Could garlic in feed be causing this?

caitlineloise

caitlineloise

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Just a quick Q regarding garlic in feed.

My Haflinger rubs his tail, and his tail only, no rubbing anywhere else. Worms etc. Have been ruled out, yard has a worming programme in place.

Benzyl Benzoate when applied every 3-4 days stops him rubbing but I was just wondering if anything in his feed could be making him rub? And if there was another supplement I could add to help with itchiness?

He is fed twice a day feed consist's of

3/4 Scoop of Hi-Fi lite
Garlic
Watery Speedibeet, hardly any actually Speedibeet fed, just for watering down and a bit of taste.
And one carrot

Any opinions welcome on his feed, and any changes perhaps to be made.

Thanks!
 
My friend has a haflinger who is literally having just hay and she rubs her tail on everything, regularly destroying the post and rail!!!!!!!
 
I would definitely cut the garlic and maybe go for a chaff that isn't alfalfa.

My mare was itchy to the stage where she would scratch and scratch until she had a gaping sore.

I've cut alfalfa, no garlic - for rugs, don't leave fleeces on for any length of time and don't use any rugs that are fleece lined, infact don't rug at all if you can.

I also use Equidermis which has made a huge difference.

She's now itch free including rubbing her tail :)
 
Thank you everybody, has anybody got a alternative for the Hi-Fi lite? Need a low calorie chaff.

And I'll cut the garlic out straight away.

Is equidermis a supplement?

Unfortunately he has to be rugged as he is fully clipped in winter.

And 1lucie, tell her about Benzyl Benzoate, it stops them rubbing.
 
Switch the garlic for brewer's yeast. My sec B hardly rubs her tail at all since having it.

I have not fed garlic since finding out about it's effect on the gut and red blood cells.
 
Last edited:
marmalade76 said:
Switch the garlic for brewer's yeast. My sec B hardly rubs her tail at all since having it.

I have not fed garlic since finding out about it's effect on the gut and red blood cells.
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Same. It can thin the skin so to help eliminate mud fever, I stopped using it.

I'm careful around the dogs too as it can oxidise their red blood cells if eaten
in large quantities. (Puppy ate all the garlic plants on the patio one day: he was fine thank God apart from the stench!)

OP, how about Readigrass for the Haffie?
 
caitlineloise said:
Wish this bloody feeding lark wasn't so damn complicated! :p Thank you.
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The best advice is to keep it simple.

We have learned over the years that supplements can cause more harm than good.

Ours have haylage, a handful of dried grass, some Honeychop oat straw in case they run out of haylage. One also has Brewer's Yeast and a tiny amount of bran. The oldie also has soaked grassnuts and Speedibeet. I'd take yours off everything, except perhaps the carrot.
 
i no you said you are on regular wormer but are you sure its not pin worms. as there is a pin worm prob going round my colt had them and the wormers just wernt killing them. pin worms also will not show up in worm count
 
kylee86 said:
i no you said you are on regular wormer but are you sure its not pin worms. as there is a pin worm prob going round my colt had them and the wormers just wernt killing them. pin worms also will not show up in worm count
Click to expand...

How can I check for pin-worms then? Although I'm pretty sure it's not, we are on a large yard with 20+ other horses and none of them rub their tail and tail only.
 
ive been thinking this as well my cob is super itchy every where to the point of self mutilation
in the summer i treated him and rugged him a for sweet itch
fed him garlic, fast fibre and hif fi
he didn't improve when the flies have gone took him off garlic for 2 months was still mildly itchy
I then started feeding a scoop of garlic within a week he was rubbing his mane out biting his flanks, and breaking the stable walls whilst rubbing
so he is now on leighs senior chaff (Timothy hay and straw) linseed, and magnesium with adlib haylage ( removed fast fibre as contains garlic) and now after 3 weeks his itching is calming down
so iam hoping i have solved the problem
 
Garlic should not be fed to itchy horses or horses with sweet itch, it actually boosts the immune system which, of course, makes them itchier as their body reacts more to the irritant. There is also anecdotal evidence that it can irritate the gut wall if fed in large quantities.

For the record, there are naturally occurring sugars in most everything a horse would eat, especially grass and even hay, horses do need SOME sugar but in the case of a laminitic, the sugar levels should be 10% or lower, 5% is actually pretty low and would not be enough to trigger laminitis. Of course you do get some horses, those with Cushings for example, who are far less tolerant of sugar, but if it is straight nutritional laminitis it is a good rule of thumb to remember the 10% rule.
 
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