know several ponies with it where it is being managed very well.
 
Yes. I have just sold one with it, it was easily managed iwth a rug and fly spray and as the years have gone on he barely itched, it was only ever his mane he rubbed.. Made no difference to me putting a rug on and fly spray. Didn't affect any of his ridden work and he was a star to ride. Had a pony with it years ago and he was one of the best 13.2's around, as long as you managed it. I would far rather deal with sweet itch than a horse that napped, reared or bucked. At least you can see the problem and know how to cope with it.
 
Yes, we have. She looked awful when we got her no mane, tail and a completely bald face. My daughter fell in love with her so against my better judgment we bought her and wow what a lovely little horse she is. We manage the sweet itch with rug, fly mask, BB and Linseed oil and this year she has a full mane and tail and only two or three 5p piece size rub marks on a her face. We also found she had a sugar problem so keep that to a minimum intake and do not use saddle soap with glycerine in it as that sets her rubbing her face.
 
Well........ I had my boy on loan, he had sweet itch, and I ended up buying him.

It depends on whether the one you're thinking of has it badly, or, like mine, is "mild to moderate".

Basically before taking the plunge you need to (if owner's happy) get some bloods done and try to establish the severity. There IS a test for sensitivity however, which whilst being more accurate CAN in some circumstances induce a pre-disposition to laminitis (dunno how, sorry don't know the science, mebbe someone else does) so this may be one reason why an owner might not want this to happen, but there is a cheaper (but less accurate) test which will give you a good idea of what's going on.

Also, if buying something with SI, bear in mind the situation of where the horse is currently kept: if you go to see it and its down by a stream, or in a wooded valley, and has SI in that location, then you might buy it and move it to your yard on a higher spot with more air around, and the SI would then improve significantly as midges would prefer the former environment. It would also work vice versa: so you'd need to think about where YOU'd be keeping the pony.

Mine wears a Rambo hoody at all times when turned out; and if standing in just wears a long-necked fly rug.

Also bear in mind that its not just when you SEE the midges that you have to prepare: I start giving mine his supplements (Brewers yeast & Linseed) as early as mid-February, and even at Christmas Day last year I was out poncing around with a SI rug!!!! So you need to bear in mind whether you can be bothered with this.

Also there are topical lotions to be applied: Killitch (benzyl benzoate) can't be bettered IMO.

When riding out in the summer I use a ride-on fly rug, especially in the evenings when midges are most active. Its the cullicoides midge that is the problem. With some horses you may have to stable them to cover the period dusk to dawn which is when they're most active: plus a lot of yards may not accept a SI horse as they'd be worried about it rubbing on their fencing - you need to bear that in mind too. I've got my own place so thats not an issue for me.

All this sounds like a lot of hassle! And yes, it is, BUT with any horse/pony you get there'll always be something. Because mine's also got a pink nose, he sun-burns, so you could get this with any other horse/pony you'll buy. There's always gonna be something! e.g. my loan mare also has to have a ride-on fly sheet if hacking out coz she basically get eaten alive by horse-flies - so its not just the SI horse that has to have it!

Would I buy another horse with SI??? IF I liked it and it suited me, then yes - but I'd need to know how badly it was affected before making the final decision; and the only way to do that reasonably accurately is to have it vetted first (which you'd presumably be doing anyway) and get some bloods taken; also like I say bear in mind where you'd be keeping it coz that can make the situation either worse or better.

Woops, sorry forgot to say that diet can also play a huge part. Avoid sugar ("sweet" itch!!!) like the plague, e.g. mollasses-free food and some haylage very rich in mollasses, and not too rich grass (not good for any pony anwyay). Plus avoid garlic. That can make a huge difference, so ask what pony is eating when/if you go to see it.
 
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My gelding has sweetitch, well when i got him last August he had no mane and a raw stick as a tail. I only spray him with vinegar as a fly repellant and he has a normal fly rug on with neck and he hasn't rubbed yet x He has a couple of marks on his face, dont think it was sweetitch though but put some benzyl benzoate on it and the mark went in 2 days.

Not sure why it hasnt affected him this year but it did last year. Hoping it'll be ok now. I wouldnt of known if the girl i got him off hadn't said.
 
I used to have a pony with Sweet itch (was never told she had it). Loved her to bits but it drove me and her nuts. So in all honesty no I wouldn’t buy a horse or pony with sweet itch again.
 
My mare Zara has chronic sweet itch and it breaks my heart to see her all trussed up and still itching. She wears a boett from February to November but still gets bitten in between her front and back legs and all round her face and ears. Unfortunately she cannot wear a boett hood as she always manages to twist it so she has to make do with a normal fly mask 24/7. I have tried numerous lotions and potions but none really work to keep the itching at bay.

She was a fantastic endurance horse until she got her bone spavin in 2010 and is just starting back competing. At the time her spavin was at it's worse she was 4/10ths lame and I did consider having her pts as I didn't feel it was fair to have her lame and permanently itchy. However, she loves being ridden and apart from trying to kick me when I put her lotions between her hind legs, she seems happy enough. It is a concern though how much longer I will keep her going if it gets much worse but I'm just monitoring her until it becomes unbearable and she loses her spark.

As for would I buy another, yes I would and I did in fact buy a 2 y.o four years ago which I knew had sweet itch. Even though it means more work for me, Lana (my now 6 y.o) has sweet itch and will have it for life whether I bought her or not. Just because you turn a horse down with sweet itch, doesn't mean the horse won't have it anymore. It's an inconvenience for the owner but a life sentence for the horse and a sweet itch horse deserves a home as much as any other horse.
 
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