Do horses get some kind of immunity to ticks?

Devonshire dumpling

Devonshire dumpling

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Stupid question i know, but my youngster has moved home and is PLASTERED in ticks.. Tomorrow I am buying him some Frontline!! He has a very swollen sheath and my Oh must have pulled off 60+ ticks from his sheath! His armpits are pickled and his nose in nymph ones, let alone the ones we can't see, but the other horse who has been there 6 yrs, used to be pickled like him, but now only gets the odd one??

Any advice re his sheath??
 
We are going to top it off... but Ticks just sit on the top of grass waiting for their host... so as long as there is grass, there will be ticks X
 
attheponies said:
I'm not sure about immunity but this year seems to be epidemic time for ticks. Have never had such a problem with the disgusting little things.
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Gross little things!! We always have tonnes of ticks where we are, his field backs on to a large forest and it's heaving with red deer! I need to get him on some kind of programme to protect him from disease, so will Frontline him, it's gonna sting like a ***** on his sheath!
 
It's just like cats and dogs, you just have to dose them,if they did get immunity then many animals like my mare who has severe sweet itch, would grow out of it I'm afraid they don't, just don't let you youngster graze in that area and ticks when full of blood drop off and multiply.
 
Poor boy! Can't give you any advice for the swollen sheath, just make sure that you are twisting the ticks off whole and not squeezing/ pulling them out... My boy got a nasty infected scab on his nose from where he rubbed a tick off, if only the silly fool had waited for me to return with my fancy shmantzy tick hook :rolleyes: One HHOer recommended I put cat flea collars around my gelding's pasterns to help prevent against mites climbing up. Seems to be doing the trick, though don't help so much for when he lies down :/ Our fields don't have much of a tick problem though so can't say whether or not the collars have made a difference in that respect.
 
Echo Bravo said:
It's just like cats and dogs, you just have to dose them,if they did get immunity then many animals like my mare who has severe sweet itch, would grow out of it I'm afraid they don't, just don't let you youngster graze in that area and ticks when full of blood drop off and multiply.
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The whole area is full of ticks, so it's not something we can avoid unfortunately!
 
I know I 've said it before,but do try catnip.You can rub the animals with fresh leaves or make a very strong 'tea' from fresh or dried leaves(most pet shops sell catnip,or at least cat toys stuffed with it!) and then spray it on or use a sponge to wipe it on.
We have 30+ red deer on this farm,so ticks are a major issue. The catnip trick does seem to deter them and frontline applied frequently kills them before they get a chance to engorge,but it does not stop them from attaching.
If you do remove live ticks,don't let them stay alive........I have many methods of destruction.Let me know if you would like me to share my techniques!:D
 
I shall Frontline him tomorrow, his sheath is gonna sting like I don't know what..... its so puffy.... never seen anything like it, well I did once on our ferrets lol... but poor boy, they are disgusting things! Would you do anything to his sheath to help with the swelling??
 
abitodd said:
I know I 've said it before,but do try catnip.You can rub the animals with fresh leaves or make a very strong 'tea' from fresh or dried leaves(most pet shops sell catnip,or at least cat toys stuffed with it!) and then spray it on or use a sponge to wipe it on.
We have 30+ red deer on this farm,so ticks are a major issue. The catnip trick does seem to deter them and frontline applied frequently kills them before they get a chance to engorge,but it does not stop them from attaching.
If you do remove live ticks,don't let them stay alive........I have many methods of destruction.Let me know if you would like me to share my techniques!:D
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Right just spent £40 quid on Frontline and sprayed the poor sod.... nearly lost my head 10 times spraying his sore sheath, blimey he is agile with those hind hooves!!

So now to deter them too!! Will try your catnip method, so i somehow find some catnip and make a tea and spray him with it?? I do find them hard to kill, my nail usually makes a neat dent in their engorged bodies uggggggg
 
Mine had a really swollen sheath from mozzy bites, got prescribed Piriton, worked a treat. The swelling came down in no time xx
 
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