Clipping a SI pony?

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Fransurrey

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Lately, Chloe's SI has flared up again and the scurf has returned. I gave her a Melaseb wash last week (just her mane, dorsal area and dock/rump) and her skin looked much better. However, we have yet to get on top of this latest flare up, on account of her winter fur now being 50% there, so it's hard to treat the skin area and relieve the itching. I'm using a squeezy bottle (NOT spray) with a fine nozzle, which penetrates the fur, but only in very localised places and I can't spread out the lotions and potions effectively.

I was just thinking (literally just, so apologies that this is a half baked idea), maybe if I clipped her for this winter, so that I could bathe her neck and rump properly and then keep up with the preventative measures as the fur grows back for the spring?

Does anybody do this and did it have a positive effect? Or do clipped horses feel generally more itchy and therefore I would do more harm than good?

I'm a real novice as far as clipping/rugging goes. I've only had natives before and she's an exmoor, so as you can imagine, has no need for a rug with all the fur she has!

Obviously, this would mean shopping at Olympia for rugs. Oh shame...
 
i have a SI pony.
in the past i have wasted money on lotions/potions but with trial and error i have found the only way to manage her is to keep her covered so she has a snuggy hood.
i do spray with deosect about once every 2 weeks and this seems to cover us for riding when she is naked.

have you a fly/SI rug?
 
Yes, she has a fly rug (two, actually, so I can rotate). Trouble is, she still rubs once it's flared up, even with the rug. She trashes them as she rubs with such force against anything that's upright! I plan to get a SI rug for the next season (I got her early-summer, before SI season really started), but I am worried that this will be trashed, too. My needle was certainly busy during August!
 
SI season starts in early march and they are still about now.

once the pony is itching,it has already been bit.the pony needs to be covered up before this happens.

you also need to electric fence the field(including gates and trees) so the pony has nothing to itch on and cannot break the skin.
 
I would wait a little longer before clipping your SI pony. Clipping will expose your pony to even more bites than she is getting already. A rug can only cover so much although a rug is a must.
I am in the same boat and am desperate to clip my lad for riding but won't until the midges are long gone. I did it too early last year and it flared up badly and I felt so bad
frown.gif

I'd rather he got sweaty than itchy.
 
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Clipping will expose your pony to even more bites than she is getting already.
A rug can only cover so much .


[/ QUOTE ]

clipping will only expose the pony to more bites if the pony does not have a proper SI rug on. (
confused.gif
)

a proper SI rug will cover the pony from nose to tail and also have a belly guard.
 
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I wouldnt clip yet as will just mean more bites!

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i think you will find midges bite whether the pony is hairy or not.
but only my opinion.
 
Cahill, you have got the wrong end of the stick. It's got nothing to do with the bites - she has a fly rug on! I do NOT think that midges won't bite a clipped pony!!!!

I bought her after the SI had already taken hold - so I had no control over rugging BEFORE SI season. She has been rugged throughout the summer, but, it being my first year with a SI pony, I had taken the rug off at the beginning of October, as there didn't seem to be midges around at my place.

My idea is to get rid of the SCURF, as this in itself causes more itching, but I can't treat it effectively due to the fur. As I said, a half-baked idea. Katie/Mr Meldrew, you do have a point about the midges being able to bite easier on clipped skin.

Think I'll knock this idea on the head.
smile.gif
 
still loads of midges here in the evening.

if the pony was clipped you would be able to wash and dry the pony better.
and
if the pony is a native but needs a rug for the midges,clipping would stop him overheating.

um difficult.
 
Hi there. I have a horse with sweetitch. For the past three years I've bought fly rug after fly rug, sometimes two per month and every lotion and potion imaginable (he only has it mildly). This year I bought (at great expense) The Snuggy Hoods Set and put it on him end of Feb under his winter turnout. Its worked a treat, not bought any lotions etc etc no fly spray so prob saved myself a lot of money. Get a Snuggy Hood set and put it on him very early. I keep my horse clipped out as its easier to keep him from getting too hot and itchy. Just in case, dont feed him garlic. Dont put too many lotions and potions on him, in my experience they make them worse. I believe that sweetitch disguises other problems ie allergies as I found out when I had my horse blood tested.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Clipping will expose your pony to even more bites than she is getting already.
A rug can only cover so much .


[/ QUOTE ]

clipping will only expose the pony to more bites if the pony does not have a proper SI rug on. (
confused.gif
)

a proper SI rug will cover the pony from nose to tail and also have a belly guard.

[/ QUOTE ]

No it won't. It physically cannot cover every bit of the horse. Believe me I do know. I've been dealing with my SI horse for 10 yrs now.
Clipping the hair off will expose the skin. It is worse off than in the summer as far as protection goes. OP's pony is itchy now so it must be getting bitten. Clipping it will make it more exposed.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I wouldnt clip yet as will just mean more bites!

[/ QUOTE ]

i think you will find midges bite whether the pony is hairy or not.
but only my opinion.

[/ QUOTE ]

You will find that a midge will find it a hell of a lot harder to get through a thick winter coat than almost bare skin
wink.gif

Why make it easier for the midge
 
One thing I have learnt, having a SI pony for the last 9 years, and reading the endless internet threads over those 9 years is that no one way of treating works for every SI pony. SI seems to be a very individual problem, and has to be treated so. Just because something works for your SI pony doesn't mean it will work for my SI pony, and vice versa.

The things that work for us are NOT feeding grain, molasses or garlic, as these make her worse. Using a Boett blanket from spring to autumn. Electric fencing off everything that she could scratch on. Keeping her living out - that way she can rub less.

We also find it does help to clip her at certain times of the year - it actually makes her itch less, as when she is changing her coat she gets very itchy, and also if a thick coat makes her too warm - both these things make her worse - once clipped, she is far less itchy. So she does tend to have a clip in about April & October.
 
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